The Dutch Post
http://www.netherlandspost.com/
Bird flu strikes Egyptian woman
Scientific American By Cynthia Johnston CAIRO (Reuters) - A 37-year-old Egyptian woman tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus and European officials on Wednesday debated whether they needed to take more action after an outbreak of the virus in British turkeys. The World Health Organization confirmed the woman had tested positive for the avian influenza virus, making her the 21st case in Egypt. She was being treated in a hospital. Egypt has the highest-known cluster of human cases outside Asia, with 12 deaths out of the 21 infected cases since the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry a year ago. (article continues below) The woman, who kept birds in her...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/15/Bird_flu_strikes_Egyptian_woman/
Bird flu strikes Egyptian woman
By Cynthia Johnston
CAIRO (Reuters) - A 37-year-old Egyptian woman tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus and European officials on Wednesday debated whether they needed to take more action after an outbreak of the virus in British turkeys.
The World Health Organization confirmed the woman had tested positive for the avian influenza virus, making her the 21st case in Egypt. She was being treated in a hospital.
Egypt has the highest-known cluster of human cases outside Asia, with 12 deaths out of the 21 infected cases since the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry a year ago.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa011&articleID=204E8EC7BC7ABC1FF3934D44157FD691
Egyptians arrest 75 from Muslim Brotherhood
CAIRO, Egypt // Police arrested 75 members of the Muslim Brotherhood yesterday in what appeared to be a pre-emptive strike against Egypt's strongest opposition group ahead of parliamentary elections and a key debate. A Brotherhood official said the detentions risked provoking violence - not from the group itself, but from those who would infer the state was leaving no room for peaceful Islamic political activity. The arrests bring the total of Brotherhood members in custody to just under 300, according to figures provided by the group and the New York-based Human Rights Watch. The Bush administration has recently eased its public calls for reform by President Hosni Mubarak, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.world16feb16,0,5993902.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
People: Courteney Cox says no tongue, no big deal in kiss with friend Aniston
Sun Sentinel NEW YORK -- Expecting to see a passionate lip-lock between Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston on the season finale of FX's "Dirt"? It's not going to happen, Cox says. "There is no tongue and it is really not a big deal to kiss," the 42-year-old actress tells syndicated TV entertainment show "Access Hollywood" in an interview set to air Wednesday. "I am not saying, `Don't tune in to watch Jennifer on the show,' because she is fantastic and you get to see us together again," Cox says. "But if you think it is just about a major make-out session, you will be disappointed." Cox and Aniston co-starred on the...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/15/People_Courteney_Cox_says_no_tongue_no_big_deal_in_kiss_with/
$197 million settles Ivory Coast dispute: Nation & World: The Seattle Times
Seattle Times Amsterdam, The Netherlands A Dutch-based oil-trading company paid $197 million to secure the release of three executives from an Ivory Coast prison and settle claims that it dumped toxic waste that killed at least 10 people in the West African nation in August. Trafigura, accused of illegally dumping the waste in the Ivory Coast port city of Abidjan, has denied wrongdoing, saying it properly contracted with a local company to dispose of the waste. Trafigura's director, Claude Dauphin, and its West African...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/15/197_million_settles_Ivory_Coast_dispute_Nation_World_The_Sea/
Why are Dutch children so happy?
BBC News The Netherlands has come top of a league table for child well-being across 21 industrialised countries. The study by the UN children's organisation, Unicef, looked at relative poverty, educational and health standards, sexual behaviour and the children's relationship with friends and parents. "The Netherlands has always been a very child-centred society," says Paul Vangeert, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Groningen. "In particular, there is a lot of focus on young children." He says he is not surprised by the report. "On the one hand you have objective indicators in the report like, health, income and education. The Netherlands is a very rich country. On the other hand, and perhaps more importantly, are the...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/14/Why_are_Dutch_children_so_happy/
Dutch allow poultry outdoors after bird flu scare
Reuters AMSTERDAM, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The Netherlands is lifting an order to keep poultry indoors that was imposed to prevent a possible spread of avian flu after the deadly H5N1 strain was found in Britain earlier this month. Its agricultural...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/14/Dutch_allow_poultry_outdoors_after_bird_flu_scare/
Buy African flowers - UK minister
BBC News Romantics in the UK should woo their loved ones with flowers imported from Africa rather than those grown in Europe, a minister is expected to say. International Development Secretary Hilary Benn will ask consumers to aid "social justice" on Valentine's Day. Importing African flowers is better for the environment as they are not grown in heated greenhouses, he will add. The European Federation of Professional Florist Associations called Mr Benn's argument "very strange". 'Do their bit' The minister will...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/13/Buy_African_flowers_UK_minister/
Tulips an alternative to roses
The Enquirer Not every florist is pushing roses for Valentine’s Day. Of course Robin Wood of Robin...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/12/Tulips_an_alternative_to_roses/
Europe fights to save its fish stocks
Siliconvalley online ADRA, Spain - The catch of the day brings up a squirming pandemonium of creatures from the deep: sea bream and red snapper, miniature lobsters, an electric ray packing 150 volts, a baby octopus watching with one unblinking eye. But skipper Mariano Lopez, gazing at this mound of exuberance on his trawler's deck, is disappointed. Like many patches of the Mediterranean, this overworked fishing ground is not yielding the bounty it once did. "There should be twice as much," Lopez says, shaking his head. Fishermen were long seen as Europe's last true hunters, but the romance that comes with the struggle against nature has dwindled as fast as the once-bountiful fish. The European Union has desperately implemented fishing curbs and other...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/11/Europe_fights_to_save_its_fish_stocks_5/
How the thirst for strawberries is draining Spain's precious water
By Elizabeth Nash in Lucena del Puerto, Spain
Published: 14 February 2007
The morning is cold and damp and the mist has barely risen from the Doñana marshes. But, at Vicente Gonzalez's strawberry farm in a pine forest bordering Europe's most important protected wetlands, they've been picking strawberries since daybreak. In the coming days Mr Gonzalez will take on another 25 pickers, from Romania, Poland or Morocco, who will work until June, after which the fruit turns to mush and the price plummets.
"I rent this land from the local council and they grant me permission to use three wells to irrigate my strawberries," Mr Gonzalez, 37, says as he watches workers bring piles of plywood boxes each laden with 2kg of fruit and pass them up to José who stows them in the company lorry.
"Those are going to England," says Mr Gonzalez´s wife, Francisca, pointing to wide black plastic trays where the boxes are laid. When the day's crop is loaded, the lorry will head for the producer's co-operative at Lucena del Puerto and the trays of strawberries will be driven to Britain. Within two days of being picked, they'll be in a supermarket near you.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2268097.ece
Olmert aide suspended over bribery
Al Jazeera A top aide to the Israeli prime minister is being suspended from her job for six months while police investigate whether she was involved in a...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/10/Olmert_aide_suspended_over_bribery/
Merkel: Global warming battle means sacrifice
Washington - Nations must be ready to make economic sacrifices to fight global warming, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.Evidence of climate change is "now unequivocal" and even business leaders, including in the United States, are recognising it as a "real challenge for humanity", Merkel told a 13-nation meeting in Washington of lawmakers concerned about global warming."If we act now and prevent the worst consequences, we will give up just one percent of our prosperity," she said.If nations fail to act, the loss could be "five percent worldwide or even to 20 percent", she told the conference by video link.Merkel did not elaborate on how the numbers were calculated.Innovation in environmentally friendly technologies will create new business opportunities, Merkel said.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=iol117148749492B224&set_id=
Doubts over Kelly death says poll
More than a fifth of people believe government weapons inspector Dr David Kelly did not commit suicide, a BBC poll suggests.
Some 22.7% of 1,000 adults questioned for BBC Two series The Conspiracy Files said they thought the scientist had not killed himself.
Dr Kelly's body was found on Harrowdown Hill, Oxfordshire, in July 2003.
This followed his being named as the possible source of a BBC story on the government's Iraq dossier.
Hutton Inquiry
Dr Kelly had been a leading expert on biological weapons and a key UN Inspector in the hunt for Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6366159.stm
Trading genocide for independence
It is a sacrifice for the greater good, apparently, as the West deals with Serbia to lay off the hunt for war criminals responsible for genocide in Bosnia in return for Kosovo's independence.
A year of patience, denial and evasion on the part of Serbian authorities regarding the international community's demand that they turn over indicted war criminal Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic has finally paid off. After more than decade of sanctions, accusations and threats of stalled EU integration, Serbian leaders now hold the ace.
It is quite possible that the Serbs will trade Kosovo for the resumption of pre-membership talks with the EU, while the international community will in turn drop its demand to see Mladic at the UN's war crimes court in The Hague.
On Monday, the EU gave its clearest signal yet that it is ready to restart integration talks with Serbia, despite the fact that Belgrade has not made good on demands to hand over Mladic and other fugitives wanted by the international community.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=17258
S. Korean companies win patent suit against Royal Philips
Yonhap News SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- A court on Monday ruled that LG Electronics Co. and two other South Korean electronic companies did not violate a patent of Royal Philips of the...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/02/12/S_Korean_companies_win_patent_suit_against_Royal_Philips/
Croatian war crimes suspect allowed home despite partying and ski trip
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: A Croatian war crimes suspect's partying and trip to a ski race put him on a slippery slope back to a Hague cell, but U.N. judges said Thursday he could return home despite his disregard for court orders.
Gen. Ivan Cermak was indicted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal along with two other Croat generals in 2004 for his alleged role in a 1995 scorched earth campaign that drove thousands of Serbs out of southern Croatia's Krajina region.
He turned himself in and pleaded not guilty days after his indictment was publicized, and was allowed to return to Croatia in December 2004 to await trial.
Under the conditions of his release, he was ordered to stay at home and was allowed to leave only to go to work in the capital, Zagreb.
But late last year and early in January, Cermak, a former assistant defense minister, was spotted at a birthday party at a Zagreb restaurant, a New Year's Eve party at a swanky hotel in the city and then a women's ski race, tribunal judges said in a ruling issued Thursday.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/15/europe/EU-GEN-War-Crimes-Croatia.php
Dutch Trafigura settles toxic waste case
TOBY STERLING
Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A Dutch-based oil trading company paid $197 million to secure the release of three executives from an Ivory Coast prison and settle claims that it dumped toxic waste that killed at least 10 people in the West African nation.
The three executives from Trafigura Beheer BV were released Wednesday, a spokesman for the firm told The Associated Press.
Trafigura, accused of illegally dumping the waste in the Ivory Coast port city of Abidjan, has denied wrongdoing, saying it properly contracted with a local company to dispose of the waste. It said the material it offloaded from the ship, the Probo Koala, in August 2006 was not toxic.
A U.N. report, however, found that the material contained chemicals lethal in high concentrations.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/16701466.htm
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