Virulent E. Coli Strain Spreads in Germany and Puzzles Health Officials

Cucumbers from Spain were left in crates as suppliers in several European nations halted entry. By ALAN COWELL and WILLIAM NEUMAN BERLIN - An unusually lethal strain of E. coli bacteria has infected more than 1500 people in Germany, mystifying public


E.coli epidemic continues to gather pace with almost 200 new cases reported over the last 24 hours amid a bad-tempered spat between Berlin and Madrid over Spanish cucumbers. Yesterday authorities confirmed more than 1500 infections with

Radical Islamists aim to infiltrate Hamburg mosques

Radical Islamists from a shut down Hamburg mosque linked to the September 11 attacks on the United States are now trying to infiltrate other mosques in and around the German city, according to officials and Muslim leaders.

Small groups of radicals have turned up at several mosques trying to establish a new meeting place since the Taiba Mosque, where the 9/11 leader Mohammad Atta once prayed, was raided and closed by police in August, they told Reuters.

With radicals no longer grouped around one mosque near the city’s main train station, security services have stepped up their observation of Islamists around the city and Muslim associations are on the lookout for suspicious newcomers.

“There are small groups of three to five people from the former Taiba Mosque who have gone to other mosques,” said Ralf Kunz, internal affairs spokesman for the city government.

Individual radicals have turned up “at lots of mosques, both in Hamburg and the surrounding region,” he said. “They have not been able to assemble at any mosque.”

People walk past the entrance of the Taiba Mosque in Hamburg October 6, 2010.

Multiculturalism in Germany had been a "total failure.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined her country's increasingly acrimonious debate about immigration over the weekend, declaring that multiculturalism in Germany had been a "total failure.

Taboo-breaking Berlin exhibition chronicles Hitler's hold over German society

The knuckle-dusters, truncheons and jackboots in the first case of a new exhibition on 'Hitler and the Germans' in Berlin sets the tone for a stark look at how German society embraced the Nazi regime in all its brutality.

While lots of memorabilia is on show, from SS and Gestapo uniforms to a sideboard from Hitler's office, the exhibition shows how all levels of German society - media, industry, the church, schools -- built up the Hitler cult in the 1930s and clung to it through World War II until defeat was imminent.

Some media have portrayed the show opening on Friday in the German Historical Museum as a taboo-breaking first exhibition on Adolf Hitler himself. But the curators are at pains to stress that their focus is on the society that created the dictator.

'Germany awake!': This Nazi flag is one of the displays at the Hitler And The Germans ¿ Nation And Crime' exhibition which has opened at the German Historical Museum

Uniforms worn by the military and Nazi party officials form part of the exhibition which is seen by some as breaking the taboo of examining how complicit German society was in the rise of Hitler

The poster on the left shows the different 'German races' and the one on the right warns of the dangers of 'inferior races' having more children than 'higher quality' ones

Mosques to become bigger part of German life-Merkel

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germans had for too long failed to grasp how immigration was changing their country and would have to get used to the sight of more mosques in their cities, according to a newspaper.

Germany, home to at least 4 million Muslims, has been divided in recent weeks by a debate over integration sparked by disparaging remarks about Muslim immigrants by an outspoken member of the country’s central bank.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a news conference

Laughing passengers join in as stewardess starts pillow fight at 20,000ft

They say the Germans have no sense of humour.

But as this video shows, when it comes to flying at least, they have finally learned to lighten up.

A spontaneous pillow fight broke out on a Lufthansa flight as a stewardess handed out the complimentary pillows.



Rather than order everyone to stop she joined in and could not stop grinning as as she threw the white cushions around.

The passengers responded by throwing them back before an all-out pillow war across the cabin broke out to whoops and shrieks of joy.

As the pillow fight ended and the stewardess ran off to the galley where a colleague pretended to haul her to safety, applause broke out and passengers rocked back and forth with laughter and slapped their thighs.

The impromptu incident took place at 20,000ft onboard the Lufthansa flight LH687 from Tel-Aviv to Frankfurt earlier this month.

Lufthansa is the German national airline and the economy class cabin was filling up with dozens of French tourists at the time.

Schoolchildren among 52 needing hospital treatment after they were trapped on high-tech train in 50C heat

Rescued: Pupils who collapsed in 50C temperatures after air conditioning failed on a high-tech ICE train in Germany receive medical treatment in Bielefeld

Sweltering: Fifty two people needed treatment after high temperatures caused air conditioning to fail on three trains

A group of schoolchildren were among 52 people who needed medical treatment after they were trapped inside three high-tech trains in Germany in temperatures up to 50C.

The air conditioning in the three trains failed during the heatwave and around 1,000 people had to switch to another train, national rail company Deutsche Bahn said.

Germany 0 Spain 1: Head boy Carles Puyol thunders La Roja into first World Cup final

Floored genius: Carles Puyol (bottom right) thunders Spain into the ascendancy

Close run thing: David Villa (right) almost connects with Andres Iniesta's (unsighted) centre

Spain needed a 73rd minute goal from defender Carles Puyol to edge past Germany 1-0 on Wednesday and set up a World Cup final against Holland.

Puyol climbed above the defence to head the winner from a Xavi corner and send Spain to their first World Cup final.

Cesc Fabregas a doubt for Spain's semi-final against Germany after suffering leg injury in training

 Bench warmer: Cesc Fabregas, who has yet to start at the World Cup, could be out of contention for the semi-final

Cesc Fabregas is a doubt for Spain's World Cup semi-final against Germany on Wednesday after injuring his right leg in training, a Spanish team spokeswoman said.

She said in a short statement that an X-ray had shown no bone damage and 'his participation had not been ruled out' for the second semi in Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Joachim Low will tell Germany to stifle Spain duo Andres Iniesta and Xavi

Duelling pistons: Germany will look to deny Xavi and Iniesta space to dominate

Germany coach Joachim Low believes that neutralising Andres Iniesta and Xavi will be the key to his side's hopes of upsetting Spain in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final in Durban.

The Barcelona pair played major roles when Vicente del Bosque's team were crowned European champions two years ago and have again figured heavily in South
Africa.

Steven Gerrard determined not to make grisly Germany game his last England outing

Low point: Steven Gerrard (centre) battles with Germany's Miroslav Klose during the breakdown in Bloemfontain

Steven Gerrard has insisted he has no intention of quitting international football.

Argentina 0 Germany 4: Diego Maradona's dreams destroyed as Joachim Low hails 'performance of champions'

High riser: Thomas Muller (bottom right) beats Nicolas Otamendi to Bastian Schweinsteiger's free kick

Penny for your thoughts: Diego Maradona saw his attack-minded tactics ruthlessly dismantled by a rapacious German side

So Germany march on, having dismantled yet another major footballing nation. Yesterday, on a glorious winter’s evening in Cape Town as the sun set behind Table Mountain, they produced the requisite magnificence to match the location with the definitive performance of this World Cup so far.

Their achievement was a deal more significant than the 4-1 victory over England, despite the revisionist theories which are likely to abound back home, justifying the failings of Fabio Capello’s team in the light of this result.

'What a beautiful revenge for Wembley 66': Germany celebrates on a scale 'not seen since the fall of the Berlin Wall'

German football fans in Berlin make their glee known during the England match

Germany fans took to the streets to celebrate their historic win in Hamburg

Berlin's Fan Mile became a whirl of German flags

'Thanks lads - that was your revenge for Wembley!'

The headline on the Bild newspaper website last night summed up the arrogance, pride and joy of a nation whose young team steamrollered England out of the World Cup.

'What a beautiful revenge for Wembley,' the paper added, in reference to the 1966 England World Cup goal which most people in the Fatherland refuse to admit was a goal at all.
Amid much other ranting it went on to report, in English, the three cruellest words for the Three Lions; 'Bye, bye England!'

Egypt president surgery successful gallbladder infection

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is scheduled to undergo gall bladder surgery Saturday in Germany.



Egypt's president has had successful surgery on his gallbladder in Germany.

Hosni Mubarak underwent the operation at Heidelberg University Hospital on Saturday, having earlier issued a decree temporarily handing power to Ahmed Nazif, Egypt's prime minister.

"Prime Minister Dr Ahmed Mahmud Mohammed Nazif assumes all the prerogatives of the president of the republic according to Article 82 of the constitution until he [Mubarak] resumes his responsibilities," the presidential decree said.

Mena, Egypt's state news agency said the president was in the intensive care unit where he was speaking with family members and his medical team.

It had reported days earlier that Mubarak was suffering from "chronic infections in the gallbladder".

The decree temporarily handing power to the prime minister was unusual as the health of Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981 and who turns 82 this year, is usually a taboo subject in Egypt.

'Concern to many'

Samer Shehata, an Egyptian professor at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera that since Egypt has no vice-president, news of Mubarak's surgery becomes "a concern to many Egyptians and many outside the country if it does not go well".

"Whenever there is a health issue with [the] president, all of a sudden questions of succession rise to the forefront of Egyptian politics, tremendous speculation, some concern and anxiety, and this is just one of those examples," he said.

Mubarak's fifth six-year term as president will end in 2011 and press reports in Egypt have suggested that his son Gamal is likely to succeed him.

Neither Mubarak nor his son have made any clear statements on the matter.

"The succession issue is one of the most hotly contested issues in Egypt right now. For good reason, it's tied into the issue of democratisation and reform and so on," Shehata said.

Succession concerns

Rawya Rageh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo, said that both the "timing and the announcement were significant".

"This, of course, is an election year in Egypt. We're expecting parliamentary elections later this year followed by presidential elections in 2011," she said.

"President Hosni Mubarak has, of course, never appointed a vice-president and the issue of succession has always loomed over his presidency.

"All this comes at a time when the country is witnessing a heated political debate with the return of the former head of [the] IAEA, [Mohamed] ElBaradei, who has spoken a lot about reforms in Egypt; about the ability of independent candidates to run as presidential candidates for next year's election."

The IAEA is the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency and ElBaradei, its former head, has said he could stand for president, but only if certain constitutional changes are made.

Health scare

Mubarak has said that ElBaradei could run for the presidency, provided he respects the constitution.

Under Egyptian law, a presidential candidate is required to have been a leading member of a party for at least one year and for the party to have existed for at least five years.

ElBaradei, who established the National Association for Change after he returned to Cairo last month has proved popular among Egyptians and enjoys a high profile internationally.

Murbarak's health has been a concern in the past. In 2007, rumours about his poor health were rife to the extent that he was prompted to make an unscheduled public appearance to dispel them.

One year later, Ibrahim Eissa, the editor-in-chief of the independent daily al-Dustur, was sentenced to two months in jail after his newspaper published rumours on Mubarak's health, although he was later granted a presidential pardon.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has handed power temporarily to his prime minister while he is scheduled to undergo gall bladder surgery Saturday in Germany, the state-run MENA news agency reported.

Mubarak has issued a presidential decree delegating Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif executive power until he returns to Cairo, as the constitution requires him to do, according to the report.

State media said on Friday that the president will undergo several medical check-ups in German city of Heidelberg during his visit in Germany.

The operation will take place in Heidelberg, and his wife and two sons including Gamal, as well as Health Minister Hatem el- Gabali, accompanied him, the report said.

President Mubarak is visiting Germany for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Two people killed after 50-ton boulder falls on home as family watched TV

Authorities are investigating whether freezing temperatures contributed to the rock breaking off from the cliff



The ruins of the house were covered by a snowfall the day after the tragedy.Authorities are investigating whether freezing temperatures contributed to the rock breaking off from the cliff



More than 250 police and rescue workers with sniffer dogs were involved in the search for survivors



In freezing conditions, rescue workers search among the debris of the demolished home in Stein an der Traun, southern Germany, after a 50-ton boulder fell on it on Monday night


The house had been built up against the cliff face and from here the vast size of the rockfall can be seen



A father and his 18-year-old daughter were killed today when a 50-ton boulder broke off a cliff and landed on top of their home, police said.

Two more people - the man's wife and their 16-year-old son - were pulled from the rubble of the house in Germany by rescuers. They were both described as seriously injured.

The family had been sitting inside watching television, the police said. Local reports claimed the boulder had weighed 50 tons.


Neighbours said they heard a 'terrible explosion' and when they rushed from their houses, dust was rising from the ruins of the house.

Up to 250 police and rescue officers with sniffer dogs were involved in the search among the rubble for survivors.

A Red Cross official said that rescuers worked desperately overnight in freezing weather to pull the survivors from the wreckage.

'We made contact with them early on and kept talking with them through the night as we pulled away at the debris,' the official was quoted as saying.

Police described the rock as the size of a small house.

It was not clear what had caused it to fall. Authorities are now investigating whether the freezing conditions that currently grip the country had managed to fracture the cliff face.

Anne Frank diary guardian Miep Gies dies aged 100

Anne Frank died of typhus in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945 

Miep Gies collected and hid Anne Frank's diary after the Nazi secret police discovered their hiding place

Mrs Gies, bottom left, and Otto Frank, next to her, were reunited after the war


Miep Gies, the last surviving member of the group who helped protect Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis, has died in the Netherlands aged 100.

She and other employees of Anne Frank's father Otto supplied food to the family as they hid in a secret annex above the business premises in Amsterdam.

Anne's diary of their life in hiding, which ended in betrayal, is one of the most famous records of the Holocaust.

It was rescued by Mrs Gies, who kept it safe until after the war.

Miep Gies died in a nursing home after suffering a fall just before Christmas.

Speaking last year as she celebrated her 100th birthday, Mrs Gies played down her role, saying others had done far more to protect Jews in the Netherlands.

She and her fellow employees kept Anne and the seven others supplied for two years, from 1942 to 1944.

When the family were found by the authorities, they were deported, and Anne died of typhus in the German concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen.

It was Mrs Gies who collected up Anne's papers and locked them away, hoping that one day she would be able to give them back to the girl.

In the event, she returned them to Otto Frank, who survived the war, and helped him compile them into a diary that was published in 1947.

It went on to sell tens of millions of copies in dozens of languages.

Mrs Gies became a kind of ambassador for the diary, travelling to talk about Anne Frank and her experiences, campaigning against Holocaust denial and refuting allegations that the diary was a forgery.

For her efforts to protect the Franks and to preserve their memory, Mrs Gies won many accolades.

Memories of Anne

In an interview from 1998, published on the annefrank website, Miep Gies says she thought it "perfectly natural" to help Anne and the seven others despite the penalties she could have suffered under the Nazi occupation.

"They were powerless, they didn't know where to turn..." she says. "We did our duty as human beings: helping people in need."

Her role was, she recalls, to fetch vegetables and meat while others supplied bread or books.

Her memory of Anne is of having the feeling she was "speaking to an adult".

"I'd say to myself, 'My goodness, child, so young and talking like that already'," she says in the interview.

She believes that she once came across Anne writing the diary.

"It was a very uncomfortable situation," she says.

"I tried to decide what to do. Should I walk away or go to her? At that moment she glanced at me, with a look that I'll never forget.

"This wasn't the Anne I knew, that friendly, charming child. She looked at me with anger, rage. Then Anne stood up, slammed her diary shut and glared at me with great condescension. 'Yes,' she said, 'I'm writing about you, too.'

"I didn't know what to say. The only thing I could manage was: 'That ought to be interesting.'"

Mrs Gies also remembers the day the Franks were taken away and how she went up into the empty annex to find the pages of the diary lying on the floor.

Removing the pages, she did not read them immediately, telling herself at the time: "These may belong to a child, but even children have a right to privacy."





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