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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (938)	3/25/2001 7:21:44 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

Foot-and-mouth shadow darkens over Europe asia.dailynews.yahoo.com LONDON, March 25 (AFP) - The shadow cast over Europe by foot-and-mouth disease darkened on Sunday as Britain prepared to turn a disused airstrip into a mass grave, Ireland considered extending a slaughter of healthy animals and the Netherlands reported a fifth outbreak. As the number of outbreaks in Britain rose by 47 on Sunday to 607, the agricultural authorities said they would use the abandoned airfield to bury the overwhelming number of animal carcasses. About 200,000 animals either infected with the virus or thought to be at risk of spreading it could be disposed of at the airstrip in Carlisle in the northwest region of Cumbria -- one of the areas worst hit by the epidemic. A five-metre (16-foot) wide pit will hold just some of the estimated half a million animals either already destroyed or earmarked for slaughter in a desperate bid to stop the spread of the highly contagious disease. The army has been called in to help with the operation, and military associate Brigadier Alex Birtwistle will help oversee the digging of several trenches. "In the first part of the cull, we have about 500,000 sheep to take out of farms and slaughter in the most humane way -- it is an enormous task, this is a massive problem," Birtwistle said. Ireland, which reported its first outbreak of the highly infectious disease on Thursday said it was considering extending a slaughter of healthy livestock this week to ensure the country's only outbreak of the virus is contained. Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh said he would seek advice from veterinary experts on extending the cull up to the border with Northern Ireland to "establish a firebreak." All healthy cattle and sheep in the immediate area have already been destroyed and authorities are now culling livestock from farms within three kilometres (two miles). Walsh described the arrival of the disease in the republic for the first time in 60 years as a "shattering blow" for the country, where agri-business accounts for about 10 percent of GDP. The Netherlands, which only reported its first outbreak on Wednesday, confirmed a fifth in a farm in the town of Oene on Sunday. Although all reported cases have been restricted to the east of the country, agriculture ministry spokeswoman Martine de Haan said, "We have not yet been able to determine the origin of the contamination." The ministry said 130 calves at the farm in question would be destroyed. In France, where a second outbreak of the disease was reported on Friday, Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany admitted that a European ban on his country's livestock exports would not be lifted on Wednesday. "From the moment a site is discovered, there is a sort of countdown triggered," Glavany said on Sunday. "We have started back at zero," he said. "That means at least two more weeks of embargo." But he stressed that vaccination was not the answer. "As long as we have a limited number of sites, we can avoid it and I would really like to avoid it," Glavany said. He said he was doing everything to ensure that France could avoid vaccination because of the economic damage it would do to livestock breeders. In Britain, as the number of outbreaks topped 600, experts warned the figure could rise to 4,000 by June, piling more pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair to abandon any plans for a May 3 general election. Blair, who has described the situation for farmers as hellish, has given himself until April 2 to decide whether to delay the vote because of the foot-and-mouth crisis, his deputy John Prescott said on Sunday. And as the disease showed no signs of releasing its stranglehold on Europe, Qatar on Sunday became the latest country to ban cattle imports from the European Union, the official QNA news agency said. ****************** Yes, hook and mouth may prove to be a greater obstacle to european union than any other factor. Regards, Ron

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (938)	3/26/2001 3:01:22 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

Re: However the Sephardic (Ibero-Jewish), and Native Israelis (Sabras) generally find their ties to be stronger to the middle eastern culture. Israeli Prez Moshe Katsav, who floated the EU-membership idea, is an Iranian Jew..... Re: ...few can see where Europe stands to gain anything by upsetting the Arabs (and their precious oil supplies) by bringing the Jews into the EU. It certainly would not go over well with the Turks who have ALSO been trying to gain entre to the European markets and are just as secular as the Israelis. The largest oil company in the world is LUKOIL, a Russian monopoly (listed on the NYSE) and, overall, Europe relies increasingly upon Russia as regards its energy supplies (electricity, gas and oil). The Turks?? Who cares? BTW, Israel also harbors an Arab/Muslim population, so, by coopting Israel as a new EU member, Europe would show its "multidenominational pledge" --Arab Israelis would be EU citizens as well... And don't forget the clincher for the EU's reach to Israel: next Pope Lustiger (a converted Jew). As for my Espresso article that reports Katsav's opinion, believe me Ron, I did my best to dig out an English source.... I'll try again but hey, Italian is not that difficult, is it?? Gus.