Evacuations continue as flooding threatens

DESSAU, Germany -- Floodwaters from the rain-swollen Elbe River overwhelmed a dike and swamped part of this east German city Monday, forcing more evacuations as Europe wrestled with the aftermath of storms that swept the continent two weeks ago.

In Magdeburg, about 40 miles downstream from Dessau, authorities prepared to evacuate up to 20,000 people as the Elbe's crest approached.

German authorities reported three deaths Monday, increasing the European toll to 109. European leaders also grappled with how to pay for damages estimated at up to $20-billion. Germany rescinded a planned tax cut to help pay for its recovery efforts.

High flood ramparts helped Budapest, the Hungarian capital, escape largely unscathed as the Danube River peaked Monday at a historic high.

Weather forecasts for Germany and central Europe called for dry weather in the next few days.

Deal with Iraq in works for months, Russia says

MOSCOW -- Russia insisted Monday that its proposed 10-year trade agreement with Iraq had been in the works for years and should not cause alarm, but a leading political analyst said the deal's timing was designed to send a strong message to the United States.

"Maybe it is intelligent, certainly it is cunning," said Georgy Mirsky, chief political analyst at the Institute for World Economics and International Relations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that it was in talks with Iraq about a 10-year trade agreement, which envisions cooperation in oil, irrigation, agriculture, transportation, railroads and electrical energy. Iraq's ambassador to Russia, Abbas Khalaf, said it was a $40-billion agreement, but Moscow refused to confirm that figure.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov said that the deal "absolutely does not contradict" U.N. sanctions against Iraq.

First brand-name U.S. food arrives in Cuba

HAVANA -- The first brand-name American food sold directly to Cuba in more than four decades arrived on the island last weekend: a 132-ton shipment of butter, margarine and cereals.

The load, which arrived Sunday, is the first half of a $750,000 order Cuba placed with Marsh Supermarkets Inc. of Indianapolis for its Marsh brand products. The second half of the order is expected to arrive later this month.

With the shipment, Cuba has bought about 770,000 tons of American food worth about $125-million since the communist government started taking advantage of a U.S. law easing the 40-year-old U.S. trade embargo to allow direct food sales.

The shipment was the first of packaged goods bearing a brand name -- Marsh's. Past deliveries have been of bulk commodities, including apples, onions, corn, rice, wheat, soy, poultry, vegetable oil, eggs and pork lard.

Cuba could buy as much as 70 percent of its imported food from the United States if it could get financing for the deals, said Pedro Alvarez, head of Cuba's import food agency Alimport.

Powell will lead U.S. team at Earth Summit

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush designated Secretary of State Colin Powell to lead the U.S. delegation to the Earth Summit, which opens next week in South Africa to concentrate on fighting poverty.

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