WESTERN EUROPE

AUSTRIA MAY RETURN ART LOOTED BY NAZIS

An Austrian advisory panel – the advice of which are normally heeded by the country’s government, according to Culture Minister Elisabeth Gehrer – has recommended that more than 6,000 works of art, mostly looted by Nazis from Jews, be returned to their rightful owners or heirs, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported. Austria has been returning such works of art under its 1998 culture property restitution law, including five paintings by Gustav Klimt in January, the network said.

Details regarding most of the 6,292 paintings, sculptures, and other pieces were not released, but the BBC said that Ms. Gehrer said a Web site would be designed by the end of the year to help owners find objects looted by the Nazi regime, some of which are now on display in state-run museums and galleries.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BIRD FLU FOUND IN BRITAIN

LONDON – Britain confirmed its first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in a wild swan yesterday, setting the stage for concerns the disease could spread across the Atlantic.

The swan was found in the Scottish town of Cellardyke, more than 450 miles north of London, according to Scotland’s chief veterinary officer, Charles Milne. Health officials said the case poses no serious risks to public health but the government began restricting poultry movement and implementing a 965-square-mile “wild bird risk area” around the site where the infected swan was found.

– Associated Press

PERSIAN GULF

SADDAM-ERA JUDGE INSISTS 148 EXECUTED SHIITES ALL CONFESSED

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A former judge who sentenced 148 Shiites to death under Saddam Hussein’s rule in the 1980s told prosecutors in Saddam’s trial yesterday that the suspects had confessed and received a fair trial that lasted 16 days. But Awad al-Bandar acknowledged the defendants had only one defense lawyer, appointed by his Revolutionary Court. His testimony came as prosecutors moved toward wrapping up their case against Saddam and seven former members of his regime, including Mr. al-Bandar.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

OLMERT TAPPED TO BE ISRAEL’S NEXT PRIME MINISTER

JERUSALEM – Israel’s president formally chose its acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, yesterday to form the next government, and Mr. Olmert said he’d quickly put together a coalition committed to carrying out his West Bank withdrawal plan.

During the election campaign, Mr. Olmert said Israel would pull out of much of the West Bank, but strengthen its control of major Jewish settlement blocs there, and draw the country’s final borders by 2010.

Mr. Olmert said he planned to embark on a “serious and genuine attempt” to negotiate with the Palestinian Arabs. If talks fail, Israel would define its borders “even without an agreement,” he said.

– Associated Press