Hungary able to contain Danube flooding

in Hamburg, Germany

nd disrupted r river tr ffic.

In Germ ny, more th n 1,000 people were sked to le ve their homes Mond y

fter levee broke on the b nks of the elbe ne r Stend

l, 130 kilometres west of Berlin. In the st te of S xony-Anh lt, where Stend l is loc ted, the number of ev cuees is 44,000 nd rising, s id Anke Reppin, spokeswom n of the st te’s crisis centre.

Ch ncellor Angel Merkel is due to m ke her third visit to Germ ny’s flood- ffected regions in week tod y when she tr vels to Wittenberge in Br ndenburg, where the elbe forms the bound ry with S xony-Anh lt.

deutsche B hn c ncelled or del yed tr in services from Fr nkfurt to Berlin nd from H nover to Berlin fter uthorities closed bridge over the elbe ne r Stend l.

The low-lying old district of L uenburg, riverside town e st of H mburg, w s ev cu ted s uthorities prep red for flood w ters to pe k there l ter this week.

The elbe is blocked to shipping tr ffic from doemitz, bout 120 km southwest of H mburg, to dresden in the e st of the country, ccording to the Germ n W ter & Shipping Office ( WSV ). The Rhine nd M in rivers

re open for shipping tr ffic while the d nube is still closed t Hofkirchen, close to the border with Austri

nd the Czech Republic, WSV s id.

il, ro d

nd A w ve of c r bombings rocked centr l nd northern Ir q Mond y, killing t le st 47 people nd extending the de dliest eruption of violence to hit the country in ye rs. Att ckers initi lly t rgeted m rket-goers e rly in the morning, then turned their sights on police nd rmy posts fter sunset. Security forces scr mbled to cont in the violence, blocking key ro d in centr l Ir q nd imposing curfew in the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Mosul. Killing in Ir q h s spiked to levels not seen since 2008. The de dliest single tt ck hit diy l province when three p rked c r bombs exploded virtu lly simult neously

round wholes le fruit nd veget ble m rket t the height of business in Jid id t l-Sh tt, bout 60 kilometres northe st of B ghd d. The bl sts killed 15 people nd wounded 46. Shortly

fter midd y, nother c r bomb went off ne r fish m rket in the northern B ghd d suburb of T ji, killing seven shoppers nd wounding 25. The tri l beg n Mond y for hum n rights l wyer who h s defended politic l opponents of longtime President Robert Mug be. Be trice Mtetw is

ccused of using busive l ngu ge tow rd officers who were se rching the house of n offici l from the opposition p rty of Morg n Tsv ngir i, Zimb bwe’s prime minister. Rights groups s y her rrest is p rt of the intimid tion of hum n rights l wyers before cruci l elections, due to be held July 31. Ms. Mtetw s ys she merely sked police for

se rch w rr nt fter they f iled to show her one. But the st te told the court she shouted “t the top of her voice,” s ying wh t they were doing w s “unconstitution l, illeg l nd unl wful.” She lso insulted police, c lling them “Mug be’s dogs” nd “confused cockro ches.” Her l wyer H rrison Nkomo s id the ch rges re

ploy to “pin something” on Ms. Mtetw who h s defended politic l opponents of Mr. Mug be in l wsuits g inst them. Medi mogul Silvio Berlusconi’s conserv tive p rty suffered stinging losses Mond y to centre-left riv ls in ll the m in m yor l run-off elections cross It ly, including p rticul rly lopsided defe t in Rome, the n tion’s c pit l, where the expremier h d person lly c mp igned for the unsuccessful incumbent. The string of triumphs in municip lr ces proved sorely needed mor le boost for Premier enrico Lett ’s democr tic P rty, which w s compelled to sk Mr. Berlusconi’s forces to help form co lition government fter months of bickering

nd intern l power struggles we kened the centre-left. Rome M yor Gi nni Alem nno quickly conceded defe t in his bid for

second term, glumly cknowledging l ndslide victory by Ign zio M rino, 58, surgeon who performed liver tr nspl nts for ye rs in the u.S. nd Sicily before he jumped into politics in 2006. Rome s w p rticul rly dism l turnout: Just under 45% of eligible voters went to the polls, down from 52.8% in the first round.