Early tests: No E.coli in German sprouts

Berlin (CNN) -- No traces of the deadly E. coli bacteria have been found in initial tests at a German bean sprout farm suspected of being the source of the outbreak that has killed at least 22 people, agriculture officials in the state of Lower Saxony said Monday.

But authorities said they might not find any evidence of E. coli if it affected only a batch of bad sprouts and is no longer in the supply chain.

Test results are back for 20 of the 40 samples, Lower Saxony officials said Monday. It's not clear when the rest of the test results will be available.

On Sunday, officials said German-grown sprouts are the likely source for the E. coli outbreak.

Gert Lindemann, agricultural minister in Lower Saxony, said there is a "direct link" between a company in the town of Bienenbuettel and "these people getting sick." The firm has been shut down and its products have been recalled, Lindemann said.

It is not immediately clear how the E. coli strain may have gotten into the sprouts, officials said. No E. coli has been found in the company.

The company, Gaertnerhof, said Monday that it was recalling all products.

Gaertnerhof said in a statement it was "shocked and worried.... that part of our production has been linked to E.coli infections" and had never had a problem in its 25 years of growing sprouts.

It said it had found no evidence of E. coli during routine testing in January or during tests in response to the health scare in May.

But a leading German microbiologist said Monday that bean sprouts were a "plausible" source of the infection.

Sprouts can contain bacteria, which then spread in the growing process, said Alexander Kekule of the University of Halle-Wittenberg.

"Either it was inside the seed, which I do not think is the case, or the bacteria was inside the water," Kekule said on Germany's NDR radio. He is not working directly on the case.

Sprouts are bred in large drums that are heated to just over human body temperature. That is both the ideal temperature for sprouts and bacteria to grow, the agriculture ministry of Lower Saxony said.

Authorities say the infection may have taken place too long ago to be found at the company itself. But several restaurants and cafeterias linked to the outbreak got sprouts from the company, officials said.

Two workers at the agricultural company have come down with severe cases of diarrhea; in at least one of those cases, E. coli was the cause, Lindemann said.

Bienenbuettel is in the district of Uelzen in north-central Germany.

The outbreak of a virulent strain of E. coli has infected more than 2,200 people in at least 12 countries, European health authorities said Sunday.

All but one of the 22 fatalities were reported in Germany, where officials say it's too early to determine whether the peak of the outbreak has passed. One person in Sweden also died after visiting Germany.

Last week, Spain vehemently rejected suggestions that its cucumbers could be blamed, after the European Food Safety Alert Network said E. coli was found in organic cucumbers originating from Spain, packaged in Germany and distributed to various countries.

Authorities called for the cucumbers to be pulled from sale.

Germany later said Spanish produce was not the source of the infection, and furious Spanish farmers are now demanding hundreds of millions of euros in compensation from Germany.

Jose Maria Pozancos, the head of the Spanish fresh produce exporters group Fepex, wants Germany to apologize formally, pay Spanish farmers at least 400 million euros ($584 million) for their losses, and help Spain repair damaged consumer confidence.

Spanish produce exporters have seen a 40% decline in demand since the crisis began, Pozancos said.

In Germany, there have been 627 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) -- a form of kidney failure -- in the current European outbreak, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. That's more cases of HUS than in any other recorded outbreak, worldwide.

Fifteen patients in Germany have died of HUS, according to the center, while six died of enterohemorrhagic E. coli, a strain that causes hemorrhaging in the intestines and can result in abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea.

Reports indicate that an estimated 1,605 people have that E. coli strain so far but do not have HUS, according to the center.

Infections have also been identified in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, according to the organization.

Two women and a man who traveled last month to northern Germany remain hospitalized in the United States with HUS, Chris Braden of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. A fourth person developed bloody diarrhea, but was not hospitalized, he added.

Two U.S. service members in Germany also developed diarrhea, Braden said. "We have no expectation that this will spread in our country," he added.

The U.S. government website foodsafety.gov says that since 1996, "there have been at least 30 reported outbreaks of food-borne illness associated with different types of raw and lightly cooked sprouts. Most of these outbreaks were caused by Salmonella and E. coli."

The World Health Organization says that in 1996, "an outbreak linked to contaminated radish sprouts in school lunches caused 9,451 cases" of E. coli in Japan.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, Al Goodman and Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

CNN

Volcano forces Barca onto early flight

Barcelona are bringing forward their travel plans ahead of Saturday's Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.Volcanic ash cloud forces Spanish champions onto early flight to London
Barcelona meet Manchester United in Champions League final on Saturday at Wembley

Barcelona FC will travel to London on Tuesday evening ahead of Saturday's Champions League final because of fears Iceland's volcanic ash cloud could disrupt their travel plans later in the week.

Volcanic ash heads for Heathrow

"Due to the uncertainty caused by ash from the Grimsvotn volcano, the first team of Barcelona will travel to London on Tuesday at 10pm," read a statement on the club's web site, Tuesday.

Will volcano cause a repeat of travel chaos?

Players and coaching staff had initially planned to travel on Thursday, 48 hours ahead of their clash against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, but plumes of ash are already beginning to disrupt flights in Scotland and the north of England.

Last year, Barcelona were forced to travel 1,000 kilometers by coach to play the first leg of their semi-final tie with Inter Milan -- a game they lost 3-1 -- when an ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused widespread flight disruption across Europe in April 2010.

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Saleh calls for early election as Yemenis protest (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called Friday for early elections in an apparent bid to stave off Gulf and Western pressure to leave office, as thousands rallied for and against his three-decade rule.

Saleh has twice backed out of a Gulf Arab-brokered transition deal, most recently last Wednesday, despite diplomatic wrangling by U.S., Gulf and European officials.

Washington and Riyadh, both targets of foiled attacks by al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, are keen to end a stalemate that has pushed fractious Yemen further onto the brink of chaos and could give the militant network more room to operate.

Saleh in March called for a presidential election by the end of this year, but in his Friday speech he did not give any time frame or details on a plan for an election, leaving some skeptical it may be a tactic to buy time.

"We call for an early presidential election to prevent bloodshed, to protect our family dignity and for a smooth democratic path," he told a cheering crowd of tens of thousands of supporters waving his picture and Yemeni flags.

Security analyst Theodore Karasik, of the Dubai-based INEGMA group, said: "I think it is a ploy to further delay the inevitable, to make it look like he is trying to leave power, but I don't think that is his full intention."

But Saleh appeared to lay the groundwork for his followers to prepare to relinquish some control over government.

"Your General People's Congress will remain both in power and out of power and they will educate them (the opposition) in how to be a responsible opposition. No cutting roads, no cutting tongues, no treachery."

Protesters are increasingly frustrated their three months of daily protests have failed to dislodge Saleh. They have begun blocking roads and staging mass strikes that have ground commerce to a halt in several cities.

Yemen also faces severe power and fuel crises since tribesmen blockaded the oil- and gas-producing Maarib province a few weeks ago. Loss of its exports, the government's main source of income, are likely costing Yemen some $3 million a day.

GULF BLOC MEETS SUNDAY

Gulf foreign ministers are planning to meet Sunday to discuss Yemen's political crisis, but have made no mention of another deal signing, although Yemeni officials in the opposition and government said they may try again to ink the twice-thwarted deal Sunday.

In the capital Sanaa and Taiz, to the south, protesters called on Saleh to end his nearly 33 years in power.

"Zayani, Zayani, we need another president," they shouted, referring to Abdullatif al-Zayani, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), who has headed mediation efforts.

Saleh first refused to sign the GCC deal in April when he said he would only sign in his capacity as ruling party leader, not president. Last Wednesday he backed out in objection to the opposition's inclusion of a politician he did not want to be among those who would sign the deal.

Yemen, where half the 23-million people own a gun, and already facing regional rebellions, has become a concern for regional stability among its Gulf neighbors, particularly neighboring oil giant Saudi Arabia, and the United States, which has seen Yemen as an ally against al Qaeda.

In his widely anticipated speech on U.S. policy in the Arab world, President Barack Obama said Thursday that Saleh needed to "follow through on his commitment to transfer power."

On the streets of Sanaa, Obama's words received mixed reviews. Some protesters were optimistic that his call for a transition meant the U.S. president was on their side. Others argued he did not go far enough in confronting Saleh.

"The American position is still weak toward President Saleh. We were waiting for Obama to call on Saleh to leave immediately," Samir Abdullah said.

(Additional reporting by Sara Anabtawi in Dubai; Writing by Erika Solomon)

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Morganza Spillway could open as early as Saturday

Mississippi officials close boating activity in 14 counties hit by floodingArmy Corps of Engineers is expected to open the spillway once river flows hit a triggerThe Morganza Spillway has not been opened since 1973Opening the Morganza Spillway would flood the Atchafalaya River BasinWatch "The CMT Disaster Relief Concert," co-hosted by HLN's Robin Meade, to help raise money for victims recently devastated by storms, tornadoes and flooding in the Southeast. "Music Builds" airs Sunday night at 9 ET on HLN.

(CNN) -- With the opening of a major spillway all but certain in Louisiana, residents in the flood zone made preparations for the consequences of the decision.

In order to lower anticipated cresting levels along the rising Mississippi River and divert water from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could open the Morganza Spillway as early as Saturday.

The move would flood parts of low-lying south-central Louisiana.

"Right now, a lot of people are real nervous about it. It's sad," said Larry Doiron, a resident of Stephenville, a town that could face flooding because of the spillway's opening. "We need to have protection so that they don't flood us."

He said his subdivision would likely be fine, as it was built at a relatively high elevation, but that his neighbors were building additional levees and putting out sandbags.

Morgan City, which sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River, could also see rising water if the spillway is opened.

"Really, we're just waiting," said Evie Bertaut, who has lived in Morgan City for 50 years.

Officials believe that the levees will protect the city from flooding, but some are taking preliminary precautions, she said. At Sacred Heart Church, where Bertaut works, people spent the day moving important documents such a baptismal, marriage and financial records to the second floor.

"Most people are getting their photographs together, things that you can't replace in case you have to go," she said.

The Mississippi River Commission has directed the Corps to operate the crucial spillway once river flows reach a certain trigger: 1.5 million cubic feet per second. Projections indicate the tipping point could be hit as early as Saturday evening, Jindal has said.

Opening the spillway would lower anticipated cresting levels along the lower Mississippi River and divert water from Baton Rouge and New Orleans but would flood much of low-lying south-central Louisiana. Seven parishes are expected to be affected by the opening -- Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Martin, Iberia, Iberville, St. Mary and Terrebonne -- according to the Corps.

Earlier this week, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal predicted that if the Morganza Spillway were to open, 3,900 people and 2,600 structures would be impacted by the high water.

The Mississippi River Commission has advised a "slow opening," and the flood would spread gradually over several days, the Corps said.

The Morganza Spillway has not been opened since 1973.

"When we reach the trigger of 1.5 million cubic feet per second then we will in fact open that floodway and, again, take the pressure off the levee systems that are downstream from that particular structure," Col. Ed Fleming, the Corps of Engineers' district commander in New Orleans, told CNN's John King.

Louisiana state and local officials braced for the possibility of major flooding in the Atchafalaya River Basin if, or when, federal authorities open the spillway north of Baton Rouge. They advised residents to expect road closings.

Meanwhile, in the Arkansas town of Helena, the river crested at 56.5 feet -- 12.5 feet above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service.

The river's slow pace has given emergency responders more time to prepare, forecasters said. But while the slow-moving water gives residents extra time to get ready, it also means that land could remain under water for some time.

Jindal urged southeastern Louisiana residents to evacuate.

"Now is the time to take action," he said.

The U.S. Coast Guard said floodwaters could close the Mississippi River to ships at the New Orleans port as early as Monday morning.

To help New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers said Friday that it will open 52 more bays at the Bonnet Carre Spillway just north of the city, diverting water into Lake Pontchartrain. That will mean a total of 264 bays will be open in the 350-bay spillway.

The National Weather Service said that as of Friday morning, the river was at 16.8 feet in New Orleans, just a fraction below flood stage. It is expected to crest May 23 at more than 19 feet. The New Orleans levees are built to withstand 20 feet, according to the weather service.

Upriver in Mississippi, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks has closed all boating activity in counties affected by the recent flooding including: Adams, Bolivar, Claiborne, Coahoma, DeSoto, Jefferson, Humphreys, Issaquena, Sharkey, Tunica, Warren, Washington, Wilkinson and Yazoo.

In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Police Chief Walter Armstrong said 600 residents had been evacuated as of Thursday night. The river was expected to crest at 57.5 feet. Flood stage at Vicksburg, the level at which the river may begin flowing over its banks, is 43 feet.

Armstrong said he expected higher water Friday, with more homes affected. More than two dozen roads were closed and about 45 businesses will be closed by Friday.

Homes that were built between the levee and the Mississippi River were the first affected.

"We estimate that every home built on the river side of the levee from Memphis all the way to the Louisiana line is flooded," said Mike Womack, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Residents near Vicksburg counted on a levee for protection. In addition to the mainline levee along the river, starting near Vicksburg and extending northeast for more than 20 miles, a so-called backwater levee offers shelter.

The backwater levee is designed to keep water from backing into the Yazoo River delta and is designed lower than the mainline levee so that water can flow over it. That level is expected to be reached Monday, said Charlie Tindall, attorney for the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners.

The backwater levee was being "armored" by a heavy plastic coating to prevent it from washing out, he said.

"There's a chance it might not make it through an over-topping event," said Mississippi Levee Board Chief Engineer Peter Nimod about the backwater levee. "There is a risk. We don't think it will break, but we want people to be prepared."

"It's hard to plan for a multi-100 year event," he said.

Nonetheless, 1.4 million acres in Mississippi, including 602,000 acres where crops are growing, could flood, said Rickey Grey of the state's Department of Agriculture.

Across the South and lower Midwest, floodwaters have covered about 3 million acres of farmland, eroding for many farmers what could have been a profitable year for corn, wheat, rice and cotton, officials said.

CNN's Mariano Castillo, Mia Aquino and Erica Henry contributed to this report.

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Trump's Strength in Early Presidential Polls Defies Conventional Wisdom

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A top adviser for President Obama dismisses him as a "sideshow." Former Bush adviser Karl Rove calls him a "joke candidate."

But that hasn't stopped Donald Trump, who has captured national attention with his outspoken skepticism of Obama's citizenship, from surging in early presidential polls. He leads all potential GOP presidential candidates by nine points in a Public Policy Polling survey released Friday. He trailed only Mitt Romney in a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released last week.

The real estate mogul and star of NBC's "The Apprentice" says he's encouraged by the polls, but won't make an announcement about his plans for a presidential bid until June. Yet he'll be in Florida this weekend to speak at a Tea Party Tax Day rally in his first political trip since he began making waves with talks of a possible presidential bid.

Despite Trump's early strong showing, many still aren't convinced of his electability and analysts say he will have to go beyond the so-called "birther" cause and define himself for Republican primary voters on social, fiscal and foreign policy issues.

Cary Covington, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, attributes Trump's high poll numbers more to a weak Republican field than to Trump's strengths as a potential candidate.

"The Republican Party right now hasn't found that resonant individual who speaks to the various bases the way a Bush or Reagan did and until they do

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Tea Party Gets Early Start on Shaping 2012 Elections

AP

Sen. Jim DeMint, at podium, addresses a Tea Party rally March 31 on Capitol Hill.

The Tea Party doesn't want to be a one-election pony, and is starting early to make sure candidates heed their call for budget cuts and limited government ahead of the 2012 election. 

One faction of that movement, the Tea Party Patriots, held a small but vocal rally Thursday on Capitol Hill to pressure Congress to hold down spending for the rest of the year. The rally of about 100 people was a rather mild reminder of the Tea Party's might. Elsewhere, the strategists behind the multi-headed movement are plotting once again to make waves in the primaries and general election. 

With the budget debate in full swing, they warn that any Republicans failing to live up to their vows to cut spending could face a challenge in the primary season. But as in 2010, different groups have wildly different goals. 

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips has been threatening to put somebody up against House Speaker John Boehner, griping that he's not done enough to get control of the debt. 

But over at Tea Party Express, Boehner is not considered a problem. 

Sal Russo, chief strategist with the group, said Tea Party Express so far has four targets, two from each party -- Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson in Nebraska and Debbie Stabenow in Michigan, and Republican Sens. Richard Lugar in Indiana and Olympia Snowe in Maine, both moderates. 

He said the group has been meeting with possible Senate challengers in those races since the beginning of the year, and has made some decisions about endorsements, though he declined to reveal them. 

He said that during the primaries, the group will look to galvanize fundraising for favored candidates and get supporters across the country to work the phones in key races. He said Tea Party Express would also run ads in the general election, with the ultimate goal of winning for Republicans a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority -- something Democrats are determined to not let happen. Russo said the organization is waiting for redistricting before it starts strategizing at the House level, since districts could change, in turn affecting the vulnerability or strength of candidates. 

"Somebody may be vulnerable today, but when the map gets drawn, they may be in a safe district," Russo said. 

New for the Tea Party this cycle will be the chance to have an impact on the presidential race. Tea Party Express plans to invite presidential candidates to speak at stops on its planned bus tour later this year, and will co-host a presidential primary debate in the fall. 

The Tea Party already is part of the presidential primary trail. 

The Boston Herald reported that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who recently launched his exploratory committee, plans to speak to the Boston Tea Party during its April 15 Tax Day rally. 

While candidates and Tea Partiers work through the awkward getting-to-know-you phase, Tea Party leaders are sending out a stern warning to incumbents. 

"If they don't cut the spending that they promised to cut, we're going to get back in 2012 and we are going to get them out of there," Ana Puig, with the Pennsylvania-based Kitchen Table Patriots, told Fox News. 

The Tea Party Patriots' Jenny Beth Martin also told Fox News that some members will "probably be primaried" if they don't live up to expectations. 

"We're going to have an impact in this debate, we're going to have an impact when it comes to the budget in 2012 and we're also going to have an impact in the debt ceiling and next year's elections," she said. "We're not going away. We're here. We're going to be vigilant." 

As Democrats openly spoil for a fight with the Tea Party by labeling their views "extreme," Republicans on the Hill continue to pay deference to the movement, in a sign of its importance in 2012. 

Boehner, who blames Democrats for the lack of progress on the budget, said lawmakers should "welcome" the input from people like those protesting on Capitol Hill Thursday. "I'm glad that they're engaged in the process," he said. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a freshman senator elected with help from Tea Partiers in his state, warned lawmakers not to push their buttons. 

"A lot of these people have found their expression in the Tea Party movement. I think that's a positive development in American politics, and I think our leaders should not be criticizing everyday Americans who decide to express themselves through the political process," Rubio told Fox News. 

Recent polls have suggested enthusiasm for the Tea Party might be waning, at least in the drought period between elections. A CNN/Opinion Research poll out Wednesday showed about half of those surveyed having an unfavorable view of the movement, apparently the first time that number has been as high as it is for Democrats and Republicans. 

But Russo said he expects the movement to "grow" as the campaigns get underway. 

"I think we're in that frustration period among those that think the 2010 elections were determinative," he said. "We got one-half of one-third of the government. It was a first step." 

FoxNews.com's Judson Berger and Fox News' John Brandt contributed to this report.

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