Newswire : River wild

After years of trying to prevent flooding along the Rhine, the five countries
that border the river admitted defeat last week. Environment ministers from
France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland, along with
European Commission officials, have signed up to a programme in Rotterdam that
will let the Rhine run a “more natural” course. “The river must be given more
space, and people must learn to live with the risk,” say the ministers.