Rhine

A 19-mile-long oil slick was flowing down the Rhine River toward the Netherlands on Sunday, a government official said. Johannes Winkel, a state spokesman in Duesseldorf, said West German authorities issued an international pollution alert and notified Dutch authorities that the spill was approaching their territory. He said the spill apparently was caused by an unidentified ship discharging its diesel fuel waste on Saturday night. Winkel did not know how much oil had spilled, but he said the thin slick posed no danger to the environment.

A tanker carrying 1,200 tons of fuel oil ran aground in the Rhine today, spilling an undetermined amount of its cargo and halting ship traffic. The vessel, Rhinetank 24, struck a stone embankment near the city of Oppenheim, 25 miles southwest of Frankfurt, at 4 a.m. Police spokesman Jochen Boehm confirmed that the ship sustained severe damage, and could break up.

Few great rivers evoke the mystery and myth that surrounds the Rhine. Perhaps that is why the idea of a Rhine cruise is still a lure to travelers, even in an age when the river is as congested and despoiled as any superhighway. The Rhine begins in eastern Switzerland's Grisons canton, where the Vorderrhein and the Hinterrhein meet to form the Alpine Rhine. It ends in Holland's North Sea.

An accident at the chemical works of the BASF company early today caused more than a ton of a mildly toxic herbicide to spill into the Rhine River, authorities said. The announcement came three weeks after a spill at the Sandoz chemical plant in Basel, Switzerland, caused major ecological damage to the river, killing 500,000 fish and polluting drinking water in four countries.

Swiss environmental officials said today that the Rhine River will need up to 10 years to regain its ecological balance after a poisonous spill from a Swiss chemical plant fire two weeks ago. Runoff from water used to fight the fire at a Sandoz company warehouse near Basel carried 30 tons of chemicals into the river. The pollutants drifted down the 820-mile river into the North Sea, killing half a million fish, harming other aquatic life and posing a threat to drinking water.

German veterans and the Americans who defeated them joined under cold, bright skies Tuesday to celebrate the bold U.S. thrust over the Rhine 50 years ago that hastened the end of World War II. The veterans, many in their 80s, shivered through speeches at a ceremony in the shadow of the stone towers of the Ludendorff Bridge. The American capture of the bridge signaled the end of a miserable war and the start of a long friendship with Germany.

Legends and history unfold around every bend of the Rhine. Along the the banks of Europe's most important waterway we caught glimpses of a fairy-tale past . . . from medieval castles high on the cliffs overlooking the river to pastel-hued wine villages with clock towers. The slow-moving Brittania glided its way along the famous river. Relaxing on the sun deck of the 200-passenger vessel, my wife and I watched the stunning scenery pass.

James C. (Buzz) Person Jr., Newport Beach Planning Commission chairman, said Saturday that he once worked for and socialized with the restaurant owner who last week was accused of offering Person a $20,000 bribe. Person, 42, a Newport Beach lawyer, said that from 1977 to 1985, he handled business law problems for the 62-year-old Francis M. Delaney, owner of Orange County-based Delaney's Restaurants Inc. Delaney was arrested Friday on suspicion of bribery.

Spend 14 days visiting historic cities in Germany and the Netherlands on a tour that combines a Rhine River cruise with a motor-coach tour, starting at $2,099 a person. Whether on water or land, there are lots of stops on this trip -- and lots of history too.  The excursion begins with a tour of Berlin then heads to Potsdam, Netherlands, to see the 18th century Sanssouci Castle and other sites. Travelers then are to continue on to Dresden, Weimar and Frankfurt in Germany before boarding the MS Allegra . Guests are scheduled to spend eight days on the small ship during an out-and-back cruise on the Rhine, stopping at Bonn, Cologne and Dusseldorf in Germany and Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Nijmegen in the Netherlands before heading back to Frankfurt.

West Germany is scrambling to prepare for an impending invasion from the East on a scale that North Atlantic Treaty Organization war games never dared to imagine. On Wednesday, the entire 90,000-strong East German Volksarmee will join forces with the West German Bundeswehr in a military merger of former foes.