FRANCE - Despite three weeks of protests by university students and others, France's Constitutional Council ruled March 31 that a controversial youth employment law championed by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is legal. The bill, which loosens restrictions for employers to hire and fire people younger than 26, now awaits the signature of President Jacques Chirac before becoming law.

GERMANY - A court in Hamburg said April 3 that it was legal for Gerhard Schröder to take a job with Russian natural gas giant Gazprom. The former German chancellor was facing criticism, largely from the Free Democrats Party, that he was personally profiting from a deal with Russia's Vladimir Putin to build a new pipeline between Russia and Germany.

DENMARK - Author Kare Bluitgen is now working on translating the Koran into Danish, local press reported. Bluitgen is the author of a book on the life of the Prophet Muhammad for which he sought depictions of the prophet, which led to a competition by a Danish newspaper that sparked protests throughout the Muslim world.

LITHUANIA - Turkey started patrolling Lithuanian airspace March 31 in a NATO mission to monitor the three Baltic countries. Under a NATO resolution, members, including Germany and Norway, have taken turns conducting similar missions in the region since March 2004, when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined NATO. Belgium is expected to take over in August.

ESTONIA - More Estonians are opposed to adopting the euro than are for it, according to a state-sponsored poll released April 1. About 40 percent of respondents were in favor of introducing the euro, while 50 percent were against it, according to the poll. Euroskeptics are concerned that adopting the euro, slated for Jan. 1, 2007, will trigger inflation.

AUSTRIA - Gertraud Arzberger, 33, a woman from Graz who has been convicted of stuffing two of her babies in a freezer and entombing two others in concrete, was sentenced March 31 to life in prison. Her boyfriend, Johannes Genser, 39, was convicted of being an accessory and given 15 years in prison.

SLOVAKIA - The labor market in Slovakia will need to produce another 53,000 automotive workers by 2010, the Slovak Automotive Industry Association announced March 31. The automotive sector already employs 55,000 Slovaks. In 2010 Slovakia is projected to be the world's largest per capita car producer.

BULGARIA - Bulgaria appears to have won its tourism war with Romania by offering higher-quality services at lower prices, Romanian newspaper Cotidianul conceded March 3. In 2005, tourism revenue totaled $2.6 billion (62.1 billion Kč) in Bulgaria, compared with $606 million in Romania.