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European Roundup


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BELGIUM After five months of unsuccessful efforts to form a government coalition, Belgium’s senior Flemish Christian Democratic Party Chairman Yves Leterme resigned Nov. 30, the BBC reported. His demands for greater autonomy of Belgium’s regions were rejected by politicians from Wallonia, Belgium’s French-speaking territory.

SLOVAKIA Two Hungarians and a Ukrainian were arrested near the Slovak-Hungarian border Nov. 28 after authorities discovered they had nearly half a kilogram of highly enriched uranium, The New York Times (NYT) reported. Police say they likely got it from a former Soviet republic and planned to sell it for $1 million. Enriched uranium is one of the two fuels needed to make an atomic bomb.
RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party secured more than 60 percent of votes in Russia’s Dec. 2 lower house elections, the BBC reported. The victory, which enables Putin to retain political power after his presidential term concludes next year, is being criticized by European election watchdog organizations, which have called the election undemocratic.
ITALY A 77-year-old man shot his 82-year-old wife to death Dec. 2 as she lay in a Tuscan hospital, where she was being treated for advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the Associated Press reported. After his arrest, the man told police he killed his wife because he could not stand to see her suffer.
FRANCE Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili met in Paris with five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany Nov. 30 for talks that failed to break the deadlock over Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, according to the BBC. Western powers plan to toughen UN sanctions against the program, which Jalili says is “entirely peaceful.”
POLAND Health inspectors found two cases of the deadliest strain of bird flu on two poultry farms near the city of Plock over the weekend of Dec. 1, according to Forbes.com. Although H5N1 has been found in wild birds in Poland in recent years, this is the first case of the infection affecting commercial farms.
UKRAINE A series of gas explosions at an east Ukrainian mine have left four men dead and 40 mine workers injured Dec. 2, the BBC reported. Ukraine’s Mining Inspectorate said the four men were maintenance workers trying to clear the Zasyadko mine in the eastern Donetsk region, where gas leaks killed 101 people in November.
ITALY The country struggled through a transportation crisis as train workers went on strike Nov. 30 and buses, ferries, cable cars and boats also stopped service, according to the NYT. The incident followed on the heels of an earlier taxi strike. Hundreds of flights were also canceled. The strike was meant to protest transport financing cuts planned by the government.
RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin signed a law Nov. 30 that suspends Russia’s participation in a NATO treaty that limits conventional forces in Europe, according to the Associated Press. Russia has threatened to pull out of the treaty Dec. 12. As a result of the suspension, Russia will halt Western inspections of its military sites.
EUROPE The European Parliament passed a law Nov. 29 that, if approved by national governments, would greatly restrict gun ownership across the union. The rules would allow those younger than 18 to have a gun only for hunting and target shooting under adult guidance, according to the NYT. Adults convicted of a violent crime would be banned from buying a gun.


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