The Prague Post Online: News: European Roundup

September 8th, 2008

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TURKEY Turkish forces launched further raids against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq Feb. 25. The Iraqi government has urged Turkey to withdraw its forces, which crossed the border Feb. 21, targeting members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, according to a BBC report. Footage released by the Turkish military shows bombings, helicopters and military vehicles involved in the attacks.

RUSSIA A visit to Belgrade by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for talks with Serbian President Boris Tadić and Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica is being considered a show of support for Serbia in opposing Kosovo’s independence. Medvedev’s timing and comments could be evidence that Russia’s foreign policy is not likely to change after current President Vladimir Putin steps down, the BBC reported Feb. 25.

IRELAND Five men suspected of belonging to an outlawed Irish Republican Army splinter group were arraigned Feb. 25 after a failed plot to kidnap a businessman and his family from a wealthy district in the city of Cork. The arrests followed months of surveillance by the national police force, the Associated Press reported.

EU The United Nation’s World Food Program is considering rationing food aid due to rising prices and a shortage of funds. The program’s director said increased contributions from donors were needed as demands from countries such as Afghanistan continue to grow, the BBC reported Feb. 25. Food prices rose 40 percent last year.

GERMANY Berlin alleged that the principality of Liechtenstein has aided wealthy Germans in evading the payment of millions of euros in taxes, according to a Feb. 24 International Herald Tribune report. Data lost from Liechtenstein’s largest bank, LGT Group, could be behind the current tax evasion scandal, which led to the resignation of Deutsche Post chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel last week.

FRANCE On the sixth anniversary of the kidnapping of French-Columbian politician Ingrid Betancourt, her daughter met with President Nicolas Sarkozy and expressed hope for release at a ceremony near Paris City Hall. Hopes had been raised by the recent release of two high-profile captives also held by rebels of the left-wing FARC movement, according to a Feb. 23 BBC report.

UK A Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet became the first commercial airliner to fly partially powered by biofuels derived from Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts, the BBC reported Feb. 24. Environmentalists have labeled the flight by a Boeing 747 a hoax, pointing out that biofuel production is unsustainable.

GERMANY Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out seeking early national elections following a series of state elections that increased tensions in her governing coalition, the Associated Press reported Feb. 25. At the same time, Merkel accused her partner in the alliance of acting like an opposition leader and breaking promises not to deal with the new Left Party.

FRANCE A 45-second clip of President Nicolas Sarkozy yelling at a man who refused to shake his hand during the annual agricultural fair has become one of the most popular videos on YouTube in France, the International Herald Tribune reported. The Feb. 23 incident was captured by a freelance video photographer and first appeared on the Web site of the paper Le Parisien.

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