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May 9th, 2008
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KOSOVO The United Nations announced March 17 that it would be withdrawing international police from the northern sector of the Kosovo town of Mitrovica after NATO soldiers and UN police were injured in clashes with Serbs. The evacuation comes after an operation by UN police and NATO’s Kosovo Force troops to storm a local courthouse and evict Serb demonstrators who occupied the building last week, CNN reported.

RUSSIA In an effort to placate Russian criticism of the planned U.S. missile-defense shield in Central Europe, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced March 17 the United States would promise not to activate the mechanism until it was proved that Iran possessed missiles capable of reaching Europe, The New York Times (NYT) reported. En route to an official visit to Moscow, Gates said Russia must decide between partnering with the United States on the matter and “stalling the whole deal.”
UK The fifth terminal at Heathrow Airport was inaugurated March 14, and promised by the airport operator, BAA, to offer faster check-in and easier passage through security. Queen Elizabeth II pronounced the new 130-foot-high, 1,300-foot-long main building functional, the NYT reported. The terminal cost $8.7 billion to build and will be used exclusively by British Airways.
FRANCE Voters in France’s local elections struck a punishing blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy. With most results in, the Socialists seized the cities of Toulouse, Caen, Strasbourg, Amiens and Reims, while holding onto the power bases of Lyon and Paris, the BBC reported March 17. The outcome, which is being considered the first ballot box test since Sarkozy’s election, is expected to make it more difficult for his government to push its reform program.
EU Following a two-day summit in Brussels, the leaders of 27 European Union countries agreed March 14 to finalize an ambitious climate plan by the end of this year, the BBC reported. Key aims include reducing greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020, reducing energy imports and spearheading the production of renewable energy technology.
ALBANIA Reacting to a series of fatal explosions at an arms dump near the capital Tirana, Albanian Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu resigned March 17, the BBC reported. More than 300 buildings in the area were completely destroyed after the explosion at the site where workers were dismantling old munitions. Mediu’s resignation comes amid calls from Albania’s opposition leader for the government to stand down.
UK A 9-year-old girl who had been missing for three weeks was found caged under a bed by police March 14, according to CNN. The girl, who disappeared on her way home from school, was discovered in a row house in Dewsbury, where she was concealed in a pullout drawer in the base of a bed. A 39-year-old man has been arrested.
UKRAINE Three former police officers were sentenced to prison March 15 for the murder of Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze, whose death in 2000 sparked nationwide protests, the BBC reported. Gongadze, whose headless body was found buried in a forest, was an outspoken critic of the former President Leonid Kuchma’s regime.
TURKEY The Islamic-oriented government is weighing legal actions that would stop the chief prosecutor from disbanding the governing party on charges of undermining secularism, according to a party official, the Associated Press reported March 17. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government and officials from his Justice and Development Party were to conduct several meetings to develop a legal strategy.


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