BOMB

Christian schools in Prague resumed classes Jan. 15, after bomb threats led to widespread closures Jan. 12. Police searched more than 30 elementary and secondary schools after six anonymous phone calls threatened attacks, but found nothing. Police detectives are investigating the case to rule out possible terrorist involvement.

DIRECTOR

New Culture Minister Helena Třeštíková decided Jan. 15 to appoint Ondřej Černý as director of the National Theater. Černý, director of the Theater Institute, will take over from controversial Interim Director Jan Mrzena. Performers at the National Theater had threatened a strike, demanding that Mrzena be replaced.

BARRED

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek's wife, Pavla Topolánková, told Czech Television Jan. 14 that the Government Office has barred her from attending official events with her husband. Topolánek, who is having an affair with fellow Civic Democratic Deputy Lucie Talmanová, recently admitted he's no longer living with his family. Topolánková said she would not let anyone tell her where she can go.

THREAT

Social Democratic Chairman Jiří Paroubek received a bomb threat in his Prague flat Jan. 12. An anonymous Slovak-speaking man called Prague Police saying the bomb would explode at 5 p.m. that same day. Police immediately informed the squad of officers in charge of guarding Paroubek. The case is still under investigation. Detectives suspect a prankster.

CASINO

Green Party Chairman Martin Bursík co-owns a Prague apartment building, the ground floor of which houses a casino, according to a Jan. 15 report in tabloid paper Šíp. According to Šíp, Bursík says he disagrees with having the casino in the building and doesn't gain any profit from it because all of the income from rent goes into building maintenance.

RUSSIA

Moscow will cut duty charges levied on Belarus as part of an agreement to end a trade dispute over crude oil, Russian media reported Jan. 12. The spat earlier this month led to a disruption of Russian oil shipments to Central and Eastern Europe. As part of the deal, Russia will lower duties from $180 per metric ton (3,840 Kč per 1.1 short ton) to $53, while Belarus agreed to cancel a $45 per metric ton transit tax on Russian shipments passing through its territory.

UK

The trial of six African-born men accused of planning a bomb attack on the London transit system in 2005 started Jan. 15. The men had built six homemade bombs using hydrogen peroxide and flour, but the bombs failed to explode on the day of the planned attack, the prosecution said. The trial is expected to last up to four months.

FRANCE

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy easily won the presidential nomination of his center-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) Jan. 14. Now he faces Socialist Segolene Royal in France's April presidential election. Noticeably absent from the UMP's presidential convention was current President Jacques Chirac, a party member. It is widely acknowledged that Chirac and Sarkozy do not get along.

SPAIN

Hundreds of thousands marched through various Spanish cities Jan. 13 to protest a Dec. 30 car bombing at the Madrid airport by Basque separatist group ETA. The bombing, which killed two Ecuadorian nationals, shattered a nine-month cease-fire. More than 800 people have been killed during ETA's four-decade crusade for Basque independence.

GERMANY

Germany will revive its efforts for new laws to make Holocaust denial a crime throughout the European Union during its six-month EU presidency, Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said Jan. 14. Similar efforts two years ago failed after several countries rejected the laws for infringing on personal freedoms. Germany's EU presidential term lasts until the end of June.

GREECE

Police are investigating claims from a Greek far-left militant group that it was responsible for a Jan. 12 rocket grenade attack on the U.S. Embassy in Athens, the Associated Press reported. Revolutionary Struggle is considered a domestic terrorist group, officials said. The embassy blast caused limited damage and no injuries.

RUSSIA

On Jan. 15, a court approved the arrest of a second suspect, Alexei Frenkel, in the Sept. 2006 murder of banker Andrei Kozlov. Frenkel was head of a bank shut down by Kozlov just months prior to his death. Before his murder, Kozlov had been fighting against money laundering and corruption in Russian banks. Frenkel will reportedly appeal the court's decision.

BELGIUM

EU environment ministers will reignite the debate on designer food when they meet Feb. 20 to discuss genetically modified organism (GMO) policies. Topping the agenda is a draft order for Hungary to lift its ban on GMO corn, a proposal to let farmers grow GMO potatoes and the protocol on importing carnations that have had their colors changed through genetic modification.

ROMANIA

Romania wants to buy the medieval fortress known as Castle Bran from the Habsburg royal family, who won the castle back after a long restitution battle, government officials said Jan. 8. The Habsburgs lost the property after World War II, when they were forced to flee Romania's communist regime.