PROSTITUTION

A new court ruling gives municipalities the right to ban prostitution from public places. The March 8 Constitutional Court decision ruled that public prostitution endangers the moral development of children. Towns will be allowed to control prostitution in public places but not in brothels, bars or hotels.

Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy March 10 to protest the occupation of Tibet. Environment Minister Martin Bursík, chairman of the Green Party, flies the Tibetan flag every year to commemorate the March 10 anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation. Bursík was criticized by the Chinese Embassy in Prague.

Some districts of Prague are planning to replace social welfare payments with a voucher system, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported March 9. The vouchers can only be redeemed for necessities such as food and clothing and not for alcohol or cigarettes. So far Pragues 2, 6 and 12 have signed on for the plan.

Continuing talks between the government and the Catholic Church have left the two sides close to reaching a deal on ownership of St. Vitus Cathedral. The church has agreed to turn over the cathedral but has not set a date. In February, the supreme court sent the battle for St. Vitus back to the lower court, which will discuss it again May 3.

Vladimír Doležal, a former deputy for the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), was acquitted March 8 of corruption charges. Doležal was charged in January 2006 with allegedly demanding an 800,000 Kč ($37,300) bribe from Prague 10 District Councilor Tomáš Hrdlička (ODS), head of the local zoning committee.

ITALY

Ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is now facing trial in Milan along with British attorney David Mills on charges of perverting the course of justice. Berlusconi is accused of paying $600,000 (13 million Kč) to Mills for giving favorable testimony in two previous corruption trials. The two face prison terms of four to 12 years if convicted.

The March 8–9 demolition of a wall running through the capital is being hailed as a step toward reconciliation for the divided island. The wall that runs through Nicosia is seen as a symbol of the split between the island’s Greek Cypriot south and Turkish Cypriot north. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a coup attempting to unite the island with Greece failed. Turkey responded by invading and has maintained troops there since.

Yearlong talks between ethnic Serbians and Albanians over the future of Kosovo ended March 10 in deadlock. Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said full and immediate independence is the only option Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians will consider, while Serbian President Boris Tadic said the idea of giving up Kosovo is “unbearable,” the Associated Press reported. The United Nations Security Council is expected to begin debates on Kosovo’s future soon.

Parliament voted March 8 in favor of legalizing abortion up until the 10th week of pregnancy. The vote came weeks after a referendum failed because of low turnout but revealed most people were in favor of legalizing abortion. The former law was one of Europe’s most restrictive. President Anibal Cavaco Silva still needs to sign the measure.

The chestnut tree outside the Amsterdam building where Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank hid is facing the axe because of a fungus infestation. Frank mentioned the tree several times in her diary and wrote that its presence comforted her. The City Council has said the 150-year-old tree is in danger of falling. The Anne Frank Museum has said a sapling from the tree will be preserved and replanted.

President Jacques Chirac confirmed in a televised speech March 11 that he will not seek a third term in next month’s presidential elections. Recent polls have given conservative Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy a narrow lead over his closest rival, Socialist Party leader Segolene Royal.

The Northern Irish government is left divided after a March 7 election ended with a near-deadlock between hard-line Protestant and Catholic parties. The Democratic Unionist Party, led by Rev. Ian Paisley, won 30 percent of the vote while Sinn Fein, the Catholic party aligned with the Irish Republican Army, won 26 percent, the Associated Press reported.