INJURED

A British tourist injured by a falling Christmas tree on Old Town Square in 2003 was awarded 560,000 Kč ($27,185) by a Prague court April 26, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. Malcolm Tuffin, 57, suffered leg and spine fractures after being hit by the 30-meter (99-foot) tree during a windstorm. He had requested 2.5 million Kč in compensation. City Hall denies responsibility.

An amendment that passed its first Chamber of Deputies reading April 26 would tighten the requirements for foreigners seeking residency permits in the Czech Republic, ČTK reported. Under the new law, foreigners would have to pass a language test, and those marrying Czechs would have to wait two years for residency.

For the second year in a row, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) was barred from officially holding its traditional May 1 rally in Letná Park. Instead, the Confederation of Political Prisoners (KPV) leased the space for celebrations denouncing totalitarian regimes. Before 1989, official May Day celebrations took place at Letná and were attended by communist leaders.

Dissatisfaction with European Union membership is on the rise in the Czech Republic, a CVVM poll released April 27 found. Last year at this time, 20 percent of those polled said they were dissatisfied with EU membership. This year, that figure increased to 27 percent.

The flow in Czech rivers is 30 percent to 70 percent below normal, and soil moisture is dramatically decreasing thanks to recent warm, dry weather, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said April 27. If the situation worsens, it could reach drought level. This past January was the warmest in 45 years, the institute said.

ESTONIA

One person was killed and more than 150 injured in clashes following the removal of a Soviet-era war memorial in Tallinn April 27, the Associated Press reported. Authorities removed a 6-foot (1.8-meter) statue and began exhuming the remains of 14 Soviet soldiers. The decision angered both Estonia’s ethnic Russian population and Russia, where the foreign affairs minister called the move “repulsive.”

President Vladimir Putin froze Russia’s commitment to a NATO arms-control treaty April 26 in retaliation for U.S. plans to station missile defense bases in Central Europe, the Associated Press reported. The treaty limits the number of munitions stationed around Europe. Russia will discuss the treaty with NATO next month, the Defense Ministry said.  

A Russian military helicopter carrying out operations against separatist rebels in the southern region of Chechnya crashed April 27, the Associated Press reported. All 18 people on board were killed, reports said. Conflicting military reports said the helicopter was shot down or crashed accidentally.

Political tensions in Kyiv worsened after President Viktor Yushchenko announced April 25 that he was canceling his previous decree to hold early elections May 27, postponing the vote until June instead. Political opponent Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said the decree, which dissolves Parliament, is unconstitutional and accused the president of attempting to manipulate the courts.

Nearly 750,000 people rallied in Istanbul April 29 against Islamist presidential candidate Abdullah Gul. The parliamentary vote has pitted the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (AK) against the secular opposition, which says Gul would threaten Turkey’s secular state. Voting is expected to go to a third round May 9.

United Nations Security Council delegates were in Serbia April 27 to speak with ethnic Albanians lobbying for Kosovo’s independence. The delegates also spoke to Serbs fiercely opposed to independence plans. Russia has backed the Serbs, while the United States and its European allies have tentatively endorsed moves toward independence to begin this June.

The European Parliament passed a resolution April 26 calling on Poland to stop fanning the flames of homophobia. Poland’s deputy education minister announced last month that a drafted law would ban the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools. The resolution condemned “the emerging climate of racist, xenophobic and homophobic intolerance in Poland.”

Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first democratically elected president, was laid to rest April 25 in a Moscow cemetery after a funeral attended by world dignitaries including former U.S. presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Yeltsin, 76, died in a hospital April 23 of heart failure.

A Moroccan man detained since 2004 as a suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was released by a court April 25. Farid Hilali was arrested on suspicion of ties to Imad Yarkas, the alleged leader of Spain’s al-Qaida cell. Yarkas’ charges were voided last year, rendering Hilali’s detention arbitrary, the judge ruled.

Renowned cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich died in Moscow April 27 after a long illness. Rostropovich, 80, was known as an outspoken champion of artistic freedom in Russia during the Cold War, according to The New York Times. He lived in Moscow, St. Petersburg, London and Lausanne, Switzerland.