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October 10th, 2007 | Current Issue

Taking the lead
Milena Vicenová prepares to steer the European Union in 2009

Hospital sorry for baby swap
Couples seek damages as investigators search for person responsible

Proposal seeks to ban communists
Move targets symbols of extreme left and right parties

Dignitaries kick off Forum
Participants debate themes of freedom and responsibility

Panelists call for moral democracies
Rise of demagogues, changing climate cited as global threats

Winemakers get boost from EU
Reforms cause a case of sour grapes among old and new member states

RFE/RL honors slain journalist
Anna Politkovskaya's killing spotlights wider problem in Russia

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BRIEFS


UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Oct. 8 that the United Kingdom will halve its troop contingent in Iraq by next spring. UK troop levels in Iraq have dropped from 46,000 in March 2003 to 5,500 last May, the Associated Press reported. Officials said the country is considering complete withdrawal by the end of next year.

TURKEY Fighters from Kurdish separatist group PKK killed 13 Turkish soldiers Oct. 7, in an ambush near the border with Iraq. The BBC reported that clashes have been almost constant since Turkey upped troop levels in the region earlier this year. Since 1984, 30,000 people have been killed in the course of the conflict over the region’s autonomy.
ITALY Authorities are investigating a mafia clan for nuclear waste trafficking, The Guardian reported Oct. 9. A man who claimed to have been part of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia alleged that the ENEA state energy research agency paid mobsters to send drums of radioactive waste to Somalia. Investigators are searching for other drums they believe were secretly buried in the Basilicata region near Calabria.
UKRAINE After yearlong negotiations, the Ukrainian government settled a commercial dispute with Russian gas company Gazprom Oct. 8. The agreement follows a 2006 dispute that left Ukraine and parts of Europe cut off from Russian gas supply, the BBC reported.
FRANCE Lyon-based international police organization Interpol launched an unprecedented appeal Oct. 8 for public assistance to catch a man who raped boys in Vietnam and Cambodia. A German special crimes unit unscrambled photos posted on the Internet of a white man in his 30s or 40s with receding dark hair. Interpol chief Ronald Noble said all other means to identify the man had been exhausted.

RADAR Czech experts studying possible harmful effects of the Marshall Islands radar base concluded that it poses no health risks, chief public health officer Michael Vít said in an Oct. 9 article in Hospodářské noviny. Army experts joined Vít on the weeklong trip to measure radiation at the site when the radar is fully operational.

IRAQ Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said the country is preparing to withdraw troops from Iraq. Speaking on a discussion show on Czech Television Oct. 7, Schwarzenberg said no date has been set as he must discuss the plan with allies. Most of the 100 soldiers in Iraq guard a coalition base near Basra.
REOPENED The Czech Supreme State Attorney’s Office reopened the case of “the Kubice report,” a controversial police report that discredited the Social Democratic Party prior to the 2006 government election, according to the Czech News Agency (ČTK). Investigators say more evidence is needed to prove the claims that top Social Democrats were linked to organized crime.
VISIT Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed Oct. 8 that the planned missile-defense shield is a matter for NATO. During Topolánek’s two day visit to Paris, the leaders also discussed the Czech Republic’s upcoming EU presidency, which will follow France’s. According to ČTK, Sarkozy has agreed to visit the Czech Republic at a date still to be determined.
EVICTION Police have concluded that Deputy Jiří Čunek did not violate any laws by evicting Romany families while mayor of Vsetín, east Moravia, server iDnes.cz reported Oct. 8. The decision was based on discrepancies in the claims of evicted people. The conclusion contradicts the findings of ombudsman Otakar Motejl, who said the move violated human rights.

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