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September 8th, 2008
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February 27th, 2008 | Current Issue

Overcoming history
Marking the 60th anniversary of the communist coup

Palladium damage highlights flaws
Garage fire leaves uninsured store owners desperate for solutions

Officials wary to sanction Kosovo
Feelings of sympathy for Serbia cross party lines

Three new bells on Old Town Square
Additions to Tyn Church to chime for the first time at Easter celebrations

Prague 2 kicks out Speakers' Corner
Extremist activities prompt many changes to city assembly laws

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BRIEFS


TURKEY Turkish forces launched further raids against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq Feb. 25. The Iraqi government has urged Turkey to withdraw its forces, which crossed the border Feb. 21, targeting members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, according to a BBC report. Footage released by the Turkish military shows bombings, helicopters and military vehicles involved in the attacks.

RUSSIA A visit to Belgrade by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for talks with Serbian President Boris Tadić and Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica is being considered a show of support for Serbia in opposing Kosovo’s independence. Medvedev’s timing and comments could be evidence that Russia’s foreign policy is not likely to change after current President Vladimir Putin steps down, the BBC reported Feb. 25.
IRELAND Five men suspected of belonging to an outlawed Irish Republican Army splinter group were arraigned Feb. 25 after a failed plot to kidnap a businessman and his family from a wealthy district in the city of Cork. The arrests followed months of surveillance by the national police force, the Associated Press reported.
EU The United Nation’s World Food Program is considering rationing food aid due to rising prices and a shortage of funds. The program’s director said increased contributions from donors were needed as demands from countries such as Afghanistan continue to grow, the BBC reported Feb. 25. Food prices rose 40 percent last year.
GERMANY Berlin alleged that the principality of Liechtenstein has aided wealthy Germans in evading the payment of millions of euros in taxes, according to a Feb. 24 International Herald Tribune report. Data lost from Liechtenstein’s largest bank, LGT Group, could be behind the current tax evasion scandal, which led to the resignation of Deutsche Post chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel last week.
FRANCE On the sixth anniversary of the kidnapping of French-Columbian politician Ingrid Betancourt, her daughter met with President Nicolas Sarkozy and expressed hope for release at a ceremony near Paris City Hall. Hopes had been raised by the recent release of two high-profile captives also held by rebels of the left-wing FARC movement, according to a Feb. 23 BBC report.
UK A Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet became the first commercial airliner to fly partially powered by biofuels derived from Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts, the BBC reported Feb. 24. Environmentalists have labeled the flight by a Boeing 747 a hoax, pointing out that biofuel production is unsustainable.
GERMANY Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out seeking early national elections following a series of state elections that increased tensions in her governing coalition, the Associated Press reported Feb. 25. At the same time, Merkel accused her partner in the alliance of acting like an opposition leader and breaking promises not to deal with the new Left Party.
FRANCE A 45-second clip of President Nicolas Sarkozy yelling at a man who refused to shake his hand during the annual agricultural fair has become one of the most popular videos on YouTube in France, the International Herald Tribune reported. The Feb. 23 incident was captured by a freelance video photographer and first appeared on the Web site of the paper Le Parisien.

VISAS When drafting the bilateral agreement lifting the visa requirement for Czechs traveling to the United States Feb. 26, the government negotiated the omission of several controversial points formerly required by the U.S. side, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. The final wording of the memorandum, which will take effect this year, is now compliant with EU regulations.

ČUNEK Police will investigate Marcela Urbanová, the main witness in the trial against Christian Democratic Party Chairman Jiří Čunek, over a possible false testimony, Prague City Court Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Štěpánka Zenklová announced Feb. 25. Urbanová, who is Čunek’s former secretary, accused him of accepting bribes while he was mayor of Vsetín, east Moravia, ČTK reported.
DEPORTATION Two American brothers who sought to appeal deportation orders after Czech authorities detained them for overstaying their visa permit will now return to the United States, the news server Novinky.cz reported Feb. 26. The brothers, who are of Czech-Romany descent, chose to leave the Czech Republic rather than handle their situation in local courts.
RADAR The Czech-U.S. agreement regarding the planned U.S. radar base on Czech soil may be signed at the NATO summit in Bucharest in early April, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told ČTK Feb. 26. The announcement came at the beginning of Topolánek’s working visit to Washington, D.C., where he will meet with U.S. President George W. Bush.
CUSTODY The Czech mother of 4-year-old Adrian Santana does not have to return her son to his American father, the Prague 5 District Court ruled Feb. 25, overturning a previous verdict from a regional court in Hradec Králové. The mother, Veronika Horvátová, said domestic abuse led her to take her son from the United States without the father’s permission, according to ČTK.
OSCARS Singer Markéta Irglová and Irish musician Glen Hansard won the award for Best Song at the 80th Annual Academy Awards Feb. 24, according to ČTK. The couple received the award for the song Falling Slowly from the Irish film Once.

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