Berlin
British show mocks Nazis: Germans will finally get to see a popular British sitcom from the 1980s, set in Nazi-occupied France. Private television station ProSieben this week bought all 85 episodes of the BBC series ’Allo ’Allo, which portrays German soldiers as doltish buffoons. German TV executives saw the show when it first came out and “thought it was hilarious,” said the star, Gordon Kaye. “But they knew they couldn’t buy it because they’d be sacked,” since the program could be seen as making light of the nation’s Nazi past. But ProSieben said it believed German audiences would now find the show funny. ’Allo ’Allo has run in more than 50 countries, including the U.S.
London
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Flap over pledge: A new government proposal to require graduating high school students to swear allegiance to the queen is being poorly received around the U.K. Leaders in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all said their constituents want more autonomy, not more emphasis on British unity. “It’s another foolish attempt to ape an American practice that is generally mocked,” said Paul Flynn, a Labor member of Parliament from Wales, referring to the American Pledge of Allegiance. The pledge proposal was one of several released last week by a government-appointed task force charged with boosting national cohesiveness; other proposals include a national holiday and a citizenship ceremony for immigrants.
Amsterdam
No asylum for gay Iranian: A gay Iranian man who fears execution in his home country has lost his bid for asylum in the Netherlands. Mehdi Kazemi, 19, said his partner identified him to Iranian authorities before being executed for homosexual activity, a capital crime in Iran. Kazemi traveled to Britain to study in 2005. While he was there, he learned that his boyfriend had been executed. He was denied asylum in Britain and fled to the Netherlands, but now he will be returned to Britain—and possibly deported to Iran. The British immigration service refused to comment on Kazemi’s case, saying only that it would not deport “anyone who we believe is at risk on their return.”
Warsaw
Defense aid from America: The U.S. has agreed to give Poland advanced air defense equipment in exchange for its willingness to host a U.S. missile defense base, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this week. After a meeting in Washington with President Bush, Tusk said the U.S. had conceded that “the missile defense system and the modernization of the Polish forces come in one package.” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino denied that the U.S. military aid was intended as a reward for Polish cooperation. “As we would with any ally, we would help them modernize a different part of their defense system,” she said. American plans to install a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic are unpopular among Poles and Czechs, who fear they could become targets for Russia.
Vatican City
More sins to avoid: The Roman Catholic Church has added seven modern vices to its list of original mortal sins. In the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Msgr. Gianfranco Girotti said that in addition to the old standbys of pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath, and sloth, believers should eschew “violations of the basic rights of human nature.” The new sins that fit under that rubric are polluting, genetic engineering, being obscenely wealthy, taking drugs, abortion, pedophilia, and causing social injustice. Girotti said that while the old sins are self-oriented, the new ones concentrate on actions that affect others. Girotti is head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, which is in charge of absolution.
Belgrade, Serbia
Government collapses over Kosovo: Serbia’s governing coalition fell apart this week after ministers from different parties could not agree whether to cut ties with the E.U. for recognizing the independence of Kosovo. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, a nationalist who opposed the secession of the former Serbian province last month, dissolved his government and called for new parliamentary elections. He is hoping that anger over the loss of Kosovo will boost nationalists’ share of seats in parliament. Pro-Western parties, for their part, hope that growing embarrassment over Serbia’s isolation will attract voters to their parties instead, and the E.U. is on their side. “Serbia has a very crucial choice to make,” said E.U. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. “It can either stick to the European future or risk self-imposed isolation.” The new elections are scheduled for early May.
