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	Irish Gov't Demands Vatican Explanation after Report Prague Post July 21, 2011 http://www.praguepost.com/news/european-briefs/9557-irish-govt-demands-vatican-explanation-after-report.html Irish gov't demands Vatican explanation after report The Irish government has demanded the Vatican explain a report suggesting it may have discouraged the reporting of child abuse allegations, The New York Times reported July 15. The fresh report in the long-running scandal has caused an outcry because it covers years after reporting guidelines were issued. It was meanwhile suggested papal envoy to Ireland Guiseppe Leanza may be relocated to the Czech Republic. EC warns Denmark about increasing border controls European Commission officials has warned Denmark it must be prepared to justify extra border controls instituted in the wake of illegal migration to the EU from North Africa, The New York Times reported July 18. The EC told Danish authorities they must have a factual basis for restrictions within the Schengen visa-free travel zone. Thousands of migrants have landed on an Italian island this year seeking EU entry after Arab Spring uprisings. Cyprus foreign minister offers to step down after explosion Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou has offered to step down over an explosion at a naval base that killed 13 people and caused rolling power cuts across the island, the BBC reported July 18. Dozens more people were injured July 11 when a cache of seized Iranian munitions exploded. The country's defense minister and military chief have already resigned over what was the Mediterranean island's worst-ever peacetime military accident. Armani joins ranks of designers for Olympics Giorgio Armani has joined the widening ranks of celebrity designers picked to outfit his country's Olympic team, The Guardian reported July 15. The designer's appointment for Italy comes after Stella McCartney agreed to design the British team's gear for next summer's games in London, and Cedella Marley signed up to dress the Jamaican competitors. Scottish police won't prosecute mother in euthanasia case Scottish police have said they will not prosecute a mother who took her 33-year-old son to be euthanized in Switzerland, The Guardian reported July 18. The woman admitted on BBC radio that she had taken her son, who was paralyzed from the neck down, to an assisted-suicide clinic in Zurich. The issue has been in the spotlight over the past year after the Swiss government failed to get a referendum passed banning foreigners from using the clinics. Austrian atheist recognized as 'pastafarian' in ID An Austrian atheist has successfully obtained a driver's license showing him wearing a pasta strainer he claimed was "religious headgear," the BBC reported July 14. Niko Alm applied for the license three years ago in protest over restrictions on the wearing of religious headgear in official photos. Officials said his "pastafarianism" had not been approved under religious grounds but issued the license because his face was still fully visible. British PM cuts short trip over phone-hacking crisis UK Prime Minister David Cameron has cut short an official visit to South Africa amid the deepening phone-hacking scandal, the BBC reported July 19. The controversy has seen a string of resignations by people both at News International (NI) and the London Metropolitan Police, as well as the closure of the News of the World newspaper at the center of the row over illegally accessing the voicemail messages of people in the news. The scandal also saw the website of The Sun, another NI newspaper, come under cyber-attack. Region: U.S. praise for Slovak security ties U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano praised Slovakia for its excellent cooperation with the United States on security issues, The Slovak Spectator reported July 18. Napolitano made the remarks during a visit by Slovak Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic to Washington. The two states collaborated most recently on technology related to combating illegal migration in border areas. Region: Extra patrols after two body finds in Sofia parks Sofia police have stepped up patrols after the bodies of two women were discovered separately in two parks within a week, The Sofia Echo reported July 17. One body was found near the Perla River a week after another was found in Borissova Gradina. It is not known whether the deaths are connected. Region: Carpathian wizard and healer murdered in Ukraine A man has been arrested in the investigation of the murder of prominent Carpathian wizard and healer Mykhailo Nechai, the Kyiv Post reported July 16. A large-scale police investigation was launched after the 81-year-old white magician was found dead with stab wounds at home early July 15. Region: Israeli Embassy condemns Moscow synagogue attack The Israeli Embassy has condemned an arson attack that damaged the outer walls of a Moscow synagogue, CNN reported July 13. Reports suggest the attack could have been in retaliation for the sentencing of 13 members of a Russian neo-Nazi group known as the Russian Nationalist-Socialist Society days earlier. Three men received life sentences for murdering migrants from Central Asia. Region: 64 missile warheads stolen from train in Bulgaria Authorities are investigating the theft of 64 missile warheads from a train transporting military equipment from Bulgaria, AP reported July 18. A government spokesman in Bucharest said the components were not dangerous on their own, but declined to say if they contained explosives. Railway workers noticed the locks had been broken on the carriage carrying the warheads when it reached the border port of Giurgiu July 16. Region: Heart of last Austro-Hungarian heir buried The heart of the last heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Otto von Habsburg, was buried in central Hungary, the BBC reported July 18. The last crown prince's body was laid to rest next to his ancestors in the Imperial crypt in Vienna July 16. His heart was buried separately in the Benedictine Abbey in Pannonhalma near Budapest in accordance with Habsburg tradition. Von Habsburg died last month at the age of 98. Region: Cruise vessel to be raised after Russia disaster Salvage workers are preparing to raise the cruise vessel Bulgaria from the Volga riverbed after July 10's sinking disaster that claimed at least 114 lives, AFP reported July 18. It is thought the final death toll will reach 129 when bodies are recovered from the ship, which was improperly licensed and overloaded when it sank. Authorities arrested a tour operator and licensing official who each face 10 years in prison if convicted. Region: Kepiro found not guilty at WWII war crimes trial Former police captain Sandor Kepiro, 97, has been found not guilty of war crimes during a World War II raid, the BBC reported July 18. More than 1,200 Jewish, Serb and Roma civilians were murdered over three days by Hungarian forces in a notorious massacre in the city of Novi Sad in 1942. Prosecutors demanded jail time for Kepiro for rounding up 36 of the victims, but he maintained he had not killed anyone and had refused an order to use firearms.
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