Another Helping of EuroNews!

THE NETHERLANDS ““ (BBC) A Peruvian court has sentenced Dutchman Joran van der Sloot to 28 years in prison for the murder of a young woman he met at a casino in the capital Lima. The decision comes two days after van der Sloot pleaded guilty to killing Stephany Flores in May 2010. Ms. Flores was found dead in a hotel in the Peruvian capital on May 30^th, 2010. Van der Sloot is also a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of US student Natalee Holloway on the Caribbean island of Aruba. The court also ordered van der Sloot to pay 200,000 Peruvian soles ($74,000) in reparations to Ms. Flores’s family.NORWAY ““ (BBC) A court in Norway has ordered a new psychiatric evaluation of mass killer Anders Behring Breivik after an earlier report found him legally insane. Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen said in Oslo that the new evaluation was necessary because of widespread criticism of the initial findings. On the basis of the earlier report, Breivik would be placed in psychiatric care instead of prison. His twin attacks on July 22^nd left 77 people dead and 151 injured. “Due to the gravity of this case, the criminal responsibility [of Breivik] must be examined again,” Judge Arntzen told reporters. Two new experts, Agnar Aspaas and Terje Toerrisen, were named to evaluate the killer’s sanity. The judge said her decision did not “imply any criticism of the initial experts” and stressed “the need to clarify the case as much as possible.” Observers have asked whether someone who is suffering from a serious mental illness could have carried out such a well-planned attack. Breivik is due to go on trial on April 16^th.

ROMANIA ““ (BBC) Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc has called for dialogue and an end to violence after four days of protests against austerity cuts. Dozens of people were hurt on Sunday as demonstrators and riot police clashed for a second day running in the capital of Bucharest. The rallies began in support of an official who quit in protest against health care reforms, but they have grown into a broader hostility towards government policies. The alliance of opposition parties has called for early elections. More than 1,000 demonstrators rallied in University Square in the center of Bucharest on Sunday, the scene of violence the night before. A number of people were arrested, without officials saying most of the troublemakers were young football fans. Peaceful protests were reported in a number of towns and cities across the country on Sunday, including Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov, and Arad, as demonstrators called for the resignation of the government and of President Traian Basescu. Basescu later announced that he was scrapping the unpopular reform, but that has failed to sooth demonstrators’ anger.

SERBIA ““ (BBC) Police in Kosovo have made more than 140 arrests after clashing with protestors who tried to stop traffic from Serbia entering the territory. Around 50 people ““ most of them police officers ““ were injured in the violence at two border crossings. Protestors say Serbia wants to obstruct development in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia doesn’t recognize the independence of the mainly ethnic-Albanian territory. Saturday’s demonstrators were organized by Self-Determination, a Kosovo party opposed to contacts in Serbia.