A quote from the BBC’s Mark Mardell at his blog, 3 September 2007

Denmark's conservative leader, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has promised Angela Merkel that he will do his very best to avoid a referendum [on the revised European constitution]. They are both painfully aware that it could trigger a domino effect that might knock over Mr Brown by heating up the already pretty hot demands for such a vote in the UK. [...]

A quote from the Italian press agency Ansa, 4 September 2007

The Vatican Secretary of State [Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone] lashed out on Tuesday at politicians who have questioned the tax advantages enjoyed by the Catholic Church in Italy. [...] Ongoing controversy over the fiscal treatment of Catholic institutions in Italy intensified recently when the European Commission asked the Rome government for further information on the issue. [...]

A quote from The Wall Street Journal Europe’s leading editorial, 4 September 2007

Belgian justice brings to mind a certain novel by Kafka. Last month the mayor of Brussels banned a demonstration planned for September 11 under the slogan of “Stop the Islamization of Europe.” An administrative court upheld that decision last week. So much for free speech and freedom of assembly in Europe’s capital. […] [T]he administrative court in Brussels refused to overrule the mayor. It said the plaintiffs had failed to show “irreparable damage,” such as those that result from contractual obligations. The court also suggested the demonstration could perhaps be held another day – a rather speculative remedy as the mayor has not said he would allow such a rally on a different date. Besides, the organizers chose September 11 for its historic significance.
 
The judges overlooked that if law-abiding citizens are not allowed to express their opinions on any given day, it causes irreparable damage to the plaintiffs’ rights and Belgium’s democracy. Perhaps the civil court to which the organizers have appealed will give more weight to these arguments at tomorrow’s hearing.

A quote from Jean Quatremer, the correspondent of the French daily Libération in Brussels, on the Libération blog, 3 September 2007
 
Contrary to what is often said, the possible Flemish independence would not contradict the European principle. […] There is no precedent of a [European] Union member state breaking up into two or more independent states: the separation of Czechoslovakia, the Baltic states or Yugoslavia happened before they joined the Union. The fact that there would be two new states instead of a united Belgium will simply increase the number of member states from 27 to 28… Better still, the Union cannot but support the Flemish claim […] If a member state should decide to leave the Union, not only can no-one can prevent it from doing so, but it is its most absolute right to do so, since Europe is not built on coercion, like an Empire, but on voluntary adhesion. What is true for the Union is also true for the member states.

The Belgian authorities have indicted the Belgian chapter of the Church of Scientology, the European headquarters of the Church, as well as 12 of its leading members. According to the office of Public Prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen Scientology is a criminal organization which has committed several crimes including extortion, fraud, violations of the trade law, violations of the privacy law and the illegal practice of medicine.

A quote from Ian Parker at his blog, 31 August 2007
 
The break up of Belgium. [...] The obvious is the annexing of the two largest regions, Flanders into Holland and Wallonia into France, which would in all essence leave Brussels as a region with no home. [...] The [Eurocrats] would see this as an opportunity. They would have within their power the ability to create a capital state, in the same way that Washington sits within the District of Columbia (DC) and the Australian capital Canberra sits within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Brussels would therefore become a state in its own right. A true capital of a new super state. [...]

A quote from al-Jazeera, 2 September 2007

The Italian government is being asked by the European Commission (EC) to explain tax breaks which the Vatican enjoys on income from property. The EC has received complaints that the concessions amount to illegal state aid, despite the deal stemming from an agreement between Italy and the Catholic church dating back to 1929. [...]

A quote from Pierre Bürcher, assistant bishop (Catholic) of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, at Swissinfo.org, 20 August 2007

It is essential that we respect the laws laid down in Switzerland and we cannot allow them to be fundamentally undermined by another way of thinking, such as sharia law.

The Belgians are currently living in a state without government. Are they to be pitied? Not at all. Since there is no government they are not being governed – which is great.
 
Belgium’s coalition of Liberals and Socialists, led by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, lost its parliamentary majority in last June’s elections. Until there is a new government the Verhofstadt cabinet continues to function in a caretaker position. This severely limits its powers. Verhofstadt is not allowed to start up new initiatives nor to bind Belgium internationally to new obligations. This implies that Belgium is not allowed to sign the revised European Union Reform Treaty (the revised EU constitution).
 

No kidding: Norway's Socialist Left Party (SV) is promising better weather if people vote for them in the upcoming local elections. There's a little problem with the slogan though: bad weather usually refers to cold weather, while SV wants to stop the global warming. And after having one of the worst summers in Oslo in human memory, people aren't exactly put of by the idea of global warming if it leads to some local warming too.