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• Date: 31/12/2008

  New Belgium Prime Minister to take up again negotiations on State reforms

  

  Herman Van Rompuy replaces Yves Leterme, who offered resignation on December 19 · New cabinet leader to set up a working committee to draw up 'solution proposals' for Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde constituency conflict · Van Rompuy will try to serve out the current political term, finishing in 2011.

• Date: 30/12/2008

  South Tyrol: Fiscal autonomy and transfer of more powers, main goals for next years

  

  The President of South Tyrol outlines the agenda for the new legislature · New government of Bolzano-Bozen meets today and will claim for presence in RAI and the State’s Post Office · The autonomist SVP signs a coalition government with the Democratic Party

• Date: 29/12/2008

  Destruction by Israel of key targets in Gaza Strip ends up in a bloodshed

  Cross border tunnels in Rafah, the Interior Ministry and the Islamic University, under attack · More than 300 people have been killed and about 800 others wounded as a result of the Israeli aggression · Red Cross warns that hospitals are overwhelmed by emergencies · A solidarity movement to ship medical supplies

• Date: 24/12/2008

  The leaders of the three communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina agree to reform the Constitution

  The main Muslim, Serb and Croat parties have officially asked the Parliament of the country to start the adoption of constitutional reforms with a view to strengthen central institutions and rearrange the territorial organization · These are key conditions for Bosnia’s aspiration to EU membership.

• Date: 22/12/2008

  The king of Belgium meets Flemish and Walloon parties after a new political crisis

  

  Prime Minister Yves Leterme offered resignation on Saturday and ruled out a return to office · King Albert II has not yet announced whether he accepts the resignation · The situation might lead to snap elections for next June.

• Date: 19/12/2008

  'Lá Nua', the only Irish language daily newspaper, to close down

  

  After 25 years in production, the newspaper have ceased publication due to official funding being withdrawn by Foras na Gaeilge, the body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the whole island of Ireland · Lá Nua’s managing director says the decision is “counterintuitive and unwise” · Foras na Gaeilge mantains sales figures are not high enough.

• Date: 19/12/2008

  Peoples and nations today: Aosta Valley

  

  DOSSIER. At the slopes of Mont Blanc, in the Alps, there is one of the alpine countries which has developed a unique personality of its own and is currently one of the most autonomous regions of Italy. In the Aosta Valley Italian state-wide parties play a secondary role, and language –Franco-Provençal and French–, traditions and a high degree of economic self-sufficiency endow the territory with a particularly singular character

• Date: 18/12/2008

  Vojvodina expects imminent endorsement of its new Statute of Autonomy

  SPECIAL REPORT. The Statute has been given the approval of the provincial Assembly and must be ratified by the Serbian Parliament · A Vojvodina-based party claims Serbia should become a Federal State · Hungarian parties demand an Hungarian autonomous entity

• Date: 18/12/2008

  Diverslinguae, an organization for the promotion of plurilingualism in Spain, has been launched

  

  The association set up by Catalan, Galician and Basque organizations was presented in Santiago de Compostela and it is committed to promote the language rights of minoritised language speakers · The initiative comes as a result of the last Council of Europe’s report on the application of the European Charter for Minority or Regional Languages.

• Date: 17/12/2008

  The Colombian army challenges the indigenous community by killing one of its main leaders

  A squad of the National Army opened fire against a vehicle of the Regional Indigenous Council in Cauca (CRIC) and killed José Edwin Legarda, husband of Aida Quilcué, renowned indigenous representative · The Andean Indigenous Coordinating Organization calls for President Álvaro Uribe to be trialed, while Amnesty International condemns the killing