1. Headline: Pope accused of failing to act on sex abuse case
During the 1990s, Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger, failed to act over complaints about a priest who is thought to have abused over 200 deaf boys. Ratzinger, then head of the Vatican office dealing with sex abuses, did not respond to letters from an archbishop regarding the case. The Pope issued a letter last week to Ireland addressing the 16 years of clerical cover-up scandals, but has yet to comment on his handling of a child sex abuse case involving a German priest.
2. Headline: Deal reached over Greece debts at Brussels summit
16 European countries have agreed to help debt-laden Greece. The financing plan will total up to 22 billion euros, using co-ordinated bilateral loans. The President of the European Council, Herman Van Romput, said the deal was important, "not just for Greece, but for the stability of the eurozone". However, some European countries, including Germany, are fiercely opposed to the bail-out, as Greece’s debt is almost 300 billion euros.
3. Headline: Dutch coffee shop fined 10m euros for breaking drug law
The owner of a coffee shop in Terneuzen, Netherlands, has been fined 10 million euros by Dutch courts for breaking drug laws. Checkpoint coffee shop is the biggest cannabis-selling coffee shop in the Netherlands, serving up to 3,000 people a day before being closed last year. Owner Meddie Willemsen, was sentenced to a 16-week prison term after being convicted of keeping more than the maximum tolerated amount of 500g of marijuana at the café. On a couple of occasions, police found 200 kg of cannabis when they raided the coffee shop.
4. Headline: 'Osama Bin Laden threatens retaliation over 9/11 trial'
Al-Jazeera news channel has broadcast an audiotape said to be from Osama Bin Laden, threatening to kill Americans if the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is executed by the United States. Prosecutors are expected to seek the death penalty for Mohammed, who has admitted being fully responsible for the terrorist attacks, and four other suspects. In the tape broadcast, the supposed Bin Laden said, "The White House has declared its wish to execute (Mr. Mohammed and the other suspects). The day the United States takes such a decision, it would be also taking the decision that any of you falling into our hands will be executed."
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