- Summer School - Update

Confirmed presenters and speakers at BIRN’s Summer School of Investigative Reporting to be held from August 22nd - 28th at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad include such notable international figures as Don Ray, Michael Montgomery, Mark Hunter, Luuk Sengres, and Drew Sullivan along with specialist trainers and famous investigative journalists from across the region.

The Summer School will focus on burning issues such as Balkan media ownership, and attacks on journalists, with a full programme of round-tables, exercises group sessions, presentations lectures and speeches as part of a comprehensive curriculum.

Check out the details.

- Headlines:

* Part of “Skopje 2014” Struck Down in Constitutional Court

Many of the buildings and monuments in the controversial state-funded project for the revamp of the Macedonian capital, dubbed “Skopje 2014”, were illegally included in the city’s planning and their construction must be halted, the country’s Constitutional Court has ruled.

* Albania Opposition Threatens Boycott, Protests

Opposition Socialist MPs in Albania have said they plan to withdraw consensus on all votes in parliament that require more than a simple majority, and they have threatened to hold new street protests in September.

* Bulgarian Man Gets 12 Years for EU Fraud

Mario Nikolov, the Bulgarian businessman charged with draining €7.5 million from the EU agriculture program SAPARD, was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Sofia City Court on Wednesday.

* EU Pushes Pristina-Belgrade Talks on Practical Issues

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, on the eve of his country’s handover of the rotating EU presidency to Belgium, has reiterated Brussels’ stance that Pristina and Belgrade should start a dialogue and discuss practical issues.

* Romania: Diplomat on Trial for Hit-and-Run

Romania’s General Prosecutor’s Office has indicted the country’s former envoy to Singapore, Silviu Ionescu, on charges of manslaughter stemming from a hit-and-run crash in December.

For further information: Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.