BANJA LUKA (AFP) – The Bosnian-Serb government yesterday protested against a decision to wrest from it authority over a memorial to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Christian Schwarz-Schilling, the outgoing international envoy to Bosnia, issued a decree on Monday taking management of the memorial from the Serb government and handing it to central institutions. But the government of the country’s Serb-run half, where Srebrenica is located, said the decision was “unacceptable for Republika Srpska institutions and asks them to carry on with their duties” within the entity.

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Croatia took fresh steps toward EU membership yesterday with the opening of talks in six more policy areas, meaning a third of the 35 adhesion chapters have now been opened since 2005. “The opening of these six chapters sends a strong signal... It’s a real breakthrough,” said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency until the end of the month. “I trust this cruising speed will be continued during the Portuguese presidency,” added EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.

Istanbul will not be staging a Live Earth concert – part of a series of performances around the world July 7 to raise climate change awareness – organizers said yesterday, citing insufficient interest and sponsors. Organizers will, instead, set up a large screen in Istanbul for Turks to watch the Live Earth concerts in other cities, Cengizhan Yeldan of Purple Concerts, the company that was organizing the Istanbul show, told AP. Purple Concerts said last week they hoped to hold a scaled-down version of the concerts in Istanbul because of the few sponsorships they received. The company, however, conceded yesterday that there was not enough time to organize that and pulled out of the concerts. (Reuters)

The Turkish government cannot intervene in the case of a German teenager held in Turkey on sex charges, the country’s chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan said yesterday. “As you know, as far as the government is concerned, we do not wish to interfere in the proceedings,” he told a press conference in Brussels following talks with EU officials. The German teenager named as Marco W. is being held in Turkey accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old British girl. (AFP)