After a recent spate of vicious dog attacks on humans, Denmark’s parliament looks set to finally pass a long-simmering ban on breeds of dog that are considered dangerous. The debate over this touchy issue has been going for many months, with the country’s Justice Ministry even creating a special commission to study the problem. Read the full story

Today is International Pillow Fight Day, if you didn’t know already. Cities all over the world will be celebrating the day with mass pillow fights which anyone who owns a pillow is welcome to take part in. Read the full story

Several groups within Denmark’s parliament are behind a new campaign to require all “muscle” dogs in the country to be specially registered and licensed in a bid to keep track of potentially dangerous animals. Two of the nation’s largest political parties, the Danish People’s Party (DF) and the Social Democrats, have proposed new legislation that will make the registration mandatory.

The proposal will soon be submitted to the Danish parliament for approval. There are thousands of muscle dogs in Denmark that will need to be registered. The Copenhagen Post revealed that the Danish dog resister contains more than 6,000 canines that qualify as muscle dogs, although the Danish Kennel Club believes the actual number may be closer to 20,000. Most of the muscle dogs in Denmark are American bulldogs. Read the full story

Beginning in 2010, a new European Union law will come into effect that makes it illegal to sell cigarettes that are not self-extinguishing. While the new law is designed to save lives, the news agency TT reports that the tobacco industry has been fighting hard to extinguish the plan. Read the full story

Proving that they truly are man’s best friend, a pack of dogs saved a 75 year-old Swedish man as he was being attacked by an angry elk. The unusual incident occurred in a fruit orchard in the northern Swedish town of Gallivare. When the elderly man tried to chase the elk out of his yard, the formidable animal turned on him, causing several minor injuries. Read the full story

A bomb was found yesterday afternoon on the site of an Icelandic-owned factory in the town of Dobele in Latvia. The bomb was most likely from the Second World War, MBL.is reports. Read the full story

On Saturday, local authorities in the Norwegian town of Forsand were informed that a massive avalanche had occurred at Pulpit Rock, a popular rock formation in Lysefjord. The mayor of Forsand, Ole Tome Guse, has asked locals to stay away from the area until the stability of the rock can be assessed. Read the full story

It’s no urban myth that youngsters can literally play video games to the point of medical danger. The latest example comes from western Sweden, where a 15 year-old boy dropped to the floor in a convulsive fit after playing the popular game World of Warcraft for 20 straight hours. Read the full story

Reykjanesbraut, has been one of Iceland’s worst traffic accident black spots for decades, but improvement works have now restarted, according to Frettabladid.

Reykjanesbraut is the road connecting Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik with the country’s biggest airport at Keflavik. Work had been underway to widen the road into a dual carriageway for most of its length. Due for completion last August, the company working on the project filed for bankruptcy last December and the road has been in an unfinished state ever since.

Drivers have been critical of the sharp bends, poor road surface and inadequate signposting – facts gruesomely illustrated by the spate of accidents that saw 15 people injured in just four months.

The Icelandic Roads Administration had come under scrutiny for its failure to find another contractor to complete the road widening project, but came to an agreement in late April with Istak, one of Iceland’s largest construction companies.

Istak commenced work on Monday and the scheduled date of completion is 16 October 2008.

A study review released on Wednesday from researchers in Denmark found that vitamins may not always have the health benefits intended. The research findings were published by CTV and found that some vitamins may actually increase the risk of premature death.

Researchers analysed the results of 67 clinical trials which involved a total of over 200,000 participants. Researchers discovered that anti-oxidant supplements were ineffective in reducing the risk of death in subjects.

Of all the study participants reviewed, 13.1 per cent who took the supplements died, compared to 10.5 per cent of those who took a placebo.

The supplements in the studies included beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium supplements.

Specifically, vitamin A was linked to a 14 per cent higher risk of death, compared to beta-carotene, which was linked with a 7 per cent higher chance of death. Taking vitamin E supplements was linked with a four per cent increase in risk of death.

Vitamin C and selenium supplements were not associated in the study with any increased risk of death or any detrimental health effects.

As a result of this review, scientists now believe that some vitamin supplements may, in fact, interfere with the body’s natural defensive mechanisms, rather than fortifying them, as previously believed.

The review from the Danish scientists was published in the Cochrane Library and conducted by the Cochrane Collection.