A man in his 20s who was arrested on Wednesday in connection with a Europe-wide cyber scam and money laundering investigation has been charged.

Gardaí have delivered a “major blow” to a Romanian crime gang after they uncovered a “manufacturing hub” for the production of false passports.

The EU’s top prosecutor said she has been told smugglers bringing migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe are also carrying terrorist fighters from Islamic State.

And now for something completely different, we take a look at some of the lighter stories from the happenings of the European Union.

Ireland must introduce laws that prosecute people who pay for sex or face becoming a haven for pimps and traffickers, the Immigrant Council of Ireland has warned.

Ireland and Italy were fingered as the two countries where criminal gangs are making big money from illegal exporting and dumping dangerous waste.

A man in Ireland is one of 10 professional photographers arrested as part of an EU operation to dismantle a "network of child abuse photographers".

Lampedusa casts shame on us all

Blasphemous friends and thespians

KEEPING terror suspects locked up in Guantanamo Bay makes them glamorous heroes, according to the head of the EU’s counter- terrorism unit.

GARDAÍ are investigating 400 marriages by Latvian citizens in Ireland to non-EU spouses, believing many of them to be a sham.

An international child pornography ring that spanned three continents and required members to post explicit images on a secure internet message board has been dismantled with the arrests of more than a dozen people, authorities said today.

FLASHY cars, Swiss bank accounts and an airplane led to the arrest of a bevy of farmers accused of selling their soft fruit and veg on the black market and leading to an EU-wide search for accomplices.

EUROPE is not winning the battle against drug trafficking because each of the 27 member states is fighting the narcotics trade on its own, according to the European Commission’s top drug adviser.

75 PEOPLE were arrested across Europe in a massive police crackdown on a people-smuggling racket that brought illegal immigrants from Asia to Britain and Scandinavia, policing agency Europol said yesterday.

JUSTICE and home affairs have hardly registered in the debate on the Lisbon referendum despite huge reservations raised by the Government during the treaty’s negotiations.

Madeleine McCann’s parents played down speculation today that they may approve a movie about their daughter’s disappearance.

GARDAÍ have seized a number of computers during a series of raids as part of an investigation into an international child pornography ring.

A FIVE-FOLD increase was recorded in the number of criminals and suspects Ireland extradited to other EU countries last year.

Anti-terrorist justice officials from nine countries have met for closed-door talks in Paris today.

EUROPEAN Union justice ministers were yesterday deeply divided over scrapping the veto on justice issues, despite being told it was essential in the fight against terrorism.

Britain is organising a series of talks with members of the European Union’s national parliaments this week to ensure broad support for a proposed package of anti-terrorism laws.

FIVE hundred people have been arrested in 12 countries as part of a international crackdown on child pornography.

Spanish police say 500 people were arrested in 12 countries as part of a international crackdown on child pornography.

Increased security at the European Parliament in Brussels today failed to stop at least one letter bomb from being delivered.

A letter bomb addressed to the head of the European Parliament’s Christian Democrat group burst into flames today but did not injure anyone, officials said.

European security forces are tightening protection for leading European Union officials following the discovery of four bombs mailed to EU agencies.

Investigators believe Italian anarchists were behind four mail bombs sent to prominent European organisations.