RIGHTS: British Govt to Release Documents on Gitmo Case

After months of denial, the British government has agreed to release secret documents that lawyers say could prove that MI5 agents were present during the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's torture of a British resident held by the U.S. government for eight years.

EUROPE: Shadow Falls Over New Leaders

Allegations of racism and financial impropriety have spiced up an otherwise lacklustre two-week ritual in which nominees to the European Union's executive arm are quizzed by the EU's only directly elected institution.

FRANCE: Time to Pay Back Haiti

As thousands of people filled Notre Dame Cathedral here Saturday evening in a special mass for victims of the earthquake in Haiti, the solidarity and sadness reflected the historical ties that bind France to the Caribbean nation.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Wanted – Methane-Free Livestock

At first glance, the Riswick farm is just another modern agricultural facility: in the middle of broad cultivated fields stand recently built barns, similar to so many other farms across Europe.

RIGHTS: Italy Shows its Ugly Side

If the first step towards solving a problem is recognising you have one, the Italian authorities look to be some way from tackling the growing racism and xenophobia affecting sections of its society.

CULTURE: ‘Understanding Diversity Can Help Avoid Clashes’

The International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2010) has not had an auspicious start.

MIDEAST: Turkey Going Its Own Way

The recent diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel has raised questions about the future of relations between the two closest allies of the United States in the region and the direction of the markedly independent foreign policy agenda that Turkey has pursued in recent years.

ECONOMY: Neoliberalism Ailing but Alive

The global financial crisis led many European economists and civil society activists to believe that the neo-liberal paradigm in social and economic policies across the industrialised world and many developing countries had passed away, victim of its own flaws.

UKRAINE: Facing Hard Choices Again

Neither the voters nor the West hold great illusions about genuine change in crisis-ridden Ukraine through the elections this weekend.

DEVELOPMENT: EU Aid to be Used for Fingerprinting

Aid traditionally reserved for keeping victims of war and disasters alive may now be used for security-related projects such as the fingerprinting of refugees, European Union officials have decided.

Q&A: Sweden Vows to Sustain Aid Levels to Poorer Nations

Sweden has pledged to maintain its current level of development aid to the world's poorer nations - roughly at about one percent of gross national product (GNP) - despite the global financial crisis.

BIODIVERSITY: ‘Pious Words Won’t Save Endangered Species’

Less than a month after the world's heads of governments failed to sign an international treaty to address climate change at Copenhagen, they are back at making pious speeches, this time in favour of protecting biodiversity, endangered by global warming and other causes.

BALKANS: ‘Econoslavia’ Makes Sense If Yugoslavia Does Not

Politicians from the former Yugoslavia often speak about integration with the European Union (EU) as their major goal in this decade and possible salvation from the economic hardships the region faces.

Q&A: ”Copenhagen Was Great for Citizen Mobilisation”

"It is important that we all come together, the Green Party, NGOs and citizens, on major issues such as pollution in big cities or deforestation," says Remus Cernea, the new executive president of the Romanian Green Party. "And we have to use all means, from public protests and working with the media to judicial action and party politics, in order to achieve our goals."

SWITZERLAND: Police Smash School for Undocumented Migrants

The Zurich police have raided and demolished an autonomously run school where undocumented migrants held language classes. The raid came as the Swiss government admitted that its harsh treatment of undocumented asylum- seekers has partly failed, and following an announcement that it is again planning a revision of federal asylum law.

TURKEY: Peace May Come to Pass in 2010

With newfound liberties for the Kurdish minority and the government's ‘Democratic Opening' initiative the prospects for peace in 2010 are brighter than they have been in the last 25 years. The fly in the ointment is the ban in December of the pro-Kurd, Democratic Society Party (DTP).

DEVELOPMENT: Have a Hungry New Year (No Don’t)

The world's hungry have good reason to look to the new year with trepidation given the experience of the 12 months that preceded it.

BALKANS: Serbs Bank on EU Laws to Regain Seized Property

Prominent theatre actor Tanasije Uzunovic loves to take long walks in the large Kalemegdan Fortress Park but generally avoids the Dedinje neighbourhood, a more popular green zone in the Serbian capital.

MALI: Mobilising in Defence of Migrants

The number of migrants being deported and returned to Mali is increasing. Civil society has mobilised to support the returnees.

AGRICULTURE: Cattle ‘Black Death’ Banished to History

An animal 'black death' that has devastated livestock around the world for thousands of years, causing famine and untold human misery, is about to be permanently consigned to the history books.

GENDER/LANGUAGE: Rejecting the Derogatory ‘Feminine’

What happens to language and the way women are addressed when they start to occupy positions of responsibility? Well, it depends on the language.