Memories of Osh Violence Continue to Haunt Kyrgyz Children

The physical damage done to Osh, the city in southern Kyrgyzstan that was engulfed in interethnic violence almost two years ago, is steadily being repaired. The psychological scars, on the other hand, may take generations to heal.

Could Mining Threaten Mongolia’s Tourism Potential?

Twenty years ago, when a Dutch cyclist named Rik Idema first passed through Mongolia on a round-the-world biking trip, the country struck him as the most pristine place he'd ever seen.

Spanish Officials Turn Deaf Ear to General Strike

Spain’s centre-right government stood firm and announced that it would not modify the labour reforms that tens of thousands of people protested Thursday in a 24-hour general strike.

Kazakhstan Divided Over Fugitive Banker

As the trial began this week of 37 alleged participants in a strike-related riot, the man who did the most to help the striking oil workers and to publicise their cause, Mukhtar Ablyazov, remained far beyond the Kazakhstan government’s grasp.

OP-ED: The Key Is Youth Participation

When the secretary-general of the United Nations recently said that failing to invest in the one billion young people of the world "is a false economy", he certainly had more in mind than just a useful business idea.

Can’t Help Helping Refugees

It’s 10 am on Saturday morning and a group of migrants is clustered round the entrance to the Migrant Clothes Association in the Calais city centre, eating breakfast provided by the association. Inside, the warehouse is stacked with blankets, tents, trainers and clothes. Some of these will be distributed later by the association’s workers.

Mind the Women’s Business

"We want to hear each others’ stories on how we have coped with changes, how we have got to where we are now and thus how we can be an inspiration to others," says Anna Loa Olafsdottir, one of the people behind a group of women in southwest Iceland who call themselves SKASS.

Counting the Cost at 2,600 Litres of Water a T-Shirt

The share of organic cotton is increasing in an unstable cotton market, thanks to big European retailers like H&M and C&A who've jumped on the bandwagon of offering organic clothing at a low price. But whether this benefits the farmer is another matter.

French Muslims Fear Stigmatisation After Killings

"The murderer is gone, and now it’s us who will have to live with the consequences." That’s how a Muslim shopkeeper summed up for IPS the death and legacy of the man suspected of murdering seven people in three separate attacks in France.

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Take Differing Approaches on Aral Sea

The saga of the Aral Sea is now a tale of two bodies of water. One holds the promise of a happy ending, the other remains enmeshed in tragedy.

Mexico, So Close to Oil, So Far from Clean Energy

Mexico is not only lagging in the development of renewable energies, but some of the projects that are being carried out actually pose a threat to the environment and biodiversity, such as a wind farm on the island of Cozumel, activists say.

Calais Draws More Refugees, And Trouble

It’s more than two years since French police demolished the migrant squatter camp in Calais known as the Jungle in September 2009. At the time the widely-publicised demolition was hailed by the French and British authorities as a major blow to the smugglers or passeurs who facilitated illegal immigration across the Channel.

European Left Backs Hollande in United Front Against Austerity

Practically all European Social Democratic and Socialist parties are supporting the French presidential candidate François Hollande in the upcoming elections, in the hope that his likely triumph against incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy will create enough continental momentum to put an end to the present Conservative-inspired social and economic austerity policies.

Will Europe Meet its 2015 Aid Development Goals?

Decades ago, 15 of Europe’s wealthiest nations made a promise to allocate .7 percent of their respective gross national products (GNP) to official development assistance. Yet despite a commitment that comprises such a small fraction of a nation’s wealth, only a handful of countries are on track to reach this goal by the 2015 deadline.

Winter of Crisis Killing the Elderly in Portugal

This winter the mortality rate in Portugal has grown alarmingly, to a level far higher than the seasonal averages of previous years. And the brunt of the death toll is being borne by low-income elderly people.

BRICS Bank Could Change the Money Game

India’s proposal to set up a bank of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will top the agenda at the summit of the group in New Delhi Mar. 28.

Financial Transaction Tax Likely This Year

A recent proposal to introduce a European financial transaction tax was blocked by Britain. But with Germany and France committed to push ahead, many are confident a tax will be implemented before the end of this year.

Could a Goddess Influence Armenia’s Election Campaign?

To the British Museum, she is "probably Aphrodite", the Greek goddess of love and beauty. To most Armenians, she is Anahit, an ancient Armenian goddess of fertility.

Banking “Leprechauns” Steal Irish Taxpayer Money

On the eve of St. Patrick's Day, activists dressed up as leprechauns appeared in front of the Embassy of Ireland to protest Irish taxpayer money being used to pay debts of the Anglo-Irish Bank and the Irish Nationwide Building Society (Anglo/INBS).

Spain’s Jobless Unite for Solutions and Survival

Unemployed people's movements and associations in Spain are proposing alternatives to official job seeking channels, in the midst of an economic crisis that so far has left more than five million people out of work.

‘Shopping Tourism’ Promotes Regional Unity in the Balkans

The region of former Yugoslavia has developed a new phenomenon in response to economic hardships that continue to linger in Europe years after the climax of the global financial crash in 2008.