Europe Fears a Summer Attack on Iran

The appeals to Israel by numerous European diplomats attending the Munich security conference last weekend have led to growing concern that Israeli plans to attack Iran are imminent.

EUROPE-DEVELOPMENT: The “Indignados” Still Have Wind in Their Sails

Months of protest across the European Union, sparked by ‘indignant’ youth demanding an end to the brand of free market capitalism that has blighted the continent with an unemployment epidemic, finally bore fruit on Jan. 30 when Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, proposed an ambitious jobs scheme.

EUROPE-DEVELOPMENT: Mapping Out the EU’s Harmful Projects

Dozens of European Union-funded projects across several countries are ‘environmentally or socially unsound’, according to a map created by a joint effort between CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe.

Finnish Contest No More Between Right and Left

In an uncharacteristically lively election campaign in this nation of five million people, Finns head for the polls in a second round of voting Sunday to elect a new president.

RUSSIA: Putin Remains Leading Candidate in Presidential Elections

Election season in Russia promises to be stormy, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin emerges as the leading candidate in the presidential race scheduled for March 4 and unresolved issues of voting fraud and voter manipulation spark massive protests amongst opposition groups.

Pakistan Denies “Intimate” Taliban Links

Pakistan has rejected as "frivolous" a leaked NATO report which claims that the country's security services are helping the Taliban, and suggesting that the group believes it is poised to regain power.

BALKANS-SOCIETY: First Abused, Then Imprisoned

The women languishing in Serbia’s Pozarevac Penal Correctional Institution are victims twice over: survivors of decades of domestic violence, they have been imprisoned for killing their partners and often spend up to 15 years in jail.

PORTUGAL: Going Underground in Hard Times

The underground economy in Portugal is booming thanks to the steep increases in taxation and prices demanded by a "troika" of international creditors to address the country's economic crisis.

ICELAND: Recovering Dubiously From the Crash

Three years ago, thousands of Icelanders were standing outside Iceland’s parliament building chanting "incompetent government" in an attempt to bring down the conservative government that had been seen as responsible for the collapse of the country’s banking system.

DEVELOPMENT: Uniting Against Extreme Poverty

When Louisamène Joseph Alionat unexpectedly began singing in a packed hall at the United Nations cultural agency here this week, it was an attempt to give encouragement to her peers engaged in the uphill battle of trying to end extreme poverty.

Falklands/Malvinas, From Rhetoric to Pressure

Although the latest rhetoric seems to signal a hardening of the historical sovereignty dispute between Argentina and Britain over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, some experts are sceptical and say nothing will change in essence.

UZBEKISTAN: Population Endures Shortages Amid Plenty

Just a week ago at a cabinet meeting, Uzbek leader Islam Karimov hailed the achievements of the Uzbek economic model, which is basically a retrofitted command system. But Karimov clearly hasn't gotten out of the capital much lately. For many citizens in Central Asia's most populous state, electricity cuts and gas shortages have become a defining feature of this winter.

The Logic and Limits of Nonviolent Conflict

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the uprisings in Egypt that unseated an authoritarian regime and rekindled the spark of nonviolent resistance around the world.

EU-IRAN: New Sanctions Aimed at Averting Wider Conflict

European countries are imposing unprecedented sanctions against Iran in part in hopes of preventing an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear installations that could further destabilise the Middle East and wreak havoc on the global economy.

SWITZERLAND: Resistance Rises to Asylum Seekers

Switzerland saw a 45 percent increase in asylum requests compared in 2011 to the year before. The country struggles to accommodate the new asylum seekers while efforts to put up new centres face fierce resistance by local people.

SPAIN: Trials of Judge Garzon Called Scandalous by Rights Groups

Another trial opened Tuesday with Spain's best-known judge, Baltasar Garzón, in the dock for attempting to investigate crimes against humanity committed during the 36-year dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

BELARUS: Political Prisoners Facing Oppression

"I had to fight to be treated like a human, not animal," dissident Nikolai Avtukhovich wrote from prison. Last month Avtukhovich, Belarusian political activist and entrepreneur, convicted to five years in the penal colony for illegal storage of five cartridges for a hunting rifle, cut his veins.

Britain Boosts Economic Ties with the Caribbean

As China sees its influence continue to grow in this part of the world, a delegation from the United Kingdom arrived in Grenada last weekend with a proverbial carrot for its former colonies, vowing to create new opportunities for trade, investment and innovation "in our respective economies".

Romanians Discover Street Protest

For more than a week, thousands have been demonstrating in cities across Romania. Participants from all walks of life bring to the fore the broadest array of demands in what looks like a celebratory discovery of street protest. The main call is against lack of transparency and accountability in decision-making.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Castration for Sex Offenders Triumphs

The Czech government has defied calls from international human rights groups to stop the "degrading" practice of surgically castrating sex offenders.

RUSSIA: ‘Repression May Lead to Revolt’

The Russian opposition movement which has risen to prominence since the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections has not said its last word, says 35-year-old Sergey Udaltsov, one of its most visible figures.