UZBEKISTAN: Forced Child Labour Kills

A 13-year-old boy has become the latest victim of state-sponsored forced child labour in Uzbekistan as its regime continues to ignore boycotts and international condemnation of its practices during the country’s annual cotton harvest.

EUROPE: Agriculture Proposals ‘Failing Development’

The new European Commission proposals on a Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) have dropped every reference to development obligations, NGOs point out. They will not stop the European Union from threatening food security in developing nations, they say.

SPAIN: Renowned Mediators Urge ETA to Lay Down Arms

International mediators meeting in a peace conference Monday in Spain's northern Basque region were hopeful that the armed separatist group ETA would respond positively to their call for the group to lay down arms.

Young Gather to Show Their Power

With young people spearheading the revolutionary movements in the Middle East and other regions, the seventh Youth Forum taking place here this week has particular relevance, participants say.

G20 Steps to Boost Economy Welcomed Cautiously

Responding to pressure from civil society and members within their own ranks, the Group of 20 industrialised and emerging countries on Saturday said they were committed to reforming the financial sector and were examining innovative methods to fund development.

TRADE: Developing Countries Out in the Cold at WTO

Developing countries, particularly from Africa, are concerned about attempts by industrialised nations to change the negotiating dynamic of the World Trade Organization.

Worsening Economy Hardening Views on Migrants

"Since the economic crisis, migrants are increasingly at risk from racism and xenophobia," president of the United Nations General Assembly Nassir Abdulaiziz Al-Nasser said at a meeting on migration and communication in Helsinki Thursday.

Farmers’ Networks Urge Government Action Against Land Grabbing

Civil society organisations and global farmers' networks are gathered in Rome this week to ask governments to stop the "disastrous practice of land grabbing", ahead of next week's Committee on World Food Security.

SPAIN: ‘Rich Must Share Cost of Crisis’

As global working-class outrage against corporate capitalism explodes in organised protests around the world, scores of citizens in Spain are demanding an end to tax breaks for the wealthy.

U.S. Arms Bahrain While Decrying Russian Weapons in Syria

Peeved at Russia's Security Council veto derailing a Western- sponsored resolution against Syria last week, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice implicitly accused the Russians of protecting the beleaguered government of President Bashar al-Assad primarily to safeguard their lucrative arms market in the Middle Eastern country.

GERMANY: Anti-Nuclear Exhibit Calls for Culture of Peace

The question which is safer - the heavily armed world we live in now, or a world in which all peoples' basic needs are met - is one core issue of an antinuclear exhibition that has reached Germany after touring more than 220 cities in 28 countries.

DEATH PENALTY: Arab League Asked to Intervene

Campaigners from around the world have called upon the Arab League and on the African Commission on Human and People's Rights to explore the possibility of adopting regional protocols to abolish the death penalty.

Food Prices Set to Rise Further

Food price volatility featuring high prices is likely to continue and probably increase next year, making poor farmers even more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity, the global report on food insecurity released Monday by the United Nations' three Rome-based food agencies predicts.

“Pirates” Board Berlin Parliament

It was a political sensation: 8.9 percent of the 1.53 million Berliners who participated in the city-state parliamentary elections on Sep. 18 (overall turnout was 60 percent) voted for the Pirate Party (Piratenpartei).

SPAIN: Streets Paved with Evicted Families

As the number of apartments and houses left empty in Spain due to failure to make mortgage or rental payments climbs, tens of thousands of families, including many immigrants, are living on the streets, in shantytowns, or crowded into seedy boarding houses.

ICELAND: US Moves Diplomatically Against Whaling

U.S. President Barack Obama has decided to impose diplomatic rather than trade sanctions on Iceland because of the country’s whale-hunting activities.

EUROPE: Striking at the Heart of Healthcare

Almost half of all doctors working in Slovakia’s hospitals have handed in their notice in a mass protest over working conditions and wages which they warn could cause the Eastern European country’s healthcare system to collapse.

Anti-Nuclear Struggle Has Large Fallout

The anti-nuclear struggle in India did not gain the same national prominence as the hunger strike waged by Anna Hazare against rampant corruption among India’s top politicians. Yet a landmark it surely was in the history of India’s nuclear programme.

NAMIBIA: Skulls Repatriated – But No Official German Apology

A delegation of Namibian government representatives and leaders of the indigenous Herero and Nama people who came to Germany to repatriate 20 skulls of their ancestors were once again disappointed in their hopes for dialogue and an official apology.

Non-Traditional Teaching Promoted for Girls

Making some simple, basic changes in education policy can result in many more girls attending school, experts said at a meeting here this week on Gender Equality in Education.

SPAIN: ‘Indignant’ Protests Heat Up Election Campaign

"Ex dockyard worker, now a beggar" reads the sign displayed by a man in a spotless shirt who is panhandling near a square in this southern Spanish city where dozens of demonstrators are chanting: "The bank always wins and I'm against this!" and "What's going on? We have no homes!"