After Torture, Homelessness Is Lucky

When Saoul decided to take the risk of leaving Chechnya for France, he could not imagine how much trouble protection could mean once he got here.

Dubious EU Integration Inspires Taiwan

The European Union’s economic alliance may be embattled and on the verge of collapse but in some parts of the world its integration model is still a beacon. Experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait – one of the world’s potentially most explosive areas - are studying the conflict resolution experience of the European Union in the hope of taking the precarious relationship between China and Taiwan forward.

GREECE: Lost Generation Begins to Leave

Every working day a long queue of people forms outside the State Translation Service in Thission in downtown Athens from early in the morning. Most are youngsters processing documents they need to leave Greece for study or work. Many move on to queue later outside embassies for visas.

Caribbean Joins with EU, ACP to Better Manage Migration

With the exception of those pictures of Haitians in overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels trying to reach places like The Bahamas and the United States, the image of the Caribbean is usually not one that portrays people from poor developing countries desperately trying to scratch out a living among the scattered islands.

UZBEKISTAN: Don’t Let Logistics Trump Rights, Groups Tell Clinton

A broad coalition of 20 human rights, labour and consumer groups is appealing to the administration of President Barack Obama not to renew military aid and sales to Uzbekistan, widely considered one of the world's most repressive dictatorships.

Barroso: Greece Will Remain in the Eurozone

Greece will remain in the eurozone but must meet its reform commitments in full, Jose Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission, has said.

Q&A: “It Pays Off to Become More Energy Efficient”

With the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period set to expire in 2012, Connie Hedegaard, EU commissioner for climate action, is pushing for more countries to agree on binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

SERBIA: Mixed Feelings on Restitution Law for WWII Property

The Serbian parliament has adopted one of the most long awaited – and most controversial – laws in its recent history: the law on restitution of property confiscated by the communist regime after World War II.

DEATH PENALTY: On Popular Demand

The image endures of the death penalty in force across the Arab world because it is considered somehow Islamic, and because most regimes are undeniably autocratic. But campaigners on the ground say the death penalty might just be in place because the people want it. Which would make it in essence a democratic institution.

Foreign Fighters Support Israel’s Settlements

Two weeks ago, an announcement appeared on a French website, calling for "militants with military experience" to participate in a solidarity trip to Israel between Sep. 19 and 25.

BELARUS: Trading Political Prisoners for Loans

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is releasing political prisoners in hope of getting loans from the IMF. After the unexpected pardons over recent weeks, only about a dozen political prisoners remain in Belarusian jails. Among them are Lukashenko’s rivals in the December 2010 presidential elections, serving up to six years of hard labour.

Emerging Markets Hit Economic Stage Like a Tonne of BRICS

Headlines this week have been saturated with protests against unaffordable food, unfair taxes and unsustainable austerity measures, with one distinct difference setting these stories apart from countless others in recent history.

SPAIN: Protest Movement Chalks Up Victories

"I want to thank the 15-M. I will not forget them," Algerian immigrant Sid Hamed Bouziane, whose deportation order was revoked after a group of activists from this burgeoning Spanish protest movement held an 11-day demonstration on his behalf, told IPS.

DEATH PENALTY: Not in the Name of the Quran

Islamic regimes look for provisions and precedents to carry out the death sentence in the name of Islam. But, says Dr. Mohammad Al-Habash, director of the Islamic Studies Centre in Damascus, they are not looking enough at 13 provisions within the Quran to commute the death sentence to a lesser punishment.

ROMANIA: Fixing the Economy, Not Lives

The economic crisis has led Romanian authorities to take some of the toughest austerity measures in Central and Eastern Europe. While no big opposition movement emerged as a result, a special kind of protest has taken place: some have committed suicide to get their messages across.

MIDEAST: Europe Divided Over Palestinian State

Divisions that have surfaced within the European Union over recognition of the Palestinian Authority as an independent and sovereign state are unlikely to be resolved ahead of a crucial vote in the United Nations next week.

DEVELOPMENT: France Steps Up Support for Financial Transaction Tax

If governments could find trillions of dollars to support banks and the global financial system in 2009, why can't they raise enough money to help eradicate extreme poverty? This is the question that supporters of a financial transaction tax (FTT) are asking in France, as lawmakers debate introducing such a levy to help fund development at home and abroad.

Europe Confronts Its Borders

The influx of Tunisian migrants into Europe following the country’s ‘Jasmine Revolt’ has sparked a debate over the application of the passport-free Schengen Agreement.

GREECE: Social Media Advances Against Elite Owners

An unflattering report on Greece’s media by a former United States envoy to this country, revealed by Wikileaks, evoked little public reaction because it was taken as a faithful portrayal.

NATO-Led Forces Secure Kabul After Attacks

Afghan and NATO forces have ended their assault on Taliban fighters, 20 hours after the group launched coordinated attacks in Kabul, targeting NATO's headquarters, the U.S. embassy and the Afghan intelligence agency.

Companies Vow to Shun Child Labour in Uzbekistan

With Fashion Week under way in New York, Milan and London, more than 60 apparel companies from the United States and Europe this week publicly pledged to not knowingly buy cotton that has been harvested by children forced to labour in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan.