SPAIN: Protest Movement Spreads to Neighbourhoods, Small Towns

The May 15 Movement (15-M) which sprang up as huge rallies in public squares in Spain's largest cities to protest against the political, economic and social system, is multiplying as assemblies in local neighbourhoods in provincial capitals and other municipalities.

Swiss Bid Disputed Goodbye to Nuclear Energy

Switzerland is witnessing a drastic turnaround in energy policy. Half a year ago, plans for the construction of new nuclear reactors were heavily debated. Now, three months after the disaster in Fukushima, the initial steps for a staged nuclear shutdown have been taken.

EUROPE: Trapped Between Droughts and Floods

Extreme weather conditions across Europe have transformed the continent into a climatic roller coaster - while rainfall in May was the lowest ever measured in Germany and France, June began with stormy showers that caused the death of at least one person, and high economic losses.

Cautious Push Ahead for Nuclear Energy

Seeking to calm public opinion about the dangers of nuclear energy, government ministers and other representatives from 33 countries have agreed to carry out safety audits and "stress tests" on nuclear plants.

Africa Looks To a Green Future

As G20 ministers met here Tuesday to discuss nuclear safety, another meeting has been taking place 6,000km away - to examine green business growth.

Asylum-Seekers Find Refuge in a Street Paper

The reasons why people become street paper vendors are many and diverse. Some are homeless; others suffer mental or physical health problems, struggle with addiction or face unemployment. And some people do it because the magazines offer them the refuge they so desperately need.

Urban Transformation for Interethnic Cities

Urban centres, marked by globalisation, migration and the intermingling of culturally and ethnically diverse communities were among the major topics of the International Conference on the Inter-ethnic City held in Rome last week on the eve of the celebrations of Italy’s national day.

BELARUS: Despite Crackdown, Opposition is Defiant

President Alexander Lukashenko has locked most of his rivals in jail, but the Belarus opposition continues to work diligently to isolate the dictator.

OP-ED: Europe’s Rising Islamophobia

Religious intolerance is a daily reality in Europe. Mainly targeted at Muslims, attacks on religious pluralism focus on refusing to share public space with non-majority religions or only tolerating practices seen as "secular".

ENVIRONMENT: Business Lobby Resists Ban on ‘Perverse’ Emissions – Part 2

For years, European governments and corporations have made use of a loophole in the Kyoto protocol on climate change to make exorbitant profits. According to some sources, this lucrative scheme has caused more pollution than ever before while lobbyists in Brussels have methodically undermined the European Commission's decision to put a stop to it.

OP-ED: Cutting the Fog: Multiculturalism, Religion and the Common Good

The death of "multiculturalism" has been proclaimed repeatedly recently, the idea pronounced with a big "M" as if we were talking of something tangible around which there is consensus.

Germany to Boost Renewables

The decision by the German government of Chancellor Angela Merkel to phase out nuclear power by 2022 will increase efficiency in the use of energy, boost investment and accelerate technical progress in renewable energy sources, and promote international energy cooperation, according to numerous experts.

UKRAINE: Trade Going West

In spite of the nominally pro-Russian government in Ukraine, the country will most likely sign a free trade agreement with the EU by the end of the year, in what will be a blow to Russia’s interests.

ENVIRONMENT: Business Lobby Resists Ban on ‘Perverse’ Emissions – Part 1

For years, European governments and corporations have made use of a loophole in the Kyoto protocol on climate change to make exorbitant profits. According to some sources, this lucrative scheme has caused more pollution than ever before.

Lend Your Car, Save, and Save the World

The world's more than 850 million cars and small trucks are parked 20 to 22 hours a day. Why not use these vehicles more efficiently by letting other people drive them when the owners aren't, asks Robin Chase, CEO of Buzzcar, a car- sharing network to be launched shortly in France.

Libya Dominates EU-Africa Talks

Facing unrest in the north and a struggle against poverty elsewhere, leaders of the African Union and their European counterparts are working as "equal partners" to spread democracy and economic opportunity across the African continent.

OP-ED: A Tale of Two Raids

They were both responsible for thousands of civilian deaths in causes they believed were righteous. They both occupied top spots on the World's Most Wanted list. They were both the subject of raids that were years in the making and required extensive intelligence work.

ELECTIONS-PORTUGAL: Rubberstamping IMF Prescriptions

Voters in crisis-stricken Portugal will go to the ballot boxes next Sunday to choose not a government, but something more like delegates who will administer decisions already taken by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

CARIBBEAN: EU Trade Pact Brings Both Setbacks and Opportunities

In his first address to the board of governors of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith, the new president of the region's premier lending financial institution, warned of insecurities engulfing Caribbean economies.

EUROPE: Space Agency Maps Mosquitoes to Combat Tropical Diseases

In times of war, the accurate mapping of enemy positions can be the key to victory. In the war on mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, mapping the distribution and habitat of mosquitoes can play a crucial role in combating epidemics at the source.

‘Europe Worsening Hunger Worldwide’

With spiralling food prices threatening to leave millions more people hungry every year, European countries must abandon subsidies and higher production targets for biofuels, the anti-poverty group Oxfam warns.