EUROPE: New Move to Protect Virgin Forests

Seven countries from the Carpathian Region in Eastern Europe have signed a protocol to prevent one of Europe’s last natural and virgin forests from disappearing at the hands of illegal logging.

Germany Pledges Nuclear Shutdown By 2022

Germany has decided to shut all its nuclear reactors by 2022 in a drastic policy reversal in the wake of the nuclear disaster at Japan's Fukushima plant.

A Candle in the Darkness – Amnesty Turns 50

Thousands of people worldwide raised glasses in a toast to freedom over the weekend to celebrate Amnesty International's 50th anniversary.

UKRAINE: Murder Case Reopens Can of Worms

Accused of being unfriendly towards journalists, Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich has surprised the world by starting an investigation for abuse of power against former president Leonid Kuchma over the murder of an opposition journalist in 2000.

China Takes Back Seat on IMF, For Now

The sex scandal in the top couloirs of the IMF and the power struggle to find a successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn has fascinated the Chinese. Rife speculations about political intrigues and shadowy deals behind the scenes have spilled into cyberspace and the usually restrained media.

Iceland Pushes Energetically Ahead

Iceland’s national power company, Landsvirkjun, has announced that it intends to double its generating capacity over the next 15 years, with a blend consisting mostly of hydroelectric and geothermal plants but potentially using wind and tidal energy as well.

G8: ‘Arab Spring Could Lead to African Drought’

Stressing that there is only so much money to go around, development experts worry that the aid package the Group of Eight (G8) has announced for North Africa may mean fewer funds for the rest of the continent.

G8 Leaders Make Grand but Unconvincing Declaration

As leaders of the Group of Eight ended their two-day summit in this seaside town Friday, non-governmental organisations said the meeting had resulted in few concrete commitments.

GEORGIA: Opposition Rallies in the Face of Repression

More than half of Georgia’s population still lives in abject poverty due to economic stagnation, worsening living standards, rising unemployment and low pay nearly nine years after the 2003 bloodless ‘Rose Revolution’ that promised post-Soviet economic revival, a new political course and better living conditions.

Arrest Takes Serbia Towards Reconciliation, and the EU

"Nothing can bring back our husbands or children, but this means so much for us; the man who ordered them killed is finally going to face justice," says Hajra Catic, head of the Women of Srebrenica Association, following the arrest in Serbia of the former head of the Bosnian Serb army Ratko Mladic.

Europe Sowing the Seeds of Hunger

Europe is facing a hungry future unless it changes agricultural policies and makes farmers the main participants in agriculture research, a new report has found. And there is little hope of meeting Europe's recently announced goal of reducing the loss of biodiversity in ten years without making those changes.

Politics Could Dominate G8 Summit of World Leaders

When leaders of the Group of 8 (G8) industrialised nations meet in Deauville, France later this week, there is a strong possibility that politics will take precedence over traditional socioeconomic issues like food security and development aid, which are being overshadowed by the Arab revolution and Palestinian statehood.

Push for Girls’ Education Ahead of G8

Amid a flurry of meetings in Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will help to launch a "global partnership for girls' and women's education" here Thursday at the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Social Media Takes a Far Right Turn

Social media is being heralded as a revolutionary weapon for the empowerment of discriminated groups such as migrants. But so far it is the xenophobic far right that has made the most of it.

EUROPE: Watching Aid Fall Short

The European Union missed its target of aid to developing countries by 15 billion euros in 2010 and is on course fall well short of future goals, according to a report on the world’s largest donor.

Europe Holds Tight to IMF Monopoly

Since the election of Camille Gutt of Belgium as the first managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) back in 1946, the Europeans have continued to claim that job as their political and intellectual birthright.

ENVIRONMENT-RUSSIA: Activists Protest Destruction of 500-Year-Old Forest

Environmentalists and rights campaigners have mounted pressure on the Russian government to rescind the decision to demolish more than 500-year-old woodlands to make way for the construction of a new super-highway linking Moscow with the country's northern capital, St. Petersburg.

EUROPE: Investment Treaties Undemocratic

A proposal to put an end to the highly anti-democratic nature of the European Union’s Bilateral Investment Treaties was heavily watered down by a plenary voting in the European Parliament. However, in their current form the treaties may pose a serious risk for European democracy.

Parliamentarians Ask G8 to Focus on Women

Ahead of this month's G8 summit in France, parliamentarians from 35 countries have issued a strong call for leaders of the world's major economies to focus on the role of women and girls in development.

EUROPE: Media Complicit in Rise of Xenophobia

As European leaders increasingly question the concept of Europe without borders and follow each other in announcing the end of multiculturalism, the media response has been mostly to present migrants as destabilising Europe’s labour markets and welfare states.

EU Trade Deal with India Stalemated by Threat to Affordable Drugs

More than four years after the EU started negotiating a trade agreement with India, the process has been pushed to a stalemate by the EU’s stubborn insistence in maintaining the so-called data exclusivity clause, despite fierce opposition by Indian government negotiators and Indian and EU non- governmental organisations (NGOs).