EUROPE: Yugoslavia Back on Track

For a while it looked like the start of a ride in a time machine. Serbian engineers, their caps bearing the emblems of the defunct Yugoslav Railways, cheered on the first train of the new Slovenian-Croatian-Serbian railway.

DEATH PENALTY: Abolition Needed, Not Moratorium

While almost all former Soviet states have rid their legal systems of the death penalty, a handful keep moratoriums in place. And although any stop to the death penalty is welcomed by campaigners against capital punishment, they say that in an often politically troubled region which has already seen calls for a reinstatement of the death penalty, complete abolition is needed to ensure authoritarian and populist leaders cannot reinstate it.

CENTRAL ASIA: Remittances on the Rise

Financial remittances to the Central Asian Republics by millions of both undocumented and legal migrants working in Russia have increased substantially, labour experts say.

Education Cracks in Haiti

When Angelique tells her story, sadness and anger are mixed in her voice. She's a student at the bustling University of Paris 8 here, but her country and family are never far from her thoughts.

Support Growing for Degrowth

In the face of a global recession that has not yet run its course, there is growing demand now for an economic model away from reliance on continued growth.

EU to Ease Trade Rules for Poor Countries

The EU is due to adopt a simplified set of rules of origins for developing countries exports. Particular relaxations are foreseen for the least developed countries (LDCs), but the rules may mainly profit the strongest of them.

EUROPE: Bosnia Progresses to a New Mess

Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina last Sunday have passed without changing much. Bosnian voters had a difficult political scene to tackle.

Wolf Back at Swiss Doors

Wolves have resettled in Switzerland. Their appetite for sheep and even cattle has sparked fierce debates in the mountain republic. Nature conservation organisations demand the implementation of herd-protection measures. However, alp farmers are sceptical about their practicability and costs.

Culinary Traditions Exhausting Spain’s Fisheries

"We have little boquerón (a type of anchovy), little jurel (scad), little salmon," recites a server at a restaurant on the coast in Málaga, the southern Spanish city known for its "small fried fish."

EU Takes On Chinese Currency, Softly

The European Union is riding in the middle of an escalating currency spat between China and the United States, perceived by many in Beijing as a smokescreen for Washington's efforts to sap China's growth and contain its rise.

Q&A: Georgian Lifers Spared Death, Stuck in their Cells

Georgia's punitive criminal justice system has resulted in one of the highest imprisonment rates worldwide. Overcrowding of jails now hampers an ambitious government plan to reform the penitentiary system.

EASTERN EUROPE: Unwilling to Back Full Nuclear Disarmament

More than a year ago U.S. President Barack Obama came to Eastern Europe to announce his vision of a world without nuclear weapons. One year later, in the same place, the Czech capital Prague, he signed a deal slashing nuclear weapons stocks with his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev.

Europe Offers Tax Benefits for Illegal Settlements

Organisations raising funds to benefit the Israeli army and illegal settlements in the West Bank enjoy tax-exempt status in Europe, an IPS investigation has shown.

Q&A: ‘Children Mustn’t See Fish Only in Pictures’

A casual visit to any of Europe's major supermarkets could leave a shopper with the impression that there is a boundless supply of fish in the continent's waters. The true picture is far less rosy. With about 88 percent of the European Union's fish stocks overexploited, EU vessels are travelling increasingly longer distances before bringing home their catches.

China Summons Past to Advance Into Africa

Irked by accusations that it is the new coloniser of Africa, China is looking to use soft power and historical evidence of its ancient links to the continent to justify its economic embrace of Africa.

EUROPE: Where the Roma Begin to Prosper

The "gypsy market" in Brasov is bustling with activity on a Saturday morning. It's one of the few places left where pensioners and other low-income Romanians can buy decent clothes cheaply. And also here, the power dynamics between Roma and non-Roma is silently shifting.

Greek Society Falling, Falling…

People walking casually past a sleeping or unconscious person has become a recurrent scene in downtown Athens these days. At Omonia square in the heart of the Greek capital one sees signs of social degeneration and segregation that were unknown only a decade ago.

BALKANS: Kosovo Talks Bring Hope

Serbia has lost all its military and legal battles over Kosovo, but there is hope that the internationally sponsored talks between Belgrade and Pristina in October may bring some normalisation in relations between Serbia and its breakaway province.

SPAIN: Renewable Energy a Remedy for Economic Crisis

One of the causes of Spain's deep economic crisis is the country's limited ability to export goods with high added value. But the pioneering renewable energy sector has the potential to fill that gap.

EUROPE: Undocumented Pakistanis Face Expulsion

Less than two months after Pakistan was devastated by one of the worst disasters in recent history, the European Union's lawmakers have decided that Pakistanis living in the 27-country bloc without permission should be returned home.

TRADE: South Africa Flexing its Muscles With Poor Neighbours

The beleaguered Southern African Customs Union (SACU) has to face up to serious challenges at its upcoming heads of state meeting in October, including the divergent interests of its member states and the lack of coordinated industrial policies in the union.