ECONOMY-GREECE: Convulsions Follow EU Shock Therapy

The firebombing of a bank by demonstrators protesting against severe austerity measures, which killed two women and a man, appears to Greeks as a sign of social deterioration arising from their country’s financial crisis.

ENVIRONMENT: Oil Spill Gives Urgency to UN Oceans Meet

The disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has given increased urgency to the fifth Global Oceans Conference taking place here at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Torture – Live and Well in Turkey

Six years after the ruling Justice and Development Party government declared ‘zero tolerance’ for torture, the practice prevails in Turkey, human rights monitors in the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeastern region say.

Indian Farmers Won’t Say Cheese

India is facing strong pressure to open up its markets to cheese and other dairy produce from Europe, even though the New Delhi government has expressed fears about how small farmers could be forced into deeper poverty as a result.

Q&A: ‘Corporate Lobbying Affects EC Credibility’

The intimate relationship between Europe's top policy-makers and major corporations has been underscored once more in recent days. Barely six months after they ceased being members of the European Commission, Germany's Günter Verheugen and Ireland's Charlie McCreevy have been handed lucrative posts with the Royal Bank of Scotland and the no-frills airline Ryanair.

Like Unemployed Mum and Dad

A generation of children growing up in Eastern Europe face poverty when they reach working age because of the effect their own parents' long-term unemployment will have on them, sociologists and economists have warned.

RIGHTS: Iceland Wakes Up to Trafficking for Sex Work

It took the conviction of five Lithuanian men in March, on charges of bringing a 19-year-old girl into Iceland for sex work, before this country truly woke up to the reality of trafficking.

BALKANS: ‘Tito-nostalgia’ Reigns 30 Years After His Death

For many former Yugoslavs, May 4 will be a day to reflect on the 30 years since their charismatic but controversial leader, Josip Broz Tito, died.

If Only Just a Billion Were Hungry

The bad news is that 1.02 billion people are going hungry in today's world of plentiful supplies. The even worse news is that this figure only tells part of the global food insecurity story.

HEALTH: Injecting Drug Use Spreads HIV in Eastern Europe

Poor intervention in Injecting drug use (IDU) is driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe and is also largely responsible for the tuberculosis epidemic in parts of Russia, says a new study.

AFRICA: Fair Trade Farmers’ Exports Hit by Volcanic Ash

African farmers are assessing the financial impact of the Icelandic volcanic ash clouds that led to a lockdown of Europe’s airspace, forcing fair trade flower growers from Africa to throw away 20 million roses that were meant for the European market.

ENERGY: Germans Want Nuclear Plants Phased Out

After tens of thousands of people turned out to protest against any extension of life to existing nuclear power plants, it seems clear that Germans continue to be emphatically opposed to nuclear energy.

EU-India Deal Could Kill a Health Lifeline

Life-saving medicines could become too costly for the world's poor after a new trade agreement between the European Union and India comes into effect, public health activists have warned.

North Africa Finally Sees the Light

Europe's appetite for renewable energy and a shifting tide in domestic energy policies could turn North Africa into major exporter of solar power by the end of the decade.

ROMANIA: Slow Food – Opportunity for Small Farmers

Mari Cat, an economist by profession, thinks nothing of selling meat, bread and apple juice at a stall in the ‘Slow Food’ market in this central Romanian town.

Portugal Faces Carve-Up by Financial Speculators

Worrying economic indicators and gloomy forecasts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are rapidly making Portugal a magnet for international speculative capital.

AFGHANISTAN: War-Zone Medical Aid Doubly Endangered

The case of the three Italians arrested this month on suspicion of trying to assassinate a southern Afghan governor concluded with a happy ending of sorts and a sure fire certainty - an uncompromising attitude that makes war-zone medical aid doubly dangerous.

TRADE: SACU Reaches 100th Year Despite Recent Divisions

Leaders rallied behind the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) at its 100th birthday bash on Apr 22, adamant that it remains the region’s best shot at economic sovereignty. Details on how to accomplish this, however, remain sketchy.

CENTRAL ASIA: Kyrgyzstan – Wakeup Call For EU, US

The popular revolt in Kyrgystan this month should "serve as a wakeup call to the European Union and the United States, prompting some serious rethinking of their policy priorities in Central Asia," says a leading area expert.

CENTRAL AMERICA: “It’s Up to the EU Whether the Deal Is Signed”

"We do not see a real willingness on the part of Europe to take Central America's interests seriously," Guatemalan deputy minister for integration and foreign trade Raúl Trejo said in Brussels, at the final round of negotiations for a treaty between the two regions.

BALKANS: Freedom Fighters or Freeloaders?

When one of Croatia’s best kept secrets, the list of independence fighters enjoying lifelong benefits, appeared on the Internet earlier this month it sparked off a huge scandal in this nation that became a sovereign state after the bloody 1991-95 war with Serbia.