DISARMAMENT: France Urged to Ban Cluster Bomb Funding

Human rights groups are urging the French government to adopt a law that would ban the financing of companies that produce cluster munitions, the deadly bombs that have killed or maimed thousands of civilians in the past 40 years.

Argentina, an Example for Prosecuting Franco-Era Crimes?

Argentina is an example for Spaniards to bear in mind as they investigate crimes committed during the 1939-1975 dictatorship of general Francisco Franco, says Emilio Silva, head of the Spanish Association for the Recovery of Historic Memory (ARMH).

EU Defends Food as Fuel

The European Union's anti-poverty chief has refused to concede that his promotion of biofuels has helped exacerbate global hunger.

NIGER: Lack of Data on Causes of Death Buffers French Company

French state-owned company Areva continues to deny any wrongdoing after findings that populated areas in Niger remain contaminated with high levels of radio-activity. The company seems to be escaping censure partly because of lack of data on cancer-related causes of death among Nigeriens working at or living near the uranium mines.

EUROPE: IMF Tightening Control

One topic regularly addressed by the public relations industry is how to turn a crisis into an opportunity. Dominique Straus--Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, might offer a case study on rising to this challenge.

ENVIRONMENT-ICELAND: Living With Volcanic Eruptions

Incredible as it may seem, daily life for the vast majority of Icelanders is completely unaffected by the volcanic eruption under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, that has left thousands of air passengers around the world stranded due to flight cancellations.

MEDIA: Press Freedom Day to Focus on Threats

"Please remember that we know where your child goes to school."

ENVIRONMENT: European Activists Against Economic Growth

The global environmental crisis requires replacing the existing capitalist model of production with one that promotes "selective degrowth" of the economy and the restricted and responsible exploitation of natural resources, according to European experts and activists.

POLITICS-HUNGARY: Rightward Swing Has Fascist Overtones

In the autumn of 2006 Hungary was rocked by a series of anti-government protests triggered by the release of a tape in which then prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány confessed to his Social-Democratic Party (MSZP) having lied to win elections that year. Now it is payback time.

U.S. Breathes Sigh of Relief Over Manas Base for Now

The administration of President Barack Obama is breathing a sigh of relief that the past week's successful insurrection against former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev appears unlikely to result in any curbs - at least, for now - on its use of Kyrgyzstan's Manas Air Base.

ENVIRONMENT: Whaling Profitable but Bad for Iceland’s Image

Early April Greenpeace protestors in Rotterdam intercepted seven containers with 140 kg of fin whale meat from Iceland, destined for Japan. They said that the import of whale meat to the Netherlands is illegal, but Dutch authorities turn a blind eye on consignments destined elsewhere.

ECONOMY: Get the Cab From Shanghai to London

The black, curvy London cab is so much more than just a taxi. It is an icon without which the picture of London can never be complete.

RIGHTS-SPAIN: Franco-Era Crimes Reach Courts in Argentina

Invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity, the relatives of two Spanish mayors who were executed during that country's 1936-1939 civil war filed genocide charges in Argentina Wednesday.

ECONOMY: Voluntary Simplicity – Answer to Financial Meltdown

The global financial crisis offered an opportunity to reform the economic system and participants in a conference on ‘degrowth’ in Barcelona, last week, appeared determined not to lose it.

RIGHTS: Europe Imports Torture From US

A U.S. company has admitted for the first time that it exports equipment designed to inflict pain on prisoners to Europe.

POLAND: Many Causes Lose Their Leaders

The plane crash which claimed the lives of 95 Polish officials and public figures, including President Lech Kaczynski, has dealt a blow to minority rights movements in the country, activists say.

Q&A: ‘Kyrgyzstan Has Undergone a Grassroots Revolution’

Apas Kubanychbek, who hails from the high mountainous area of Ysyk-Ata in the Chuyskaya province of Kyrgyzstan, was involved in the political movements and democratic struggles of the former Soviet republic in the early 1990s.

ENVIRONMENT-NIGER: French State-Owned Company “Poisoning” Poor

Recent research by Greenpeace suggests that French state-owned company Areva’s public claims of decontamination of populated areas near uranium mines in Niger are false. High radio-activity persists in towns and rural areas near the mines, affecting some 80,000 people.

MIDEAST: Belgian Bank Financing Illegal Settlements

Dexia, a major Belgian-French bank, is continuing to finance Israeli authorities in the occupied Palestinian territories almost a year after it indicated that it would cease providing loans to illegal settlements.

Q&A: Why Poorest African Countries Should Not Sign the EPAs

It is a "million dollar question" why African least developed countries (LDCs) would enter into economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the EU as what remains of especially their agricultural markets will be overrun with subsidised European produce.

/UPDATE*/POLITICS: Kyrgyz Leaders Say U.S. Can Use Air Base

Kyrgyzstan's new leaders sought to reassure Washington Thursday that it can continue to use the strategic Manas airbase near the capital Bishkek as a supply link for U.S. operations in Afghanistan.