TerraViva Europe Archives

Police Scramble to Adapt as Human Trafficking Goes Mobile

In the second half of June, law enforcement in Chişinău, Moldova’s capital city, received an email from a parent telling them their child had been kidnapped.

Spain’s New Squatters

By Inés Benítez

"You live there for free, don't you?" asked a woman as she passed by the Buenaventura "corrala", a community in a building in this southern Spanish city occupied since February by families evicted from their homes for falling behind in their mortgage payments due to unemployment.

Bands Play Across Political Discord

By Pierre Klochendler

Two heavy metal bands, the Israeli-Arab Khalas (‘enough,’ in Arabic) and the Orphaned Land, a Jewish band, performed simultaneously this week under the roof of Club Hangar 13 in the refurbished port of Tel Aviv. The bands are slated to play together this fall in a series of 18 gigs across Europe.

Cambodian Youth Look for Change

By Michelle Tolson

As Cambodia readies for general elections Sunday Jul. 28, the youth, who make up 36 percent of the country have signaled they are eager for ‘change.’

U.S. and EU Frustrate Peasants’ Rights Declaration

By Gustavo Capdevila

Staunch opposition by the U.S. delegation and, to one extent or another, by European countries has blocked the approval this year of a draft multilateral declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, which is backed by the developing world.

Q&A: “Angela Merkel Is the Decider of Our Fate”

By Mario Queiroz

“Who do I call if I want to call Europe?” This famous question attributed to former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger has an obvious answer today: Angela Merkel, the conservative German chancellor.

Nepal Moves to Curb Child Labour

By Mallika Aryal

Last December, Pradeep Dongol, child protection officer at the Kathmandu-based Children and Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWISH), received an urgent call from one of the NGO’s many offices in Nepal’s sprawling capital city.

For First Time Since 2009, U.S. Senate Talks Closing Guantanamo

By Jared Metzker

Momentum appears to be building in the push to close down the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, where 166 inmates, 86 of whom have been cleared for release, remain held without charges.

Race Still Major Factor in U.S. Income Gap

By Cydney Hargis

President Barack Obama is vowing to spend his remaining time in office encouraging bipartisan efforts to strengthen the U.S. middle class by ensuring it is open to those from all backgrounds.

BOOKS: China’s March to “Wealth and Power”

By George Gao

The China pavilion is a red, inverted pyramid in Shanghai that was built for the city’s bustling 2010 World Expo. While the pavilion pays some homage to China’s ancient past, it mostly shows off China’s 21^st century ambitions, with as much swagger as the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

U.S. Courts Uphold Conflict Minerals Disclosure

By Carey L. Biron

A U.S. federal judge has upheld a key regulatory provision aimed at ensuring that the profits from products mined in central Africa are not used to benefit armed groups, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Thailand Brings Same-Sex Marriage Debate to Asia

By Simba Shani Kamaria Russeau

A draft law being readied for parliament that seeks to offer lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples could make Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise gay marriage.

Industry in Argentina Going Strong, But More Is Needed

By Marcela Valente

Industry in Argentina has seen a sustained rise in production, exports and employment since 2003. But in order for this trend to become a structural change, greater import substitution is needed, analysts say.

Where Sports Replace Terror

By Ashfaq Yusufzai

Pakistanis are no strangers to sports-related violence; in fact, many have come to expect scuffles and conflict, especially following a major cricket match. In the country’s northern Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), however, cricket has become a tool to promote peace.

Thou Shalt Not Eat Meat… On Mondays At Least

By Emilio Godoy

Nutritionists are promoting an 11th commandment in Mexico: “Thou shalt not eat meat… at least one day a week.”

Poland’s Shale Gas Bubble ‘Bursting’

By Claudia Ciobanu

Since Jun. 3, inhabitants of the village Zurawlow in Grabowiec district in southeastern Poland have been occupying a field in their locality where the U.S. company Chevron plans to drill for shale gas. The farmers’ resistance is just the latest blow to shale gas proponents in the country.

Zimbabweans Wary of Another Stolen Election

By Jeffrey Moyo

Gibson Muzungu’s hope for a free and fair election on Jul. 31 has faded after local Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front party officials seized his identity card, apparently to check if he was a registered voter.

California Prisons Violating Hunger-Strikers’ Rights, Groups Warn

By Carey L. Biron

As a mass hunger strike in the California prison system enters its third week, advocacy groups are warning that prison officials attempting to break the strike are breaching international human rights standards.

New Bid for Mideast Talks after Five-Year Hiatus

By Mitchell Plitnick

There is a real opportunity for peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians, even though the obstacles are more formidable than in the past. That was the assessment of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, speaking Monday at a public event which posed the question “Can the Two-State Solution Be Saved?”

Smallholders Feed a Nation as Land Reform Fails

By Misheck Rusere

Moses Chiengerere is one of the Zimbabwe’s hundreds of thousands of smallholder maize farmers keeping this southern African nation’s granaries stocked with the grain.