RIGHTS-EU: Access to Communication Data Opposed

The European Commission proposal for data retention by communication companies is running into considerable opposition.

RIGHTS: Where Leaders Outnumbered Refugees

A group of members of the European Parliament has accused Italy of masking miserable conditions at a refugee camp..

BALKANS: Milosevic Sets Off a Media Debate

Five years after former president Slobodan Milosevic fell from power, he seems to be back, with his wartime ally Vojislav Seselj and with all those speeches of old.

RUSSIA: Khodorkovsky Moves to Contest Election

Leading opposition groups are backing a move by former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky to contest a parliamentary by-election in December.

RUSSIA: Sights Set on Fighting Terrorism

As the United States is blamed for shifting the focus of the United Nations summit last week away from development, Russia as much as the Bush Administration is focused on the war on terror..

RUSSIA: Putin Came to the Mountain

It is more than memories that linger from the time the 12-ton bell rang, and Russian and Ukrainian monks queued up in impeccable white robes to receive Russian President Vladimir Putin at Mount Athos..

GERMANY: Voters Refuse Woman from the East as First Chancellor

The spectre of political limbo loomed large over Europe's power-house as some 50 million Germans who went to the polls Sunday refused to elect Angela Merkel as the country's first woman chancellor.

SPAIN: Peace Talks with ETA Forge Quietly Ahead

Spain's socialist government is moving cautiously ahead in peace talks with the Basque separatist group ETA, as each of its predecessors has done since 1976, although all of the negotiations have been marked by far more frustration than success.

BALKANS: New Battle Begins Over What to Remember

For the first time since 1991, Serbian eighth graders and high school seniors have been provided new history textbooks 'cleansed' of communist ideology and nationalist stereotypes.

UKRAINE: The Orange Has Been Sliced

The latest upheaval in Ukrainian politics has produced mixed feelings. Some are concerned that last year's 'orange revolution' brought in a government as corrupt and incompetent as the one it replaced; others see the dismissal of the entire cabinet by President Viktor Yushchenko as a healthy sign of democratic accountability.

PORTUGAL: Controversy Burns Over Sensationalist TV Coverage of Fires

The heavy live television coverage of the forest fires that have swept Portugal this summer has sparked critics' complaints of sensationalism and warnings of the danger of encouraging arsonists.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Progressive Communities’ Seek to Make a Difference

A high-level international conference in Milan later this week will seek to strengthen political and social forces to counter the effects of globalisation.

BALKANS-SOCIETY: Bitter Memories Cloud This Homecoming

"Death to fascism, freedom to the people", they used to say for years after driving German occupying forces out of what was then Yugoslavia.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Europe Finds Extremes

Extreme weather conditions in Europe ranging from forest fires to floods are a consequence of human-made global warming, scientists say.

RUSSIA: A Year Not Enough to Calm Beslan Anger

Thousands of Russians gathered to mourn the Beslan dead Thursday, a year after the deadly school siege.

ECONOMY: When Students With Money Become a Problem

Shailesh arrived to study in Britain earlier this month with a bagful of money. Not because he was that rich, but because he was not sure he could ever open a bank account. And so he took to the pre-banking style of keeping his money.

RIGHTS: For Some, Paris Is Hell

"It's a shame to live here," says 34-year-old West African immigrant Chantal, mother of two.

CORRUPTION: Little Slovakia Manages a Lot

Corruption watchdog Transparency International has accused the Slovak government of inconsistency after the prime minister sacked economy minister Pavol Rusko over a conflict of interest involving an unexplained 105 million Slovak crown (three million dollar) loan..

HEALTH: Russians Abandon HIV-Positive Patients

Thousands of children born to HIV-positive mothers are being abandoned, new data shows.

RELIGION-GERMANY: Committee for Pagan Fun Criticises Catholic ‘Invasion’

The "Committee for Pagan Fun", born out of opposition to the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day, was created by organisations and individuals who called for the creation of "religion-free zones."

BALKANS: When the Cows Don’t Come Home

When two presidents witnessed payment of compensation for stolen cows, they were making history in more ways than one.