ENVIRONMENT-PORTUGAL: Red Alert in Lisbon

According to official figures, 600,000 people live in the Portuguese capital. That is true, however, only at night and on the weekends. During the workday, the population actually increases threefold.

BALKANS: Trial of Albanians Could Reopen Old Wounds

The trial of three Kosovo Albanians seeks to establish the impartiality of The Hague tribunal but could also reopen old wounds.

ENVIRONMENT-SPAIN: The Sun Will Save Euros and Energy

The use of solar energy that has been declared compulsory for new buildings by the Spanish government as of next year will not only save consumers money, but will also cut the burning of fossil fuels and reduce air pollution.

IMMIGRATION-SPAIN: Barred from the Classrooms in Madrid and Valencia

Activists, teachers and politicians with the ruling socialist party in Spain are worried about a decision by authorities in schools in the provinces of Madrid and Valencia, which are governed by the centre-right Popular Party, to bar undocumented immigrants who have completed the 10 years of compulsory schooling from continuing their education.

LABOUR-EU: Unions Challenge Directive on Services

Trade unions are coming together to protest EU proposals on liberalising services in the internal market.

SOCIETY: Transition Economy Robs Children of Childhood

Twelve-year-old year Amira Jahic accompanies her mother to the open-air flea market in Belgrade every morning. She spends the day helping mother out at their second-hand goods stall.

POLITICS-EU: Institutional Crisis Drawing to a Close

Incoming European Commission president Jose Manuel Durão Barroso tried to end the political crisis in the European Union Thursday as he unveiled his new team of Commissioners.

SPAIN: ETA Appears Poised to Lay Down Its Weapons

The Basque separatist group ETA, which has received severe blows in recent years, appears to be on the verge of abandoning the use of violence and instead seeking Basque independence and unification through peaceful means.

RIGHTS-EU: Amnesty Concern over Asylum Policy

The EU is being urged to address the human rights content of its asylum and immigration policy due to be adopted later this week.

ENVIRONMENT-EUROPE: Britain, Germany Seek Lead on Climate Change

Britain and Germany will seek to take joint lead on initiatives to contain climate change at a conference in Berlin this week.

HEALTH-EU: Cheaper Medicines for AIDS Welcomed

A leading development group has welcomed EU proposals to allow export of cheap medicines to poor countries fighting HIV/AIDS and other killer diseases.

CORRUPTION-EUROPE: Communism Leaves a Long Hangover

Lack of government action has left former communist states in Eastern Europe struggling to shake off a culture of corruption, experts say.

EUROPEAN UNION: Crucial Parliamentary Vote Delayed

Incoming European Commission president Jose Manuel Durão Barroso faced further embarrassment Wednesday after he was forced to ask the European Parliament to delay a crucial vote over his new team of commissioners.

DEVELOPMENT-EU: NGOs Spell Out their Concerns

Leading international civil society groups are shoring up support to challenge the European Union over the future of the bloc's development policy.

LABOUR: World’s Big Two Aim At Getting Bigger

In a historic move, WCL has decided to start negotiations with ICFTU, the world's largest trade union, for setting up a new international labour organisation.

SERBIA & MONTENEGRO: Plea For Refugees’ Right To Choose

For more than a decade, the problem of refugees in Serbia was only expressed in numbers, exploited by politicians or simply put aside.

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM: Different Paths Emerge

The third European Social Forum appears to mark the end of the "love story" between grassroots social movements and the international gatherings that are now in vogue. In any case, discontent in both camps - the activists and the official organisers - will leave a mark on future events.

EUROPE: IMF Returns a Dubious Gift

After 13 years of producing policies that ranged from dubious to disastrous, former IMF director Michel Camdessus is offering them to his home country France.

RIGHTS-EU: Crisis Deepens Over Justice Commissioner

The EU was plunged further into crisis Thursday after the incoming European Commission president Jose Manuel Durão Barroso failed to resolve a dispute over the next EU executive team.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘New Trade Preferences Unfair to Developing World’

A leading development group has slammed EU plans to amend trade discounts to developing countries.

SPAIN: Theologians Blast Catholic Bishops’ Opposition to Social Reforms

A group of Catholic theologians in Spain have criticised the local Church leadership for lashing out against the legislative reforms promoted by the socialist government of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, which include measures that would reduce the financing that the Church receives from the state.