LABOUR-SPAIN: Hundreds of Immigrants Refuse to End Sit-in

Hundreds of African immigrants are staging a sit-in at a university in the southern Spanish city of Seville, demanding that the government grant them residency status and work permits.

POLITICS-RUSSIA: Heavy Hammer Poised Over Extremism

The Russian government is pushing through a new bill to combat extremism amid fears that it could be used also to silence public protest.

FOOD: World Food Summit Endorses Biotechnology To Combat Hunger

With the United States leading the way, the World Food Summit has formally endorsed biotechnology as a way to address hunger.

POLITICS-FRANCE: Chirac Party on Way to Parliamentary Win

President Jacques Chirac's party is headed for a comfortable majority in the final round of elections for the French National Assembly next Sunday.

DEVELOPMENT-EU: Aid Chief Opposes UN Plans

The European Union aid chief has criticised the United Nations for attempts to create new funds ahead of the World Food Summit.

ENVIRONMENT-RUSSIA: City Life Begins to Collapse

The partial collapse of a nine-storey building in St. Petersburg this week is symptomatic of the collapse of Russia's urban infrastructure.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Ethnic Germans Call For Compensation

By the end of September, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia hopes to become the full member of Council of Europe, ending its decade long isolation from international structures under the regime of former leader Slobodan Milosevic.

EUROPEAN UNION: Immigrant Reforms Endanger Rights, Warn Activists

The human rights of immigrants in the European Union are in danger, in light of recent statements by several of the bloc's leaders and moves to reform the related legislation, says Mustafá Mrabet, president of the Association of Moroccan Immigrant Workers in Spain.

POLITICS-FRANCE: The Shadow of Le Pen Again

The neo-fascist Front National of Jean-Marie Le Pen may again play a decisive role in the French legislative elections, political analysts say.

HEALTH-FRANCE: Sexual Diseases Rise Among Immigrants

A resurgence of sexually transmitted diseases among immigrants is reaching alarming levels.

ENVIRONMENT: EU Heads for Clash with U.S. over Johannesburg Summit

The European Union is heading for a clash with the U.S. at a preparatory meeting this week for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

HEALTH-YUGOSLAVIA: Society Becomes Another Handicap

Tatjana lives on the eighth floor of a Belgrade apartment building and never leaves home.

RIGHTS-FRANCE: Doors Begin to Close to Refugees

A move to close the Sangatte refugee camp in France is coming to symbolise steps towards a new closing of European doors to asylum seekers.

AGRICULTURE-EUROPE: Food Safety of Paramount Concern

With BSE and foot-and-mouth diseases still a threat, food safety is becoming a paramount concern among EU nations. And as the European Union embarks on speedy enlargement, there is a growing anxiety over lower food safety standards in Eastern European countries due for accession and others trading with the group.

POLITICS-BRITAIN: Fifty Years of Rule by a Minority of One

There could hardly have been an opinion poll to determine this, but it seemed at the beginning of a long weekend in Britain that the British are thinking at least as much about David Beckham's foot as their Queen's crown.

POPULATION: Europe Alarmist on Refugee Question, Says UN

The United Nations refugee agency issued a statement Friday expressing concern about the current "over- heated" debate in Europe on asylum-seekers, and suggests that it could have dangerous consequences for foreigners seeking help in the region.

POLITICS-RUSSIA: Some Leaders Fear Another Division

Russian leaders are beginning to see dangers of another division of the country as a result of expansion of the European Union.

DEVELOPMENT: EU Halves Aid to Poorest, Study Claims

European Union aid to low income countries was almost halved over the past decade, an independent report claims.

POLITICS-TURKEY: Always Engaged to EU, Never Married

If politics brings together strange bedfellows, a fine example is the precarious relations between Turkey and an enlarging European Union.

POLITICS-EUROPE: Seven More Countries Likely to Join NATO

A meeting of the parliament of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has recommended that seven more countries be asked to join NATO later this year.

POLITICS-Russia Eyes Jettisoning Cold War Era Legacy

The key United States-Russia strategic arms reduction deal as well as a creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ( NATO)-Russia Council have been heralded as an end to the Cold War Era.