HEALTH-SPAIN: Mad Cow Scare Claims Political Victim

The European crisis arising from mad cow disease claimed its first political victim in Spain as the government's director general of livestock, Quintiliano Pérez Bonilla, resigned Friday.

ELECTIONS-PORTUGAL: Nearly Everyone Wins with Sampaio Re-Election

Most political sectors in Portugal are celebrating the results of Sunday's presidential elections with smiles of triumph, and completely disregarding the 50 percent abstention rate that, according to local analysts, diminishes the re-election of socialist President Jorge Sampaio to a second five- year term.

POLITICS-PORTUGAL: Uranium Question Hangs Over Elections

The controversy triggered in Portugal by the use of missiles containing depleted uranium in the 1999 bombings of Yugoslavia has spiced up an otherwise dull campaign on the road to Sunday's presidential elections.

POLITICS: ‘Balkan Syndrome’ Seen Weakening US and European Defence Co-operation

The Kosovo war may prove to be a tainted victory for NATO, and in particular the United States, it's de facto leader, over the military alliance's use of 'tank-busting' depleted uranium (DU) munitions.

SPORTS-MIGRATION: Real Goals False Papers

The supporters, the trainer staff and the managers of the professional French football club, AS Saint Etienne, were over the past one and a half years proud of their striker Axel Dias.

HEALTH-EUROPE: Fear Of Invisible Enemy Grows In The Balkans

The small Yugoslav republic of Montenegro is gearing up for an unusually thorough cleanup of one of its most scenic peninsulas this winter.

ENVIRONMENT-MOROCCO: Fishermen Say No To Accord With Europe

"We have not had such abundant catches for a long time," says Ahmed Bensifi, a fisherman at the Casablanca port, as his colleagues were busy unloading their ship at the dawn of a cold winter day.

ENVIRONMENT-YUGOSLAVIA: Depleted Uranium Scare Spreads In The Balkans

Apart from being a symbol of bloody wars during the past decade, the Balkans continue to gain notoriety in the history of warfare.

ECONOMY-BALTIC STATES: New Year Promises Optimistic Outlook

The year 2001 promises an optimistic economic outlook for the Baltic States Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which rank among leading candidates for membership of an enlarged European Union (EU).

POLITICS: EU Launches Inquiry into ‘Balkan Syndrome’

The European Union (EU) Tuesday said it had ordered a group of experts from its nuclear agency to study whether exposure to spent depleted uranium ammunition is behind a possible spate of leukaemia cases among military personnel who served in the Balkans.

EUROPE: Latest Victim of NATO’s Radioactive Weapons Reported in Spain

The number of victims of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) war in the Balkans is still climbing throughout Europe, with the latest victim of the bombing with depleted uranium (DU) reported Friday in Spain.

MOROCCO-RIGHTS: International Rights Talks To Go Ahead

An international human rights congress set to take place in Casablanca next week, the first of its kind in an Arab country, is likely to open with a bang as rights campaigners take on their host country for its recent crackdown on freedom of expression.

DEVELOPMENT-EUROPE: New Institution To Manage EU External Aid

The European Union, comprising of world's major donor nations, has decided to entrust a new institution with the management of its international assistance budget, which amounted to 9.6 billion Euro this year.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Tough Times Ahead…

Serbia and Yugoslavia face tough times ahead as they try to rebuild the country from the devastation inflicted during the 10 year rule of Slobodan Milosevic which ended with the Serbian parliamentary elections on December 23.

ENVIRONMENT-RUSSIA: ‘Christmas Gift’ of Foreign Nuclear Waste

In an unlikely Christmas gift to the nation, Russia's lower house of parliament has removed a legal ban on the long-term storage of foreign nuclear waste on Russian soil.

POLITICS: EU Ministers Agree on Banana Import System

Franz Fischler, the European Union (EU) Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries, has welcomed the decision by EU ministers to adopt a new "first come, first served (FCFS)" import system for bananas put forth by the executive Commission earlier this year.

REVIEW 2000-EUROPE: Neo-Nazism on the Rise

Alberto Adriano did not have a chance. A German citizen, of Mozambican origin, he was kicked to death on the streets of the east German city of Dessau by racist attackers earlier this year.

REVIEW 2000-EUROPE: Neo-Nazism on the Rise

Alberto Adriano did not have a chance. A German citizen, of Mozambican origin, he was kicked to death on the streets of the east German city of Dessau by racist attackers earlier this year.

POLITICS-EU: NGOs Question EU Commissioner’s Commitment to Civil Society

The largest network of European non- governmental organisations (NGOs) active in the field of development co- operation and humanitarian emergency aid has characterised an audit process of the network launched by the European Commission as "harassment".

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Truth Commission for War Crimes

The new government of Yugoslavia has decided to set up a Truth Commission with the aim of establishing the truth regarding war crimes committed by Serbs against non- Serbs in wars in Croatia, Bosnia and southern Serbian province of Kosovo during the past 10 years.

POLITICS: Europe Missed Chance to Protect Environment, Say Conservationists

A group of leading European environmental organisations has declared last week's European Union (EU) summit in Nice, France "a failure for the environment".