POLITICS-FINLAND/EU: NGOs Mobilising Against ‘Fast-Track’ to the European Commission

Ville-Veikko Hirvela has a message for the leaders of the European Union (EU) gathering in the French city of Nice in December for the EU Intergovernmental Conference (IGC): if they do not want to turn Nice into a "Seattle of Europe", they should abandon plans to renegotiate the Amsterdam Treaty to give broader powers to the European Commission to negotiate and conclude trade agreements for members of the grouping.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Public Anxious to Know About Secret Police Files

After Slobodan Milosevic lost power in the September elections and October popular uprising, serious efforts are now being taken to remove the vestiges of the former regime in many areas.

POLITICS-FINLAND/EU: NGOs Mobilising Against ‘Fast-Track’ to the European Commission

Ville-Veikko Hirvela has a message for the leaders of the European Union (EU) gathering in the French city of Nice in December for the EU Intergovernmental Conference (IGC): if they do not want to turn Nice into a "Seattle of Europe", they should abandon plans to renegotiate the Amsterdam Treaty to give broader powers to the European Commission to negotiate and conclude trade agreements for members of the grouping.

RIGHTS-SPAIN: Gypsies Demand Recognition of Marriage Rites

Organisations of gypsies or Roma in Spain are demanding that their traditional marriage ceremonies be granted the same official recognition enjoyed by the religious rites of Jews, Muslims, Catholics and Protestants.

RUSSIA: Demise of Nuclear Submarine Could Remain Mystery Forever

á Although the Russian government continues to reiterate its vow to raise the sunken Kursk, some retired Navy officers say that may prove impossible and that the mystery of what befell one of the youngest submarines in the Russian fleet may remain unsolved.

\\CORRECTED REPEAT\\ENVIRONMENT-BRITAIN: Storms Take Climate Change Issues Out Of Seminar Rooms

It has proverbially rained and rained in England but rain has never taken England by storm as it has this year.

ENVIRONMENT-BRITAIN: Storms Take Climate Change Issues Out Of Seminar Rooms

It has proverbially rained and rained in England but rain has never taken England by storm as it has this year.

EU-MEDITERRANEAN: Middle East Conflict Overshadows ‘Barcelona Process’

The programme of economic co-operation between the European Union (EU) and its neighbouring states at the eastern and southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, is being jeopardised by the renewed conflict between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, according to observers.

DEVELOPMENT: Germany Pleads For Global Human Security Experiences

The strengthening of the United Nations and a reform of the Security Council are two important steps towards ensuring "global human security" which encompasses social and economic development, says Germany's minister for economic cooperation and development, Heidemarie Wieczoek-Zeul.

DEVELOPMENT-NORWAY: Building The Future For Children

The media can play a crucial role in supporting development co-operation between the rich industrial nations and the poorer countries.

DEVELOPMENT-UN: It’s Hard to Be Young in Post-Communist Era

The transition from communism to the market economy opened up social and economic opportunities for the youth of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, but disease, school drop-out rates and unemployment are on the rise, says a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) released Wednesday.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Media in Serbia Face Transition Too

Serbia's state media are in for a rough time ahead, as they try to throw off the legacy of communism and the tyrannical rule of former President Slobodan Milosevic, say analysts.

HEALTH-FRANCE: ‘Mad Cow’ Case Triggers Wave of Fear

A new case of the human Creutzfeld-Jakob disease and a report from government authorities that infected beef has been sold in local supermarkets have triggered a wave of fear in France about "mad-cow disease," recalling the panic Great Britain faced four years ago.

ENVIRONMENT: Greenpeace Sees Wind Power as Viable Way for North Sea Countries

Offshore wind power could generate three times the electricity consumed by five North Sea countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) each year and help them meet global targets to reduce "greenhouse gases", according to a report released Monday.

POLITICS: Russia’s Pipeline Projects Target European Markets

Russia, which is sitting on a quarter of the global natural gas reserves, hopes to gain access to the European markets via its multi-billion-dollar pipeline projects.

ENVIRONMENT-EUROPE: Seas Threatened, North and South

The sinking of a ship carrying toxic chemicals in the English Channel and the presence of a damaged nuclear submarine at the Rock of Gibraltar, in the north and south of Europe, respectively, have triggered alarm among environmentalists, politicians and scientists.

ENVIRONMENT-YUGOSLAVIA: Danube Commercial Traffic to Flow Again

People in the second largest city of Serbia, Novi Sad, use this joke to describe their town: It's the only one in the world where a river flows over the bridges.

POLITICS-SPAIN: ETA Car-Bomb Kills 3, Injures 38

A Supreme Court judge, his driver and his bodyguard were killed and 38 others injured Monday in the Spanish capital by a car-bomb explosion blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA.

HUMAN RIGHTS: EU Urged to Sue Russia over Abuses in Chechnya

Leading human rights groups are urging the European Union (EU) to pressure Russia at their bilateral summit on Sunday to launch a credible inquiry into reports that its soldiers have tortured and killed civilians in breakaway Chechnya.

LITERATURE-SPAIN: Plagiarism Case Reawakens “Authors’ ” Nightmare

á- The plagiarism allegedly committed by a popular Spanish journalist in her first novel has, as a secondary effect, exposed the reach of "ghostwriters," those who author works that are signed by others.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Milosevic’s Defeat Threatens Survival Of The Socialist Party

Last month's elections and the ensuing protests marked the end of a decade of rule by former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic.