RIGHTS-GERMANY: Debate On Ways To Combat Rising Xenophobic Violence

Alarmed at the right-wing extremist violence against foreigners and the homeless, the German government and parliament are considering new ways of tackling a situation which, according to a senior state government leader, brings "shame on all of Germany".

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: The Crucial Test

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which consists of Serbia and Montenegro, will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on September 24.

YUGOSLAVIA: Journalists See Jail Term for Colleague as Repression

Journalists in Serbia say they see the recent arrest and conviction of a colleague for espionage as an ominous sign of further repression against all who differ in opinion from the government of President Slobodan Milosevic.

/CORRECTED REPEAT/DEVELOPMENT: Combating Poverty With The Participation Of The Poor

Empowerment of the poor is one major step towards the alleviation of poverty, government officials, representatives of the United Nations and civil society organisations agreed during a three-day discussion concluded Thursday in Hanover at the world exposition, Expo 2000.

DEVELOPMENT: Combating Poverty With The Participation Of The Poor

Empowerment of the poor is one major step towards the alleviation of poverty, government officials, representatives of the United Nations and civil society organisations agreed during a three-day discussion concluded Thursday in Hanover at the world exposition, Expo 2000.

IMMIGRATION-GERMANY: Naturalisation Comes Up Against a Language Barrier

Germany's new citizenship law, which came into force this January, was designed to make obtaining German nationality easier.

TRADE-EU/ACP: Caribbean Banana Producers Fight For Their Livelihood

Sir James Mitchell is on a mission.

ECONOMY-RUSSIA: Begging For Debt Relief

Russia had hoped to use the Okinawa summit to negotiate a write-off of multi-billion in Soviet-era loans it owes to Western governments.

DEVELOPMENT: Italy Takes Aim at Global Poverty

The Italian government approved three foreign aid initiatives Monday, indicating the formal start of its plan to fight poverty in the world, and placing this European country "among the donors most determined to achieve the targets set by the Copenhagen summit," according to the foreign ministry.

YUGOSLAVIA: European ‘White List’ Puts Firms On Domestic ‘Black List’

Companies that found themselves on a European Union (EU) 'white list' of firms exempted from sanctions banning all Serbian business with the grouping, say they want out of the elite band in which they have been placed. But their EU partners will not let them decline the honour.

ENVIRONMENT-HEALTH: Protests Over Siberia Plans to Build More Nuclear Pl ants

Young environmentalist Alexei Toropov say s he is dedicating his life to fighting for the safe clean-up of radioactive w aste in one of the world's largest nuclear - and arguably the most contaminate d - complexes, near his hometown of Tomsk, in Western Siberia.

DEVELOPMENT: Assistance for Empowerment of the Poor

Focussing on poverty alleviation, the United Nation's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is coming round to the view that development assistance needs to aim at empowerment of the poor.

ENVIRONMENT: Russian Environments Seek New Watchdog Role

Environmentalists across Russia are pointing to the increased role non-governmental groups will have to play in order to monitor ecological degradation now that Russian President Vladimir Putin's recently abolished two key environmental protection bodies.

G7/8 SUMMIT: Japan Asked To Implement Anti-Corruption Convention

The global watchdog, Transparency International (TI), has asked Japan to implement the Anti- Corruption Convention, and deplored a small group of countries holding back its effective functioning.

RIGHTS-ROMANIA: Saving The Abandoned Children

Mihai was 17 years old and weighed only 20 kilogrammes when he was recently transferred to a hospital due to his precarious physical condition.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of a Cruel and Unjust World

Three collections of photographs by two celebrated artists, Sebastian Salgado and Robert Doisneau, in Rome and Madrid, give vivid testimony to the cruelties and injustices that persist in a globalised world.

//REPEATING FOR POINTS NEEDING//POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Purge of Judiciary Serves Milosevic Regime

Parliament's latest move against the judiciary here signals that the criterion to become and remain a judge in Yugoslavia is loyalty to the regime, analysts and former judges say.

POLITICS-SPAIN: Outrage and Powerlessness in Face of ETA Attacks

Loathing and a feeling of impotence have swept the Spanish - including the Basque - population as a result of attacks over the weekend attributed to the illegal Basque separatist organisation, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA - Basque Freedom and Homeland).

FINANCE: Poor Countries ‘Still Waiting’ For Promised Debt Relief

The promised Third World debt relief has still not been delivered even as the Group of Eight (G8) leaders prepare to meet for yet another summit in Okinawa (Japan) later this week.

ITALY-DEVELOPMENT: Aid Concentrated to Reach Critical Mass

The Italian government aims to concentrate its development aid, because according to the latest annual report on development aid and cooperation, aid must reach a critical mass to be effective, and targets cannot be met if the funds are distributed among too many countries and projects.

ENVIRONMENT-EU: Environment Ministers Grapple With GM Food Debate

The debate on controlling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) overshadowed all other environmental issues on the agenda at an informal EU ministers' meeting in Paris this weekend.