//REPETITION// //SOCIAL SUMMIT//DEVELOPMENT-RUSSIA: Struggling To Fulfill Social Development Pledges

Pledges made by the Russian government to boost social development by eradicating poverty and promoting full and productive employment have not been fulfilled.

//REPETITION// POLITICS-EU/ACP: Cuba Expresses Opposition To Conditional Aid

Cuba, invited as an observer to meetings between ministers of the Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) group here this week, expressed outrage at the "conditionality" of aid it says donors like the European Union (EU) impose on recipients.

EUROPEAN UNION: Banking Secrecy Out for Non-Residents

The 15 European Union (EU) heads of state agreed Tuesday in this Portuguese city to abolish banking secrecy for accounts belonging to non-residents as part of a package of measures to fight money laundering.

POPULATION-EUROPE: Immigration Yes, But Only If Selective

Immigration is desirable in the European Union (EU) as long as it is controlled and selective, agreed several government leaders at the close of a two-day summit Tuesday in the Portuguese city of Santa Maria da Feira.

DEVELOPMENT-ITALY: Bill to Write Off Debt Owed by 78 Countries

Government officials and political leaders in Italy Friday lauded a bill under study in parliament to forgive four billion dollars in foreign debt owed by 78 highly indebted poor countries.

DEVELOPMENT-ITALY: Cancelled Debt Should Be Reconverted to Aid

Italy stressed Thursday that the funds freed up by writing off the foreign debt of countries of the developing South should be used to fight poverty.

POLITICS-EUROPE: Turkey Flexes Long Unused Muscles

Turkish-Greek relations have come a long over the last year.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ART-SPAIN: 500 Years in Seven Digitally Created Frescoes

Five centuries of Spanish history are summarised in seven large frescoes that were created using new digital techniques, an encounter between tradition and modernity on display in the town of San Lorenzo del Escorial, a community outside the Spanish capital.

POLITICS-EU: A Time for Reform, Expanding Frontiers without Walls

The European Union (EU) is reviewing its founding treaties to prepare for accepting 13 new members and embark on a period of major reforms and changes.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Government Targets New Opposition Group ‘Otpor’

An increasingly popular anti-government movement called "Otpor" (Resistance) has captured the imagination of Serbs and the eagle eye of the Slobodan Milosevic government.

POLITICS-SPAIN: ETA Attack Pushes Basque Coalition to the Brink

Basque nationalism is on the verge of splitting, said leaders from the political coalition's moderate majority Monday, after the illegal organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA - Basque Freedom and Homeland) was blamed for the Sunday assassination of a town councillor from Spain's governing Popular Party (PP).

RIGHTS-SPAIN: Courts Go Easy on Abusers of Women

A judge in the northwestern Spanish province of Galicia let a convicted rapist off with a reduced sentence Friday because he had offered his victim a glass of water, in the latest of a series of legal decisions in which men found guilty of abusing women have been let off lightly.

DEVELOPMENT-SPAIN: Million-Dollar Scam Hits Food Aid

A million-dollar fraud involving food destined for assistance projects in developing countries was uncovered in Spain by police as a result of Red Cross monitoring of humanitarian assistance operations.

EUROPEAN UNION: Reform Takes Centre Stage at Development Council

Development ministers from the 15 European Union (EU) member states, met here Thursday to debate a series of proposals that could fundamentally change the way the grouping responds to humanitarian crises and conflict situations in developing countries.

EUROPE: Tax Havens ‘Hotbed’ for Money Launderers, Says Garzon

All European Union (EU) member countries tolerate tax havens which "constitute the most fertile breeding ground for organised economic crime," Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón said Thursday.

RIGHTS-SPAIN: Media Unite in Condemning ETA

The editors of Spain's major press outlets signed a manifesto Friday condemning the illegal Basque organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETABasque Freedom and Homeland) for its offensive against journalists who do not bow to its political line.

RIGHTS-SPAIN: Immigrants Face Death, ‘Mafias’, Legal Reforms

Even if they save the money to pay smuggling rings that transport immigrants and survive the dangerous journey to Spain, undocumented foreign nationals are facing the determination of the centre-right government of José María Aznar to stiffen the Law on Aliens.

DEVELOPMENT-EU: Budget Cuts Foreseen to Finance Western Balkans Plans

The European Union (EU) Executive Commission Wednesday adopted a preliminary draft budget (PDB) for 2001 that foresees "deeper involvement" in foreign affairs with an emphasis on assistance to the Western Balkans and a "commitment to enlargement" of the Union eastwards.

DEVELOPMENT: Italian Aid Takes Aim at Poverty, Instability

The chief political focus of Italy's aid to the developing South this year is contributing to the stability of the countries whose domestic situation has the most direct influence on Italy's internal security.

FINANCE-EUROPE: Euro Fails To Stand Up to the Dollar

Nearly one-and-a-half years after its introduction, the euro, the single European currency that was expected to challenge the hegemony of the US dollar on financial markets world-wide, is proving to be merely a paper tiger.

POLITICS-SPAIN: Murder Puts Basque Nationalists on Defensive

The moderate nationalist parties governing Spain's Basque Country have reached a moment of truth as they take an ambiguous stance on the assassination of a journalist known as an outspoken critic of Basque separatist violence.