Q&A: Georgian Lifers Spared Death, Stuck in their Cells

Georgia's punitive criminal justice system has resulted in one of the highest imprisonment rates worldwide. Overcrowding of jails now hampers an ambitious government plan to reform the penitentiary system.

Q&A: ‘Children Mustn’t See Fish Only in Pictures’

A casual visit to any of Europe's major supermarkets could leave a shopper with the impression that there is a boundless supply of fish in the continent's waters. The true picture is far less rosy. With about 88 percent of the European Union's fish stocks overexploited, EU vessels are travelling increasingly longer distances before bringing home their catches.

EUROPE: Where the Roma Begin to Prosper

The "gypsy market" in Brasov is bustling with activity on a Saturday morning. It's one of the few places left where pensioners and other low-income Romanians can buy decent clothes cheaply. And also here, the power dynamics between Roma and non-Roma is silently shifting.

Greek Society Falling, Falling…

People walking casually past a sleeping or unconscious person has become a recurrent scene in downtown Athens these days. At Omonia square in the heart of the Greek capital one sees signs of social degeneration and segregation that were unknown only a decade ago.

BALKANS: Kosovo Talks Bring Hope

Serbia has lost all its military and legal battles over Kosovo, but there is hope that the internationally sponsored talks between Belgrade and Pristina in October may bring some normalisation in relations between Serbia and its breakaway province.

EUROPE: New Permits to Pollute Sought

Extra permits to pollute the atmosphere would be given to corporations that invest in areas surrounding tropical rainforests under plans drawn up by one of Europe's most influential pressure groups.

Living on the Edge of Caravans

Broken bicycles and old suitcases mark the entrance to the makeshift camp. Ankle-deep in mud that is newly wet from a rain-shower, the visitor is taken by the hand by lively children to meet their parents.

Church Urged to Fight Death Penalty

The Church is being urged to abandon its apolitical stance to help end the death penalty in Belarus as campaigners for its abolition warn that two men could be executed within weeks in the former Soviet state.

EUROPE: Getting Into a Stew over Mackerel

The British have a fascination for the rich, fatty meat of the mackerel, that summertime extravagance often served as pates and salads at fashionable pubs and restaurants. A far cry from the humble cod that is a staple of the more downmarket chip shops on the nation's high streets.

EUROPE: Roma Conference Decries Government-Led Discrimination

Over the centuries, racism in the Americas has targeted indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, while in Europe, secular racism has long centred on its once-enslaved gypsies, as their recent persecution in France and Italy confirms.

Slammed For Its Roma Expulsions, France Shifts Rhetoric

Faced with mounting criticism because of its expulsions of Roma, or Gypsies, the French government is trying to gain allies in what it calls the "battle" against undocumented immigration and people-trafficking networks.

EUROPE: New Expulsions Hit People Without a Place

Roma gypsies are routinely described as Europe's largest ethnic minority. Numbering between 10 and 16 million, their combined population exceeds that of many European Union countries. Yet their numerical strength offers no compensation for the poverty, persecution and scapegoating that the Roma have to endure -- or for how their welfare is accorded a low priority by the EU's institutions.

East Europe Takes to Too Many Cars

Quality of life in Eastern European cities will continue to fall unless outdated systems of city life dominated by cars are abandoned, NGOs in the region say.

Portugal’s Forests Losing Ability to Capture Carbon

Environmentalists are alarmed: fires have destroyed close to 100,000 hectares of forest in Portugal this summer, releasing one million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Worst of all, the forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon.

EUROPE-ENVIRONMENT: Hot Air Rises at Talks and in Towns

The European Union (EU) is failing to fulfil its environmental commitments in practically all areas, from protecting biodiversity to improving air quality in the cities, according to official studies released this month.

ROMANIA: Austerity Deals Mortal Blow to Health System

Five newborns died last week in a fire caused by an airconditioning fault at a Bucharest maternity. Insufficient, overworked staff and deficient maintenance -- results of inadequate funding of the health system - -were listed among the causes.

ENVIRONMENT-RUSSIA: Threat To Polar Bears Worries Russian Experts

- Environmental experts in Russia have warned that unless urgent steps are taken internationally, climatic changes combined with man-made factors could reduce the world's population of polar bears by as much as 70 percent by 2060.

Chernobyl Effects Could Last Centuries

Almost 25 years after the world’s worst nuclear accident a series of new scientific studies have suggested the effects of the Chernobyl disaster have been underestimated.

BALKANS: Serbia Prepares a New Case Over Kosovo

Serbia is preparing to go before the United Nations next month to renew negotiations over the future of Kosovo, its southern breakaway province that has declared independence and been recognised by a number of countries.

BALKANS: The Turks Return

It's not often that the leading Belgrade daily Politika devotes two of its four foreign pages to the praise of one nation, but it did so for the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month.

EUROPE: Citizen Rights Don’t Apply to Roma

All major European countries plan mass expulsions of Roma or demolitions of Roma settlements. Rights groups warn that these measures entail the criminalisation of an entire ethnic group, and break EU law.