PORTUGAL: Easing Food Safety Standards for Traditional Products

As the only alternative for preventing the disappearance of small-scale farming, farmers’ markets, rural slaughterhouses, taverns and traditional food products, Portugal has decided to interpret the strict European Union regulations on food safety with a domestic slant.

ENVIRONMENT-GERMANY: Fleeing Famine, Bees Seek Asylum in Cities

For German bees, the countryside is no longer what it used to be. They are fleeing insecticides and genetically modified crops to take refuge in cities.

BULGARIA: Small Farmers Strike for Survival

Thousands of Bulgarian milk and meat producers have been protesting for more than a week in various regions around the country, warning the government that life for small farmers has become impossible in Bulgaria.

GEORGIA: ‘Provoked Into Aggression’

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvilli has become an uncertain sort of leader. At first, he won praise after successfully leading the popular 'Rose Revolution' in 2003 that catapulted him into power. Now he has received global condemnation for the military attack that he ordered in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia.

GEORGIA: How the Hawks Won

Georgia's step towards military confrontation comes after an increase in authoritarian and militaristic tendencies in a country that dealt catastrophically with Russia's pressure.

RIGHTS-BALKANS: Bringing Roma in From the Fringes

Some weeks ago, Serbia said farewell to folk singer Saban Bajramovic who died of heart failure at age 72 in the southern city of Nis. In an unusual gesture, Serbian President Boris Tadic attended the funeral, paying his last respects to 'The King of Gypsy Music'.

GEORGIA: Where the Cold War Never Ended

As war breaks out in Georgia, the geopolitical struggle between the U.S. and Russia becomes more violent and closer to Russia's border than ever.

UKRAINE: Russian Language Toned Down

Russian speakers in Ukraine say the lack of state recognition for the biggest linguistic minority in Europe amounts to discrimination, but opponents argue that recognition will endanger the development of Ukrainian language.

HEALTH-GERMANY: More Smoke Arises From Ban

The decision by a German constitutional court against a partial ban on smoking has led to calls for a new nationwide ban.

BALKANS: Another Step Away From Reconciliation

Radovan Karadzic, one of the most wanted war crimes indictees from the Bosnian war, faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the bloody 1992-95 conflict, but there is no sign that his arrest and extradition will bring reconciliation in the region.

GREECE: Chinese Fur Unwraps a New Threat

Local people were heartened to see 30 Russian ladies getting off a bus last week in Kastoria, a little town up in the mountains 600km northwest of Athens. Kastoria is more popular with winter tourists.

ENVIRONMENT-SPAIN: Number Two in Wind Energy

Spain is the world’s second producer of wind energy, after Germany and ahead of the United States, and plans to continue expanding its infrastructure so as to double its current output by 2012. But new regulations may slow this development.

ENERGY: Accidents Make N-Questions Bigger

The recent proliferation of accidents at nuclear power plants in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia and elsewhere in Europe has made calls for greater reliance on nuclear energy questionable, experts say.

EUROPE: Transition Brings AIDS

Poverty and social displacement, increased availability of drugs, and chaos in the healthcare systems that accompanied transition from state socialism to the market economy have contributed to the spread of HIV in Eastern Europe.

RUSSIA: Plan Putina Faces Pitfalls

Now as Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin has started to pursue vigorously his own long-term strategic development plan that was used to garner votes during the last presidential elections.

SERBIA: Most Wanted Man Was Always There

Serbians are still in shock after revelations that Radovan Karadzic was living in Belgrade as a psychiatrist and bio-energy healer, holding seminars and lectures, and writing for the magazine Healthy Life under the name Dragan Dabic.

CORRUPTION: Romania and Bulgaria In the Dock

After putting up a reformist face in order to join the European Union (EU) in 2007, Romanian and Bulgarian politicians have quickly returned to fostering corruption. And there is little the EU can do about it.

FRANCE: ‘Excited Little Boy’ Takes Hold of the Media

The media in France, already in a heavy financial and credibility crisis, did not need yet another blow. But that is just what it got in President Nicolas Sarkozy's announcement that he will personally pick the directors of the public television and radio broadcasting companies.

SPAIN: ETA on the Brink

Police in Spain brought the Basque separatist group ETA to the brink of total collapse Tuesday after dismantling what was described as its most active cell, and perhaps the only one left after a string of major blows dealt to the group in the past few years.

ROMANIA: Looking to Rome to Escape the Roma

A decision by Italian authorities to fingerprint nomads - mostly Roma - is supported by many Romanians, in spite of statements from Romanian officials condemning the measure as discriminatory.

SERBIA: Karadzic Arrest Opens Doors to EU

One of the most wanted men in the world, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, was arrested Monday night by Serbian security forces.