BALKANS: Religious Differences Go To School

When parents of today's school children went to school, religion was a private matter, something talked about at home or among friends and relatives in communist former Yugoslavia.

ITALY: Voting for a Job

Employment is of top concern to Italian voters in the general elections that began Sunday, and could sway a third of floating voters undecided till the last.

MIGRATION-ITALY: Where to Pay Tax, But Not Vote

Millions of migrants settled in Italy will be only spectators to the election due this weekend.

RIGHTS-BOSNIA: Lost Between Dead and Alive

"I'm still searching for my son, I don't know where he is, or how he was killed," says Kada Hotic. She does not believe he is still alive. "It is important for me to find his remains, and that he is buried with the dignity of a human being.

ITALY: Candidates Divided Over Migration

Nothing seems to divide the two leading prime ministerial candidates in the election due this week more than the immigration issue.

RIGHTS-PORTUGAL: Neo-Nazis on Trial

Neo-Nazis are on trial in Portugal for their "pathological and irrational hatred of ethnic minorities," according to the charges filed by the Attorney-General’s Office against 36 members of the small but active local chapter of an international white supremacist organisation.

RIGHTS: EU Urged to Step Up Pressure on Chechnya

The European Union has been urged to use its influence with Russia's new president to insist that human rights abuses in Chechnya are thoroughly investigated.

BALKANS: Now Divided by NATO Membership

Security issues in the Balkans came under the spotlight once again at the NATO summit in Bucharest, where some nations from the region were invited to join the alliance, some remained in the waiting room, and some like Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, outside.

RIGHTS: Finland&#39s Sami Fear Assimilation

There are growing concerns among the Sami people in Finland that their traditional way of life as an indigenous people is under threat.

BOSNIA: Kosovo Pushes Up New Ethnic Issues

Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence has provoked new divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past few weeks.

EUROPE: NGOs Seek More Attention to Local Realities

The EU has promised to increase efforts to include civil society in its strategy to bring change in Serbia, Belarus and Russia, but NGOs are pointing out that each country has specific needs.

BALKANS: Serbia Outraged over Kosovan Acquittal

Serbians feel outraged after the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj of atrocities against non-Albanians in 1998. Haradinaj's guerrilla group fought central rule from Belgrade at the time.

EUROPE: New Push for Pro-EU Reform

The EU wants to use civil society to promote pro-EU reforms in the governments of its southern and eastern European neighbours - and civic actors seem to be willing to play along in what looks like a win-win situation.

RIGHTS: A Fifth of EU Children in Poverty

Minimum levels of expenditure on addressing the causes of child poverty should be introduced across the European Union, according to a parliamentarian tasked with analysing the problem.

BOSNIA: To the Future, With the Past Following

Close to 15 years after the siege of Sarajevo began, the city has recovered much of its past prosperity. But the wounds and memories of war are still around.

ENVIRONMENT: Dispute over Aluminium Plant Resurfaces

Controversy has arisen yet again over the construction of an aluminium plant in Iceland. In this case the proposed plant will be located at Helguvik in the southwest, and will be powered by geothermal energy rather than hydroelectric power.

BALKANS: "Serbs&#39 Organs Sold From Albania"

Serbia's War Crimes Prosecution Office has formally opened an investigation into the case of hundreds of Serbs who disappeared in Kosovo in 1998-99. The investigations were ordered after excerpts from a book by former chief international war crimes tribunal prosecutor Carla Del Ponte were published in local media.

SLOVAKIA: Corruption Haunts Governing Coalition

Slovakia's left-wing government continues to survive media and opposition attacks over a series of corruption scandals. The scandals have not, however, diminished the government's popularity.

EUROPE: Kosovo Shadow Falls on Moldova

Moldova and its separatist region Transdniester, engaged for 16 years in a conflict over the latter's independence, each had reasons to believe the spring of 2008 would bring a settlement favourable to their side. But Moscow, crucial to any resolution, has already signalled it is not in a hurry to reach a resolution.

RIGHTS-ROMANIA: Lifers Make a Bid for Attention

"We just live for years in cages, just like in a zoo. But the toughest punishment of all is not the long sentences in our stables - it's that we're being ignored."

ENERGY-EUROPE: Nuclear Power Debate Heats Up

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown are about to agree on a new generation of nuclear power plants in London this week, and plan to export the technology to the rest of the world, according to unconfirmed reports.