RUSSIA: Little Suspense Ahead of Election Day

Russians are voting this Sunday in legislative elections that President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party is expected to win by a landslide, and which opposition parties, human rights groups and academics say have already been marred by crackdowns on opposition parties and voter coercion.

ROMANIA-BULGARIA: New MEPs Change Face of EU Parliament

Half a year after Bulgaria elected its representatives to the European Parliament (EP), Romania has voted in its first European elections. The vote in Romania marked a defeat of populist forces and coincided with the collapse of the far- right block in the EP.

UKRAINE-RUSSIA: Gloomy Prospects for Black Sea

The recent spill of more than 1,000-tonnes of fuel oil into the Black Sea could have severe long-term environmental consequences say ecologists, stressing that authorities are busy trading accusations instead of stepping up cleaning efforts.

MACEDONIA: Tensions Simmer After Police Raid

At first sight, the ethnically mixed city of Tetovo, 40 kilometres northwest of the Macedonian capital of Skopje, seems like an average, if economically depressed, town.

POLAND: Gov’t Vows Socially Conscious Liberalism

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's newly formed cabinet in Warsaw has promised a new Poland in the wake of two years of staunch conservatism, but his party’s liberal enthusiasm will have to adapt to pragmatic considerations.

RIGHTS: Spain at Forefront of Fight Against Gender Violence

Spain is among the most progressive countries in terms of its policies and actions against gender violence, Francisca Sauquillo, a member of the European Parliament and head of the Movement for Peace, Disarmament and Freedom (MPDL), told IPS.

MIGRATION-LEBANON: Sending Money Home

Four months ago, Eric and his wife Karen left the Philippines for Lebanon to provide for a better life for their family. While driving buses, in the Philippines, Eric became certified as an electrician to improve his chances of finding employment abroad.

CZECH REPUBLIC: US-Russia At Impasse on Radar

The U.S. proposal to set up an anti-missile defence system in Eastern Europe has drawn the Czech Republic into a high-level diplomatic debate between Moscow and Washington for which they may not be fully prepared.

KOSOVO: Thaci Promises Independence Before Year-end

Exit polls reveal that the elections held in Kosovo this weekend have produced a major win for the party led by the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA, UÇK Alb) leader, Hashim Thaçi.

DEATH PENALTY-RUSSIA: Duma Leaves Punishment on Table

The State Duma concluded its four-year term last week, leaving a stack of important legislation - including that of banning the death penalty - unattended to.

POLITICS-BALKANS: Little Enthusiasm Shown in Kosovo Elections

Parliamentary elections in the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo were broadly expected to be yet another confirmation that ethnic Albanians firmly and overwhelmingly support the idea of independence promised by their leaders.

RIGHTS-EU: Minorities Want Acceptance, Not ‘Tolerance’

"Tolerance? No. I want to talk about acceptance. I don't want to be ‘tolerated’, I want to be accepted as a disabled lesbian woman," said Lydia La Rivière-Zijdel, to a lengthy ovation at the event concluding the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, in the Portuguese capital Tuesday.

RELIGION-BALKANS: Bishop May Be Retried For Sexual Abuse

The Supreme Court of Serbia recently announced that a local court in the southern city of Nis did not play strictly by legal rules when it pronounced a bishop of the influential Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) innocent in a sexual abuse case brought by four young men last year.

CLIMATE CHANGE-ICELAND: Emissions Quota Debate Heats Up

"I am of the opinion that Iceland should not ask for a repeat of the Iceland Provision in the upcoming climate change negotiations," says Iceland's environment minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir.

HEALTH: Tropical Species Migrating North

New species of insects have begun to establish themselves all across Europe, raising concerns about the impact of global warming on biodiversity and public health.

ROMANIA: Murder Brings Fear to Italy

The murder of Italian Giovanna Reggiani by Romanian Nicolae Mailat has led the Italian government to pass a law allowing for expulsion of European Union (EU) citizens considered a threat to public security.

Q&A: &#39Nature Capital Is the Market Too&#39

If the world political agenda is dictated to by the economy, "we need natural and social capital to be included in the market," says Robert Costanza, director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont in the U.S.

GREECE: More Poverty Than Meets the Eye

A third of Greeks live close to the poverty line or under, a new survey has found. The poverty limit is drawn at an income of 470 euros a month per adult.

CZECH REPUBLIC: The March that Never Was

A failed neo-Nazi march in Prague's old Jewish town has been the object of hyped media attention at a time of growing interest in right-wing extremism in formerly communist Central and Eastern Europe.

MOLDOVA: Peace Plan Fails to Fit Russian Agenda

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has been promoting what he calls a new plan for the resolution of the status of Transdniester. But the separatist government in Tiraspol and its strong ally, Moscow, are not willing to discuss it for the moment.

SERBIA: Forget the Obstacles En Route to EU

Serbia has finally initialled a long awaited deal that could lead eventually to full membership of the European Union (EU).