RUSSIA: Talking Its Own Language

Russia is looking to promote its language and culture as a way to improve its image abroad.

CULTURE-FINLAND: ‘Living Books’ Help Fight Prejudice

Books cannot talk back to a reader and answer all of their questions. So if one is seeking concrete information on, say, a gay person, the library is perhaps the wrong place to visit.

HEALTH-RUSSIA: More Funding, But HIV/AIDS on the Rise

Russia's HIV infection rate continues to rise - most notably in the heterosexual and non-drug-using populations - despite steady increases in funds to fight the disease. Experts and medical researchers say dramatic changes in sexual attitudes and behaviour are essential if the trend is to be reversed.

BULGARIA: Eye on Justice as New Political Star Emerges

Justice Minister Georgi Petkanov announced he will resign after the weekend because of health reasons, saying "work at the ministry is extremely hard." Meanwhile, a rising politician who has staked a claim as an anti-crime crusader is making his way towards the prime minister's chair.

Q&A: Russia’s Children Remain “Highly Vulnerable”

"While UNICEF is happy that children's rights are commemorated on Jun. 1, we would like to see every day of the year be 'International Children's Day', particularly in Russia, where children remain highly vulnerable," says Carel de Rooy, the United Nations agency's representative in Russia and Belarus.

DEATH PENALTY: A Life Defending Lives

In 2000, when French journalist and publisher Michel Taube founded 'Ensemble contre la peine de mort' (Together against the death penalty), his vision was that the group would become a world voice in the fight for the universal abolition of capital punishment.

SERBIA: Quiet Welcome of Foreigners Belies Insular Image

Serbia may be viewed by some as intolerant and somewhat nationalistic due to its role in the wars of disintegration of former Yugoslavia, but many of the people arriving from distant foreign lands are finding a hospitable home here.

PORTUGAL: Strike Takes Aim at Socialist Government’s “Neoliberal” Policies

The economic decline of Portugal's middle class, the growing marginalisation of the poorest of the poor, the uncertainty facing young people and drastic measures - described by critics as "neoliberal" - adopted by the socialist government form the backdrop to Wednesday's general strike in this southern European country.

BULGARIA: A Capital That Can’t Handle Its Mess

On several occasions over the past two years, the streets of the Bulgarian capital Sofia have been literally covered with trash. The city of one million is one of the few European capitals without a waste processing system.

CIVIL SOCIETY: The Geopolitics of Post-Soviet Activism

Representatives of civic groups from the post-Soviet region admit that their organisations are sometimes more closely following the democratisation line set by donors than the aspirations of their societies.

DEVELOPMENT: A Little Aid, A Big Favour

When, came the question from a Ugandan delegate at a Civicus world assembly meeting in Glasgow, will the West ever stop giving aid on unequal terms? "We are unequal by the fact that, speaking as a donor, we are providing the funds," said Jan-Petter Holtedahl from the civil society department at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

ICELAND: Change – But How Much? – in the Wake of Elections

There has been a change in the make-up of Iceland's ruling coalition after the recent parliamentary elections, which bodes for a new approach to health, education and farm policy. But how much change is in store regarding the environment, energy production and the Iraq war remains unclear.

SERBIA: PM’s Assassins Get 40 Years in Prison

The most-watched criminal trial in modern Serbian history ended Wednesday, as the mastermind behind the assassination of reform-oriented Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and the shooter himself both received 40-year prison terms.

RIGHTS-RUSSIA: NGOs Under Putin Scanner on Estonia Events

Leading non profitable organisations and civil society have vehemently rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's accusation last week that they did not take collective action when Estonian authorities removed Soviet war monuments from the city centre to an obscure location.

EUROPE: For Big Business, Accountability Still a Foreign Word

On Mar. 15, 2006, Noel Forgeard, at the time chief executive officer of the European aerospace corporation EADS, sold, apparently without any reason, some 170,000 shares he owned of the company, making an instantaneous profit of almost three million U.S. dollars.

ROMANIA: Referendum Asserts Popular Will Over Parliament

A decision by parliament to oust Romanian President Traian Basescu was overturned in a historic referendum that has endorsed his wide popular appeal despite recent political turmoil.

PORTUGAL: Some Missing Children More Equal than Others

Never before has the Portuguese idiom "para o inglês ver" (literally: for the English to see), which means putting on a front to impress outsiders and ward off criticism, been so apt as today in Portugal, when the entire country has its attention riveted on the case of a four-year-old British girl who disappeared from a hotel two weeks ago.

POLAND: Highway Dreams Fly Over Rospuda Valley

In a campaign that has won the support of Polish public opinion and the European Union (EU), environmental groups are hoping to thwart the Polish cabinet's plan to construct a highway over the protected Rospuda valley.

POLAND: Abortion Laws Not Strong Enough For Some

With the strictest abortion laws in Europe, one would expect any debates to revolve around its liberalisation. Yet in 21st century Poland, the abortion issue has been unsuccessfully raised by politicians seeking to strengthen anti-abortion legislation even further.

SERBIA: A Government At Last

Serbian leaders finally reached agreement on a new coalition government Friday, more than three months after the inconclusive January elections.

UKRAINE: Elections Ahead, Again

Ukraine's latest power clash is heading towards a political, rather than legal solution. President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich have agreed on early elections, but disagree over the details.