President of the Council of European Finance Ministers and Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jean Claude Junker, won sudden fame when he stated, 'We all know what we have to do, but if we did it we would all lose in the next elections.' This comment reflects the impotence of politics and the road that Europe now finds itself on, writes Roberto Savio, founder and president emeritus of the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency.

Despite scarce official news reports emerging from Syria, information leaking out from activists on the ground describe the situation as deteriorating. While the government remains vague about events unfolding in the country, Friday prayers continue to ignite dissent that seems to be spreading to all social classes.

The 130,000 residents of this balmy Mediterranean city can breathe a sigh of relief. Their sky is now better protected against sporadic rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip, some 12 kilometres away.

Fears of radioactive poisoning have fuelled a protest against an Australian mining company building the world’s largest rare earth processing plant outside China.

The BRICS summit begins with a meeting of trade ministers on Wednesday on China's Hainan island, with South Africa participating in the gathering of leading emerging economies for the first time.

As weeks of what the International Monetary Fund's managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn called 'painful' negotiations over a host of macroeconomic policies drew to a close here Saturday, confusion over coherent strategies for sustainable economic recovery hangs thick in the air.

Despite political differences among member countries, BRICS has set its sights on global trade talks to assert its weight. Its declared aim: to secure economic benefits for developing nations.

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, paid by BP to administer the firm's 20-billion-dollar compensation fund, has become the focal point of anger for Gulf residents who are angry, frustrated and desperate for help following last year's massive oil disaster.

The Palestinian Authority is preapring to establish a state in near future. But the Palestinian economy remains strongly tied to Israel, and manufacturers are struggling to recover from the second Intifadah.

Senegal's small-scale fishers are challenging the government over licences granting foreign trawlers permission to fish in Senegalese waters. The artisanal fishers condemn the 'selling off' of the country's fishery resources at a time when stocks off Senegal's coast are severely depleted.