News stories by David Cronin, page 3

Habtom, a 30-year-old Eritrean, has all the grim qualifications needed to be a refugee. He was arrested for protesting a dictatorship, tortured in custody, and fears his life would be at risk if he returned home. Another part of his story is also typical: he suffered lengthy detention in a European Union nominally committed to the universal defence of human rights.

Aid to poor countries should be tailored more towards benefiting European firms, a top-level Brussels official has recommended.

Coca-Cola, recently indicted for causing serious damage to water and soil in India, might seem like an odd champion of environmental protection.

Deeper cuts to the European Union's greenhouse gas emissions than those approved by its governments would be less expensive than previously thought, according to a new analysis.

Tensions between the European Union and Africa have once again erupted, with Namibia accusing the Brussels elite of resorting to bullying tactics in trade negotiations.

New evidence has been uncovered to show that Dexia, a major Belgian-French bank, is still financing Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories despite official assurances that such loans have ceased.

Leading biotechnology companies have been granted privileged access to the European Union's policy makers as part of their efforts to speed up the approval of new genetically modified (GM) crops.

India is facing strong pressure to open up its markets to cheese and other dairy produce from Europe, even though the New Delhi government has expressed fears about how small farmers could be forced into deeper poverty as a result.

Life-saving medicines could become too costly for the world's poor after a new trade agreement between the European Union and India comes into effect, public health activists have warned.

The European Union's anti-poverty chief has refused to concede that his promotion of biofuels has helped exacerbate global hunger.