A couple embrace, with buildings shrouded in smog in the background, in central Moscow, August 15, 2010. Acrid smoke from forest and peat bog fires which blanketed Moscow until early last week returned to the Russian capital Sunday as wildfires are still burning around the city. The concentration of carbon monoxide in Moscow air on Sunday morning was more than five times higher than the usual level... 

Traveller minorities blocked the bridge near Bordeaux in protest at plans to remove them Roma (Gypsies) have blocked a major road bridge near Bordeaux in protest after hundreds of them were evicted from an illegal campsite. Around 250 vehicles blocked the bridge for five hours on Sunday, causing tailbacks of up to five kilometres on a public holiday weekend. More than 40 illegal camps have been closed... 

European politicians and journalists visiting Iceland in recent months have been quite astonished to experience first hand how little interest Icelandic MPs and Icelanders in general have in joining the European Union. So astonished in fact that Icelandic lawmakers have repeatedly been asked if the EU application delivered by the Icelandic government in 2009 is really serious. Well, quite frankly... 

A girl who was abducted at the age of 14 was forced to work as a sex slave. This picture is posed by model A girl who was abducted at the age of 14 and forced to work as a sex slave was yesterday praised for giving evidence which saw her abusers jailed. The privately-educated teenager was picked up and plied with vodka and drugs, passed around groups of older men for sex and then forced to work as... 

Economic argument behind proposed immigration restrictions The nationalist Danish People’s Party announced yesterday that it is ready to put a complete stop to all immigration to Denmark from non-Western countries. On Tuesday the party began its 2010 summer group meeting in Vejle, Jutland, where its top members such as Pia Kjærsgaard, Kristian Thulesen Dahl and Peter Skaarup met to discuss current... 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy delivers a speech in Grenoble, French Alps, Friday, July 30, 2010. Nicolas Sarkozy came in Grenoble to install the new prefect after confrontations between youths and policemen, which came after a local resident suspected in the armed robbery of a casino was killed while fleeing police. Four men, including two minors, were detained in a morning raid Wednesday in the... 

A campaign poster for Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party One of the most conservative Dutch governments ever was in the offing Sunday, with the conservative-liberal election winners of the VVD party agreeing on a minority coalition with the centre-right Christian Democrats and backed on a case-by-case basis by the far-right anti-Islam Freedom Party of Geert Wilders. After almost two months... 

France is saying that the Roma question must be dealt with within a European framework, but starting with the countries of origin France’s Europe minister, Pierre Lellouche, pressed Romania to tackle the question of “integration” of Roma communities on Monday. He softened his tone from a week before by underscoring that all European states had a responsibility in which he laid the... 

Russia Burning Russian research scientist Dr. Andrey Areshev writing for the Kremlin’s independent think tank Strategic Culture Foundation warns that the catastrophic fires raging throughout the Motherland may have been caused by American weather weapons and states that “the incidence of the current anomalously high temperatures exclusively in Russia and some adjacent territories invites alternative... 

The Netherlands became the first NATO country to end its combat mission in Afghanistan, drawing the curtain Sunday on a four-year operation that was deeply unpopular at home and even brought down a Dutch government. The departure of the small force of nearly 1,900 Dutch troops is not expected to affect conditions on the ground. But it is politically significant because it comes at a time of rising... 

Israel's President Shimon Peres said that England's attitude towards Jews was Israel's "next big problem". Israel’s president has accused the English of being anti-semitic and claimed that MPs pander to Muslim voters. Shimon Peres said England was “deeply pro-Arab … and anti-Israeli”, adding: “They always worked against us.” He added: “There... 

Russian Court Bans Entire You Tube over “Extremist” Russia For Russians Video; Plus Mein Kampf Sites A court banned access to popular video site YouTube in Russia’s Far East because it contained a video that the Justice Ministry declared extremist, Russian newspapers reported Thursday. The court in the city of Komsomolsk-Na-Amure ruled that a local provider should block YouTube because... 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ordered authorities to expel Gypsy illegal immigrants and dismantle their camps, amid accusations that his government is acting racist in its treatment of the group known as Roma. Sarkozy called a government meeting Wednesday after Gypsies clashed with police this month following the shooting death of a youth fleeing officers in the Loire Valley. Sarkozy... 

The European Union’s antitrust regulators said Monday they have launched two formal investigations into IBM for alleged antitrust abuses in the mainframe computer market. In a news release, the European Commission said it is investigating allegations by software competitors T3 and Turbo Hercules that IBM tied its mainframe operating system to sales of its mainframe hardware. By doing so, the companies... 

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has called on military top brass to build “total defense” and accused Russia of planning to “overthrow Georgian democracy.” Not only has Russia not given up its “plan to control Georgia, but they are working intensively on that,” Saakashvili said, speaking at a meeting with army top commanders and senior Defense Ministry’s officials. The president...