WESTERN EUROPE
The European Commission has referred four Member States, Estonia, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal, .to the EU's Court of Justice for failing to communicate their national measures for
transposing legislation on working conditions in the international rail sector.
Euro zone members and the IMF announced last week that they have agreed on a 110 billion-euro aid package for Greece over the next three years. The EU will provide 80 billion euros of it, while the rest will come from the IMF. Meanwhile Greek Public employees kicked off a 48-hour strike against the government's austerity measures that include wage cuts.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said in an interview last week that the fact that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country should not be an obstacle to EU membership.
According to documents shared with The Associated Press last week Israel's secretive nuclear activities may undergo unprecedented scrutiny next month, with a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency tentatively set to focus on the topic for the first time.
France's opposition Socialists presented a bill last week that would ban Islamic face veils in places such as hospitals and banks.
A British court has said that the government will not be allowed to keep evidence secret from former Guantanamo prisoners who are suing the U.K. over its alleged complicity in their detention.
Outgoing U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer shot down expectations of a climate treaty this year, saying last week that a major U.N. conference in December would yield only a "first answer" on curbing greenhouse gases.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
Tens of thousands of people hit the streets of Tirana Albania last week in a protest organized by the opposition, insisting authorities open the ballot boxes from the June 2009 general elections, which they say were marred by violations. The government, however, says the demands are illegal. Amidst ongoing protests Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Meta has asked members of the opposition Socialist Party (SP) to end their hunger strike and start a fresh dialogue. Meanwhile the European Parliament (EP) has failed so far to bring Albania's political parties together for dialogue aimed at ending the country's political crisis.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) announced last week that parliamentary and presidential elections will be held on October 3rd.Meawhile in Croatia May 1st marked the 15th anniversary of Operation Bljesak (Flash), in which Croatian forces removed Serb forces from the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina.
Montenegro officially became an associate member of the EU last week when the country's Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the bloc took effect.
Crin Antonescu, Romanian leader of the opposition National Liberal Party, has called for the government of Prime Minister Emil Boc to resign, while saying that the premier should either step down or find an actual solution to the economic crisis. Also the two largest opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party, have drafted a no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister. Meanwhile Washington and Bucharest signed an agreement that will eventually lead to visa-free travel for Romanian citizens visiting the United States.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has handed over score of volumes from an investigation into the World War II Katyn massacre of some 20,000 Polish officers and other prominent citizens, to his Polish counterpart as a move to repair long-troubled relations with Warsaw.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Poland's late president told reporters in first political speech since his brother's death that he has gathered some 1,650,000 signatures of support for his campaign in the presidential elections.
The Czech Republic will hold a general election on May 28-29 that looks likely to bring back the centre-left Social Democrats to power. The election could break a deadlock that has crippled policymaking in the central European country since an election produced a hung parliament in 2006. But polls show that no strong government is likely to emerge, owing to the fine balance between left and right-leaning voters, and a minority government is a possibility.
President Shimon Peres told Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohut who was on Israel’s tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and Israel. He also urged the later to follow the example set by the Czech Republic, i.e. the amicable division of the former Czechoslovakia, in the process of seeking a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said last week that he would not hand over Kyrgyzstan's ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to face charges of violence in Kyrgyzstan. He has also criticized both Moscow and the West for supporting Kyrgyzstan’s new government.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that resets the export duty on Russian natural gas for Ukraine to zero for volumes of 1.1 trillion cubic feet in 2010. The premier has also proposed merging Gazprom with Ukraine's much smaller National Energy Company, Naftogaz Ukrainy. The proposal came after the new Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's agreement last month to extend the lease of a Russian naval base in exchange for cheaper gas imports.
On the financial front the Polish finance ministry has asked the central bank (NBP) to back its request to prolong a credit line of more than 20 billion dollars granted to Poland by the IMF last year.
The Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic (MoSR) unveiled its first Iveco M65E 4x4 Light Multirole Vehicle (LMV) at the International Defence Exhibition Bratislava (IDEB) last week. The vehicle is the first of ten LMVs that were delivered to the MoSR last week following an ‘integration’ program bringing the systems up to date with current Slovakian standard operating procedures.
Hungary's incoming government says the budget deficit this year could come in at 7-8 % of GDP, based on its current estimate, but it will seek to get it down to 5-6%, economy. Hungary targets a deficit of 3.8 %of GDP this year under a key financing deal with the IMF and the EU.
European Commission forecasts have showed that Estonia looks set to meet on a sustainable basis the criteria it needs to adopt the euro, with inflation and deficits staying within EU limits in 2010 and 2011. Estonia says it already met the criteria for 2009, the year on which its 2011 entry bid will be judged. But to convince European authorities of its fitness to adopt the single currency it will have to show those goals.
The Lithuanian government has approved an amendment to the country's electricity law to implement the EU's third energy package of legislative reforms, which provides a new framework for competition in the energy sector.
The European Commission last week referred Poland to the EU Court of Justice for incorrectly implementing EU rules prohibiting discrimination based on race or ethnic origin. The move comes after Poland failed to adequately transpose the legislation agreed at EU level in its national law.
The far-right Slovak National Party (SNS) has outraged Roma with election posters suggesting they abuse the welfare state, straining ethnic relations in the run-up to a general election. Posters for the SNS show a dark-skinned man with tattoos and a golden necklace, accompanied by the slogan "Do not feed those who do not want to work.
According to the report of a joint United Nations-European Union mission of experts, the Mining in the Kalush area of Ukraine has left the ground unstable and flat to subsidence, endangering the security dams at risk of bursting as a result of snowmelt and spring floods. Ground and surface water has become highly contaminated.
RUSSIA
A Russian warship opened fire on a hijacked oil tanker last week, freeing the crew and arresting the Somali pirates, who a day earlier had raced across the Indian Ocean to seize a cargo valued at more than $50 million.
Russia and Turkey have agreed on all the details and commercial terms for the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant.
According to reports Cold War allies, Russia and Cuba have recently moved to restore their ties which declined after the breakup of the U.S.S.R.
Meanwhile US and Russia are also to propose ban on WMD in Middle East. The proposal – involving the appointment of a special coordinator to conduct exploratory talks with Israel, Iran and the Arab states, followed by a regional conference –was a central issue at last week’s New York conference aimed at preventing further spread of nuclear weapons around the world.
A 'National Nanotechnology Network' has been announced by the Russian Government in which the largest state universities and research centers will be integrated into a countrywide network, whose members will receive access to information about one another's research developments and facilities. Meanwhile Iran and Russia have reached an agreement on launching two satellites into orbit in order to study distance communication. The agreement was reached during Iran's Communications and IT Minister's last visit to Russia.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov acknowledged last week that his newly elected pro-Russian government was seriously considering Moscow’s proposal to merge its state-run behemoth Gazprom with Ukraine’s national energy company Naftogaz.
Dmitry Medvedev has launched a wide-ranging attack on the Soviet Union as a totalitarian state that crushed individual liberties in the most outspoken comments on the USSR by a Russian leader in recent years. According to some Mr Medvedev's comments, which also included stinging criticism on the historical role of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, will be interpreted by many as an attempt to distance himself from Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, who has adopted a more ambiguous stance on Russia's often tragic history.
Residential areas were flooded in Russia’s district of Dagestan, due to heavy rains and an emergency water discharge from the local Gedzhukh Lake. Some 210 private houses, where about 1,000 people live, were flooded.
The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has called upon the faithful to have more children in order to repopulate their vast nation.
At least 13 injured in hippodrome explosion in Russia's North Caucasus. The bomb exploded near a VIP box during a horse race in the city of Nalchik, according to the report. No one was reported killed in the blast.
Last week on 9th May troops from the United States, Britain and France marched in Russia’s annual Victory Day parade through Red Square for the first time, a step Russia's president called a nod toward their "common victory" in World War II. The annual parade celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany by the former Soviet Union and its Western allies and serves as a demonstration of Russian military might.
According to a recent poll conducted by Nextep Pakistan, Croatia and Russia have topped a list of countries where people sitting behind shop and office counters have a surly attitude and find it difficult to smile.
US/CANADA
The Flagstaff City Council in America voted unanimously last week to sue over the new Arizona state immigration law. The council's vote directs the city attorney to retain legal counsel. It is an unfunded mandate to carry out the responsibilities of the federal government.
On the international front Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that a new round of UN sanctions against Tehran would close the door on diplomatic engagement with the United States.
Meanwhile a record number of Canadians returned to work in April, stunning markets and adding pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates in June, ahead of other major industrialized countries.
The Canadian Supreme Court said in a landmark ruling last week that reporters in the country have no constitutional right to offer their sources blanket confidentiality. In the first pronouncement of its kind, the court ruled by an 8-1 majority that journalists could offer sources protection. But if prosecutors subsequently demanded to know who those sources were, courts would decide the merits of confidentiality promises on a case-by-case basis.
A Canadian military board of inquiry reported last week that the soldier who embarrassed Ottawa by alleging troops knew Afghan authorities were abusing prisoners handed over by Canada's forces was mistaken. A note by the soldier, written after an incident on June 14, 2006, became public last December and seemed to contradict official assurances that Canadian troops had no credible evidence that prisoners might be harmed.
LATIN AMERICA
Argentine Ambassador in Peru Darío Alessandro was summoned by an Argentine court last week in connection with the probe into the alleged bribes to export goods to Venezuela.
The European Union and the South American trade group Mercosur are to relaunch stalled negotiations on a trade liberalization pact. Leaders will formalize the move at an EU-Mercosur summit in two weeks in Madrid.
South American leaders at the 12-nation UNASUR summit last week slammed a controversial new immigration law in the US state of Arizona, but stressed they did not hold US President Barack Obama responsible.
Meanwhile the group named former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner as their secretary-general, setting aside their differences in hopes that the 12-nation UNASUR group can consolidate into a regional force.
Argentina has finally signed up for a significant increase in natural-gas imports from Bolivia, ending years of short-term solutions to its gas-supply deficit.
Last week Argentina's lower house passed a gay marriage bill that, if also approved by senators, will put the country among a handful in the world that allow homosexual couples to marry.
Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva has been named the most influential leader in the world by Time magazine – ahead of Barack Obama, who came fourth, Nancy Pelosi (8th) and Sarah Palin (9th), while neither Gordon Brown nor any other European leader made it to the top 25.
According to the country's labor minister Brazil will be able to create up to 2.5 million new jobs in 2010, higher than a previous estimate of 2 million.
On the security front Turkey and Brazil are trying to revive a stalled atomic fuel deal with Iran in an attempt to help the Islamic Republic avoid new UN sanctions over its nuclear program. However Brazil's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said Brasilia had not made an official offer to mediate over a UN-backed nuclear fuel swap between Iran and the West.
According to the Agriculture Ministry Sugar output in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, will rise 17 % this year as drier weather will favor harvesting and after cane growers increased planting.
In the after math of the controversial immigration law, Mexico’s Congress has urged President Felipe Calderon to consider breaking commercial ties with Arizona and called on government officials to refrain from traveling to the U.S. state.
Senior Mexican and Chinese lawmakers have voiced their intention to work for more exchanges at the congressional level to help bring ties between the two countries to a new level.
Meanwhile the Mexican government has said that drug violence that has killed some 23,000 people could rage until 2014.
Venezuelan police has arrested a man on suspicion of trying to ‘incite’ the assassination of President Hugo Chavez. The accused allegedly has links with Columbia where according to the police messages were found on his computers alluding to a plot to kill Chavez involving Colombia's outlawed right-wing paramilitary groups.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s meddling in the Colombian presidential elections. Chávez has repeatedly said that it would be "very difficult" to mend relations with Colombia if the candidate of the ruling Social National Unity Party, Juan Manuel Santos, is elected. He has also questioned leftwing candidate Gustavo Petro, for his views on the Bolivarian Revolution.
According to a recent report by international firm FTI Consulting, Venezuela, along with Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, tops the list of countries with the largest amount of public security problems.
President Hugo Chavez's ruling party rallied hundreds of thousands of members to a congressional election primary vote last week— a key step in preventing infighting as they battle a resurgent and united opposition.
On the energy front, Venezuela state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, has agreed to buy a 49% stake in the Dominican Republic's Refidomsa refinery, which can process 34,000 barrels of oil a day.
China has signed an in-principal agreement with political ally Venezuela for the sale of 33 civil aircrafts, including the Harbin Y12E. Reportedly Venezuela plans to use the aircraft to develop regional passenger and cargo services in rural areas. Meanwhile it is expected that in 2010 the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may shrink for the second consecutive year, which economists and business associations term inevitable.
AUSTRALASIA
Just months ahead of an expected general election Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government has taken a beating in an opinion poll after ditching its climate change plan, with the opposition taking the lead for the first time in years. §
transposing legislation on working conditions in the international rail sector. 
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