In its Universal Periodic Review, the UN Human Rights Council criticised the policies of the Italian government and the terms of its “security package”.

Livorno, Tuscany, 8 am: the day designated for the eviction of the “Roma camp” in Via di Levante, a large piece of land that defines the boundary between a large street and cemetery. The land belongs to a private person who has legitimately asked the police to clear the ground by those unwelcome guests.

The Roma are an integral part of Europe since thousands of years, nowadays a rough estimate of 10-12 million people; the largest ethnic minority present in all 27 states, in many of whom are recorded episodes of major violence and intolerance, which increase day-by-day.

The Schengen Agreement, extended in 2007 many Eastern European countries, eliminates frontier checks between most European countries. But this means stronger control against non-member States.

January 19 marks the third anniversary of the death of the Armenian Hrant Dink, writer and journalist killed in 2007 of the offices of the newspaper “Agos“, which he founded.

China announced this morning at 10.30am local time (2.30 am in England) the execution by lethal injection of a British citizen of Pakistani origin ,Akmal Shaikh, 53.
The execution took place in Urumqi (Xinjiang region, north-west of the state), after the final assessment by the Supreme Court of China.

Today Serbia officially put in for EU membership. Milica Delević, head of the Serbian Office for European Integration, said: “We officially confirm to be ready to accept all the values and obligations necessary to join the EU”.

Over the last 18 months the EU has seen many growing pressures on its social services provision. The unemployment rate in the EU has been rising steadily since April 2008. What can the EU do?

Each year around the 10th of December, date when it was signed the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, the European Parliament award the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought: a recognition established to reward persons or organizations who dedicate their lives to defending human rights and individual freedoms.

Poverty must increasingly be understood as a problem of democracy as well as equality. Only in that way can the most paralysing effects of capitalism be understood as problems of autonomy.