The Greek Parliament passed a package of austerity measures on May 6, one day before leaders of the 16-member euro-zone meet in Brussels to discuss final details of a rescue package for the Hellenic Republic. But with protesters gathering outside Parliament's doors, the measure's passage sparked fears of a long summer of social unrest. The deaths of three bank workers in a fire set by protesters May 5 has polarized Greece. (Tehran Times, May 8)

Police clashed in Athens May 1 with thousands of protesters marching against new austerity measures the Greek government is to adopt under pressure from the EU and IMF. The plan, calling for wage cuts and tax hikes, has prompted plans for a nationwide general strike on May 5, led by the civil servants' union ADEDY and the General Confederation of Greek Labor (GSEE), togethering representing some 2.5 million workers, or half the Greek workforce. The walkout will be their third joint strike against the austerity plans since the start of the year. (Press TV, May 1; CNN, April 28)

At least 35 people were killed and some 70 injured when female suicide bombers blew themselves up on the Moscow metro during the morning rush hour March 29, Russian authorities say. Two separate blasts hit the Lubyanka and the Park Kulturi metro stations within an hour. Alexander Bortnikov, head the FSB security service, said preliminary findings suggest the attacks were organized by a North Caucasus militant group. (BBC News, MarketWatch, March 29)

Four homes occupied by Roma families in the town of Siófok near Lake Balaton in Hungary were the target of a coordinated Molotov cocktail attack in the early morning hours of March 18. There were no injuries, as only one device actually exploded. The houses were occupied by families with small children. "We have moved out of the house since the attack," one of the Romani residents said. "We are afraid." Romani activist Zsolt Németh said the attacks were racially motivated. No serious conflicts between the Roma and the majority population have been noted in the area to date. (Romea, Prague, March 18)

A court in Marseilles March 12 ordered that anti-Islamic campaign posters put up by the far-right National Front be taken down. The posters, proclaiming "No to Islamism," depict a fully veiled woman standing next to a map of France with the pattern of the Algerian flag on it, and are directly inspired by Swiss posters deployed during the referendum on minarets. The court held them to constitute an unlawful disturbance of public order. In a press release, the party denounced the decision as "a serious violation of the freedom of opinion and of speech during an election period" and said it will appeal against it. The Algerian government had issued a complaint about the posters.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) war crimes court indicted the former Serb commander of a special police brigade March 13 for his alleged role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian civil war. The BiH prosecutor accuses Nedjo Ikonic of participating in the killing of thousands of Muslim men and boys including more than one thousand who escaped Srebinaca but were detained in a warehouse in the nearby village of Kravice. Ikonic was extradited to BiH in January after he was arrested on an international arrest warrant. Three other former Bosnian Serb policemen have been indicted on charges of genocide for their alleged roles massacre.

Spokesperson for Serbia's Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric announced March 13 the arrest of nine individuals suspected of committing war crimes during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war. The nine, members of the Serbian paramilitary group Sakali, are accused of the systematic murders of 41 ethnic Albanians in May 1999. In all, roughly 200 civilians residing in and around the village of Cuska are believed to have been killed by these and 15 other suspects. Those in custody are scheduled to appear before an investigative judge.

Striking Greek workers shut down transport and tried to storm the parliament building in Athens as lawmakers passed 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in budget cuts, including wage reductions. Yiannis Panagopoulos, leader of Greece's main GSEE union, was attacked by goons outside the parliament building, which further escalated the violence. Clashes were also reported from Thessaloniki, where riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters outside government buildings. (AFP, Bloomberg, Toronto Sun, March 5)