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In 2003, two journalists from Radio-Télévision Libre des Milles Collines were convicted of war crimes in the Rwanda genocide -- illustrating the dangerous role media can play by relaying hate speech or rumours during times of violent conflict.
RTLM, which broadcast from July 1993 to July 1994, was found to have "fanned the flames of hate and genocide in Rwanda". It was the first such conviction since that of Julius Streicher at Nuremberg for his anti-Semitic publication Der Stürmer.
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Disputes over gas supply from Russia to Europe have again taken on a political dimension.
After Ukraine failed last week to negotiate a new price for Russian gas and to pay more than 600 million dollars demanded by Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the country's gas giant Gazprom to reduce supplies. Gazprom pulled the plug Jan. 1, while maintaining supplies to European Union consumers.
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Middle East: In a Battle for Legitimacy
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Written by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
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A confident Israel launched the second half of its war against Hamas in Gaza self-assured that it has already secured two central components of the war: the reaffirmation of its right to self-defence, and the legitimacy of its military action. The latter, Israel reckons, derives directly from the modesty, not necessarily of the scope of the operation (the most extensive against Palestinians in 40 years), but of its declared war goals.
With this growth in confidence, the fog of war over the Israeli decision-making process leading into the latest phase of the operation is fast dissipating: following the Hamas decision not to renew the six-month ceasefire, as early as Christmas Eve -- three days before the launching of the air assault -- the full Israeli cabinet had given the war the green light including, in principle, a major ground incursion.
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The U.S. section of Amnesty International sent an "urgent" letter Friday to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, calling on her to end what it called Washington's "lopsided response" to the ongoing Israeli air strikes on Gaza that have reportedly killed more than 400 Palestinians, including scores of unarmed civilians.
While the letter also expressed concern about the rocket fire by Palestinian groups that has taken four Israeli lives in urban areas more than 30 kilometres from Gaza during the past week, it called Israel's campaign air campaign "disproportionate" and accused the Jewish state of violating international law.
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The most ambitious and innovative solar power project in the world kicked off Monday in this white-walled village in the southern Portuguese municipality of Moura, one of the most impoverished areas in the European Union.
The Acciona Energy S.A. company has put into service the Amareleja photovoltaic power plant, located 150 km south of Lisbon, which is capable of producing enough energy to supply 30,000 households in the south-central region of Alentejo.
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The year 2008 may well go down in history as a watershed in which the global financial crisis, precipitated by the collapse of Western economic models, ‘decolonised’ Asians minds, say observers.
"In the past, Asian governments expected Western counterparts to be role models of good governance,’’ observed well-known Singaporean diplomat and author Kishore Mahbubani in a recent commentary published in London’s ‘Financial Times.’
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At least 300 Palestinians have been killed and more than 900 wounded as Israel continues to carry out its severest military attack on Gaza since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Late Saturday morning 80 Israeli fighter planes and Apache helicopters launched the first wave of several air attacks over the Gaza strip. Dozens of sorties dropped over a hundred bombs on 150 Hamas targets, destroying 40, including police stations and military installations in a matter of minutes.
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Our Leonardo da Vinci screensaver celebrates the genius of the man and displays 54 of his greatest artworks (some with different versions), drawing scientific studies and drawings. 
