Brussels is not just the capital of the European Union -- it's also a center for crime. Officials and members of parliament alike have been robbed and beaten in the middle of the city's European quarter. Criminals know that many people here carry a laptop, a pricey cell-phone and a full wallet. Often, the lawbreakers hail from the city's immigrant neighborhoods, home to 40 percent of the population in Brussels. One out of every two young people here is unemployed. The police here are poorly equipped and poorly paid -- and feel they're fighting a losing battle.

• 11/19/09
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It’s a dying profession, but legal writers are still in demand in Turkey. Rain or shine, they sit at the side of the street with folding table and portable typewriter and offer their services, typing witness depositions, applications for guardianship, and legal complaints.Such writers were already a feature of the Ottoman Empire, and their services were valued even by the literate. But as educational levels rose and with the advent of the laptop and Internet, the profession is threatened with extinction even in Turkey.

• 11/13/09
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Inventors from all over the world get together in Nuremberg at the beginning of November for the iENA - the world's most important innovation trade fair. Peter Floriancic is an elder in the field. The 90-year-old Slovenian invented practical gadgets like the plastic zipper, slide frames or mini perfume bottles with pumps. His recent inventions have brought him wealth and fame. Floriancic is not a shy and retiring inventor. He socializes with film stars and maharadjas. He is still bubbling with ideas - one of his last inventions was a fitness bed. The star of the promotional video is himself.

• 11/13/09
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Romania’s dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu was executed 20 years ago. But his infamous secret service is still around. The old cliques manipulate the old files, intimidate journalists, and take key positions in the economy.Herta Müller, the ethnic German Literature Nobel Prize winner from Romania, has described the machinations of the Securitate. After she emigrated to Germany in 1987, it spread rumors that she herself was a communist agent. Even today, when she goes on reading tours through her old homeland, the Securitate shadows her.

• 11/13/09
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Belgians love shellfish from the Dutch province of Zeeland. But Belgian politicians have called on the nation to boycott the delicacies to protest the Netherlands’ refusal to dredge the Western Scheldt estuary. The Netherlands say its refusal is based on environmental concerns. But the Belgians say the real reason is to prevent Belgian competition with the port at Rotterdam. Only if the estuary is deepened again can the next generation of heavy container ships dock in Antwerp, Belgium.

• 11/2/09
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Miss Homeless Belgium 2009 - a private initiative with the power to provoke and draw public attention to those living on the sidelines of society.There are 11 finalists, including Leonie Reniers, who is in her early 40s. She was homeless for many years, living at a railway station in Brussels. But entering this contest has paid off. Thanks to the project she's found an apartment and is slowly getting her life back on track.

• 10/23/09
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Some 55,000 Germans living abroad have registered to vote, and increasingly politicians are paying visits to woo these voters. This summer the Social Democrats' Ulla Schmidt did some campaigning amongst the 60,000 Germans living in Alicante, on the Spanish Costa Blanca.Her visit ended in scandal, after her official car was stolen there. We also paid a visit to Germans living in Spain to see how they view Germany's two main parties -- the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats.

• 10/17/09
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Germany is the largest country in the European Union and the biggest contributor to the EU's budget. So no matter who is chosen the country's next chancellor on September 27, his or her voice will carry weight in Europe.Many European observers have the feeling that, when it comes to the EU, Germans are becoming less euphoric and more pragmatic. In EU jargon, the "German answer" effectively means "no answer". Observers say the Germans' constitutional reservations about the Lisbon Treaty are just one indication of this. Is Germany the motor driving the EU or the brakes holding it back?

• 10/17/09
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In the race to become Germany's next chancellor, recent polls put incumbent Angela Merkel of the Christian Democrats clearly ahead of her challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democrats.So some people are predicting the elections will result in a coaltion between the CDU and the Free Democrats -- two parties that tout themselves as experts in economic policy. We examine whether current coalitions between the CDU and the FDP have been successful, such as the one in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

• 10/17/09
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200 youths from around the world gathered to take a train ride through Poland. During the trip they searched for traces of German-Polish history: from the "Westerplatte" where the first shots were fired in what became the Second World War, to the memorial at the Auschwitz concentration camp.Reconciling with Poland has been an important -- and often difficult -- issue for Germany's foreign ministers. Heated debate about flight and expulsion show that this topic is still very current. We asked the youths who travelled to Poland what they expect from German foreign policy.

• 10/17/09
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Germany has traditionally been the home of the anti-nuclear movement and a role model for Green parties in other European countries. While they were in office, the Greens fought successfully to have Germany phase out its nuclear reactors.But now Germans are considering getting back into the atomic energy business. Advocates say it's a reliable source of energy and even claim that it's environmentally-friendly. So have the Greens lost their way? And how are they being viewed abroad?

• 10/17/09
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Just a few years ago, everyone wanted to leave the Greek mountain village of Anavra and its unpaved roads, where villagers would be ankle deep in the wastes of the animals kept there. Now the mayor has transformed the community. He’s banking on ecology – and EU subsidies. In countless town council meetings, he has persuaded the villagers to move the cattle stalls out of the village and to buy expensive cattle from France so they can produce organic meat. Revenues from a wind park have funded a school. No one is leaving Anavra anymore.

• 10/17/09
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On October 2, the Irish will vote for the second time on the European Union’s Treaty of Lisbon. Last summer, 53 percent of the votes cast were against the agreement. In the economic crisis, many citizens of Ireland want closer ties to the EU, but the outcome is still uncertain. The Irish government has made only halfhearted efforts to fight the crisis, so the vote could be seen as a referendum on national politics. In Moyross, a district in the city of Limerick, the EU seems faraway. Unemployment here is at 50 percent and gang violence is widespread. But at the University of Limerick, support for the EU is strong.

• 10/17/09
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Dozens of Chechen families are suing Russia before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. They are the relatives of victims of the Chechen War, and they want justice at long last.They’re winning their fight: Moscow loses almost every case. The judges in Strasbourg impose fines of up to 100,000 euros. The Russian government is under pressure. So now it wants to pass its own compensation law in order to stop the flood of lawsuits in Strasbourg.

• 10/17/09
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The Balkan conflict has been over for 14 years, but Croatia is still struggling with its legacy. There are around two million still buried somewhere in the ground.They've killed some 1,400 people and maimed thousands more since the end of the war. In the northeastern provinces of Baranja and Slavonia, the existence of the mines is hitting the farming and the tourist industry. But the government in Zagreb is not overly concerned. Tourists continue to flock to the coastline -- where there is no threat. The residents of the region are now hoping Brussels will help.

• 10/17/09
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Film director Roman Polanski faces trial in the US for statutory rape committed 32 years ago. The case has polarized people in his native country of Poland. Initially the media there blasted the Americans for wanting to make an example of Polanski, a famous Pole, an Oscar winner.Politicians like foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski have called for the director to be freed. But some conservative elements in Poland have been using the case to warm up some old anti-Semitic prejudices.

• 10/17/09
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Fishermen often throw half of their catch back into the sea -- because the fish are small and therefore not as profitable as their larger counterparts and because the fishermen want to keep within their EU fishing quotes. Slowly, it is now becoming accepted wisdom that this is also one reason for the dwindling fish stocks. At fish auctions in the Netherlands a seal of approval has been introduced to indicate the use of sustainable fishing practices. We visit a Dutch fisherman who is currently in the process of modifying his fishing equipment so that less small fry gets caught up in his nets.

• 9/16/09
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Belgium is a country that loves its arts and culture - from major concerts that attract audiences of 80,000 to festivals hosted by just about every city in the country - designed to boost its image and the economy. 'Les Ardentes' in Liège is only four years old but it's already a highlight of the annual arts calendar - much to the dismay of the town of Spa in the Ardennes, just 30 kilometers away. It also hosts a festival that takes place at exactly the same time. The two events are now competing for visitors and artistes.

• 9/16/09
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On 9.9.2009, register offices all over the world are booked solid. Lovers see the date's symmetry as auspicious to their future union. But a decent wedding cake is also important.In Paris, wedding couples can now also order Anglo-American style cakes, multi-tiered and colorfully decorated. An American woman and a Frenchwoman joined transatlantic forces to set up Wedding Cake Avenue and realize their wildest sweet dreams. And not even the price of 850 euros a cake has been deterring would-be customers.

• 9/16/09
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The coal mines in eastern Ukraine are among the world’s most dangerous mines. The kilometer-deep shafts are full of poisonous, explosive methane gas.But there is no money for security measures. The profits flow into the pockets of the new steel barons and the state, which still operates many mines itself. In the crisis, the bosses aren’t firing anyone, but they are cutting wages. With less than 300 euros a month, the miners can no longer feed their families.

• 8/29/09
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Peter Danks is probably Bavaria’s most famous cowherd. He believes in participatory democracy: every morning, he lets the cows decide whether to go out to pasture or remain in their stalls. He watches over the cattle of seven different farmers.Today there are more cattle in Bavaria’s mountains than at any time in the last 20 years. Sending their cows into the mountains is profitable for farmers. Last year, the European Union and the Agriculture Ministry began paying a pasturage premium: 30 euros per cow that spends at least three months on a mountain meadow.

• 8/29/09
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26-year-old Mahinur Özdemir is the first woman to enter a parliament in Europe with a headscarf. The daughter of a Turkish green grocer in Brussels’ immigrant quarter Schaarbeek, she is the youngest delegate in Brussels’ new regional parliament.Not only in Belgium, the headscarf has fueled discussion about religious symbols in public, about tolerance, and about integration policies. A portrait of a young woman who was born in Belgium and now sees herself as a representative of a new, self-confident Belgian Muslim immigrant generation.

• 8/29/09
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The city of Diyarbakir in eastern Anatolia is home to an unusual project whose goal is to help women oppressed by poverty and domestic violence. Five laundromats allow women to do their wash for free. But that's not all. In the 50 minutes the wash cycle takes, the women attend courses in school subjects, receive health education, or get advice on raising children. There is also a day-care center. The project is a success. About 800 women come to each of the laundromats. The project could be a model for other countries that have social problems and refugees.

• 8/25/09
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With his orchestra project "El Sistema" in Venezuela, conductor Gustavo Dudamel has changed the lives of thousands of children. Now he wants to repeat the experience in Raploch, Scotland. Raploch has a big problem with drugs and alcohol. Only 4 out of 100 children here will attend a school that leads to college. Now a youth orchestra is being set up with Dudamel's support. The children hold their instruments as proudly as their counterparts in Venezuela.

• 8/25/09
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Ghent is introducing a weekly "veggie" day in canteens serving the city's schoolchildren and public service employees. Thursdays will now feature a meat-free dish as the default option on their menus, while new city maps highlight the dozens of vegetarian restaurants in the city.Reducing meat consumption, say the initiators of the scheme, will decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Famous chefs have also been recruited to promote the idea - although it may be an uphill struggle in this traditionally meat-loving part of the world.

• 8/25/09
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Moldovans are being called to the polls again in the space of just four months. Parliament has been dissolved because it couldn't agree on a new head of state. The opposition is accusing the governing Communists of having falsified election results in April. Back then, violent unrest rocked the capital, Chisinau. The country faces a choice of direction. Some want to cling to ties with Russia, Moldova’s most important trading partner and its energy supplier. The others want to move toward the European Union, which wants Moldova to institute reforms that put it on a western path.

• 8/25/09
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The route begins at the end of the inhabited world on the Arctic Sea in the Norwegian town of Kirkenes. The Russian port of Murmansk lies to the east and the North Pole lies northwards over the Barents Sea. Reporter Tilmann Bünz meets Norwegian lobster fishermen after giant shrimps introduced by Stalin, and Russian captains who are staying on their long decrepit ships. Tilmann needed a special permit to enter no mans land, a ten meter wide strip between East and West.

• 8/25/09
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Spain is bracing for a disappointing tourist season. The government expects the number of foreign tourists to fall by 10 percent. Many British, German and French holidaymakers will be spending their vacations in their own countries this year - an economic disaster for Spain. After the crash in the construction and real estate sectors, now the country's second most important branch is in trouble. Experts reckon with the loss of 100,000 jobs. And Spain already has 19 percent unemployment - the worst rate in the entire European Union.

• 8/25/09
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