Full Coverage: Northern Europe

30.11.2005 The government and senior police officers will be taken to court by a UK human rights group unless they provide evidence they have investigated reports that CIA 'torture flights' have landed in Britain or used British airspace.

30.11.2005 One of the most widely used weedkillers in the world, atrazine, could feminise male frogs at concentrations 30 times lower than that legally allowed in US drinking water. Research also suggests widespread contamination of drinking water in the UK.

29.11.2005 Alternative Energy blog:
Domestic wind turbines have been described as "the new handbags" - the latest luxury items craved by those who want to be first to try new technology. But this description overlooks their green credentials, because any electricity powered by the elements is reducing CO2 emissions, which are blamed for global warming. And there are also the financial motivations. A household with a windmill can save money on bills and sell excess electricity back to the national grid. So could wind turbines become a nice little earner? They are certainly on the increase - 7,000 households have been given grants to get the turbines installed.

29.11.2005 Children as young as 14 are helping to sell drugs in local communities, a charity report said.
*Report on drug selling in England

28.11.2005 The Guardian's fifth annual review of corporate responsibility shows cash giving going up and new partnerships being formed.
Giving dips to 0.87% of pre-tax profits

27.11.2005 Who is the greatest human rights personality of modern times? Have your say in the inaugural Centre for the Study of Human Rights "balloon debate". Six personalities will be in the balloon but there is only air to support one. Each will have his or her case argued with the audience making the final decision. London, 8 December

25.11.2005 Religious extremism is threatening democratic institutions and freedoms in Bangladesh, and fomenting hatred and violence towards minority ethnic and faith communities, a group of mainly British MPs claimed this week as they established an international civil society network to monitor the country's progress towards compliance with international human rights standards.

24.11.2005 The London Climate March on Saturday 3 December will be many times bigger than any demonstration on the issue so far, say organisers, and will be part of the world’s first truly global protest on climate change as demonstrations and events around the world take place in more than 30 countries.

23.11.2005 Amnesty and Reprieve are organising a protest outside Downing Street on Sunday 27 November to remind the Government: states must never torture people and must never send people to countries where they might be tortured.

23.11.2005 A good symbolic moment as we throw out our oil boiler.

Our biggest single contribution to reducing our carbon emissions. So now we’re looking forward to a cold few days until the new heat pump is commissioned next Tuesday.

23.11.2005 Dean from ICE Energy arrived this morning for the commissioning of the heat pump system. First check all the plumbing and electrics and then add glycol to both the ground loops. Then a certain amount of programming of settings and - at last - time to switch on. And the sensors show heat being produced within a couple of minutes

23.11.2005 The UK government has launched its first Wiki website offering an electronic channel to further discussions on innovation in local government.

23.11.2005 The UK government has announced a new agreement with publishers to implement new recycling targets for the industry. Under the new standards, 50% of magazines will be recycled by 2007, rising to 70% by 2013.

22.11.2005 A coalition of children’s charities has published a report charging the Government with failing in the past year to uphold the UN treaty on children’s rights.

22.11.2005 Kimberly Clark, the makers of Andrex toilet tissue and Kleenex facial tissues, have been ranked bottom in a report assessing the impact tissue companies are having on the world's forests.

21.11.2005 Companies in the UK FTSE 100 list are saying they are committed to fighting climate change but are failing to take real action, according to a new report released by the Carbon Trust.

21.11.2005 On December 3rd, as part of the International Day of Climate Protest, take part in the climate change bike ride in London to promote non-petrol means of transport and urge the US to join action on global warming.

20.11.2005 Stamp Out Poverty went head-to-head with Goldman Sachs - the financial sector’s leading investment bank - over the case for a currency transaction tax to help finance development, and says it won a clear victory.

20.11.2005 Campaigns for debt relief and increased aid levels had brought results that no-one could have foreseen, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, told CAFOD, but warned that pressure for global justice had to be even more powerful in the next two years to hold world leaders to their G8 promises.

19.11.2005 Tom Dyson's blog:
I've attempted to compensate for the carbon emissions resulting from our recent flights to Greece and Denmark by funding a proportionate amount to sustainable energy and reforestation projects. I used an Oxford-based organisation called Climate Care, recommended by Nick, who neutralised the carbon output of his stag weekend to Barcelona, G8-style.