Police in Geneva, Switzerland, used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets Nov. 28 at a protest opposing the World Trade Organization summit that opens this week. Hooded "black bloc" anarchists who broke away from the main march set fire to at least four cars, broke shop windows and committed other acts of violence, police said. The group Anti-WTO Coordination said it "regretted being unable to finish the demonstration" and condemned "unreservedly all police repression violating democratic rights." (AP, Nov. 29)

Denmark's parliament Nov. 26 passed legislation giving police sweeping powers of "pre-emptive" arrest and extending sentences for acts of civil disobedience. The law comes ahead of the UN talks on global climate change in Copenhagen, which start on Dec. 7 and are expected to attract thousands of protesters. Under the new powers, Danish police will be able to detain people for up to 12 hours under suspicion they might break the law in the near future.

The Nov. 27 crash of a Russian express train between Moscow and Saint Petersburg was caused by a terrorist attack, authorities say. The Russian Prosecutor General and the secret service report that remnants of explosives have been found at the scene, while the Echo of Moscow radio station reports that the neo-Nazi organization Combat 18 has claimed responsibility for the attack. Some media reports have suggested the claim is a publicity stunt. At least 26 were killed and 60 injured in the derailment on the Nevsky Express, but the final figures are expected to be higher. (Romea, Prague, Nov. 29)

Thousands-strong protests were held in Bilbao Nov. 28 in reaction to the detainment of 34 members of a youth organization that Spanish authorities say is linked to the outlawed Basque separatist organization ETA. Two days earlier, angry protesters burned a bus and set fire to an underground station in the city. The suspected members of the illegal youth organization Segi were detained Nov. 24. The operation in the three Basque provinces and neighboring Navarre was ordered by the Audiencia Nacional justice Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who has been responsible for many sweeps against against accused ETA operatives.

On Nov. 22, at the instigation of Czech Human Rights Minister Michael Kocáb, the government of the Czech Republic expressed regret over the illegal sterilizations of women that have been performed in the country. Speaking after a cabinet session, Kocáb said a set of measures are being designed to prevent similar cases from recurring with more rigorous standards for assuring informed consent. There are currently no statistics on the number of women who have been harmed by this surgery in the Czech Republic, but activists say dozens of Romani women have undergone forced sterilizations in the Ostrava region. Several institutions have devoted attention to the issue of illegal sterilizations, including Czech ombudsman Otakar Motejl, who has received complaints from approximately 80 women, most of them Roma. (Romea, Prague, Nov. 24)

The CIA built one of its secret prisons inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania, a current Lithuanian government official and a former US intelligence official (both anonymous) told ABC News this week. Documents provided by Lithuanian officials showed a now-defunct CIA front company, Elite LLC, bought the property from a family and built the "black site" in 2004, the report said.

Neo-Nazis attempted to disrupt the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Velvet Revolution in Prague Nov. 17, and clashed with police who tried to keep them from marching on the main parade. Some 300 right-wing extremists, many wearing masks, threw stones and bottles at the police, while chanting "Communists!" and "police state!" They also reportedly attacked three random people. There were 48 arrests. (Romea, Prague, Nov. 18)

Giant swastikas appeared on the walls of the synagogue in Dresden, Germany, on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht Nov. 8. Unidentified perpetrators painted the graffiti, covering approximately six meters of brickwork. Heinz-Joachim Aris, chair of the State Union of Jewish Communities in Saxony, said he was disgusted and frightened by the crime. He also said he does not understand how it could have happened, as the synagogue is usually guarded. The case is being investigated by the Special Commission on Right-wing Extremism.