Army to control Spanish air traffic (ABC, Madrid)
Transport Minister José Blanco’s decision to send in military air traffic controllers to replace their civilian counterparts engaged in “clandestine strike action” could "backfire on a government" that is reluctant...
Belfast riots 2010: Orange Order, not girl guides
More bad news from the North? On the evening news in the Irish Republic, a report on the Belfast riots in catholic districts came third after a local car crash and economics reports. In the shadow of the 1998 peace process, the riots are the product...
"Ah well, it's Belgium"
Kate Ryan is a peculiarly Belgian singer. The young Belgian pop tart, who headlined the Bal National celebrations in Brussels last night celebrating the eve of Belgian independence day, might sum up all the contradictions of this strange little count...
A veritable banana republic (România libera, Bucharest)
“Romania, land of bananas” announces România libera. In the first quarter of this year, exports of bananas (over 1,000 tonnes), citrus fruits, mangoes, pineapples, and coconuts from tropical climes were well in excess of exports of...
Is Ireland looking into the abyss? (Irish Independent, Dublin)
“Force banks to lend or face 'decade of misery',” leads the Irish Independent, following the release of a report by the Economic and Social Research Institute. News in brief...
Berlusconi's gag law smothered (La Repubblica, Rome)
La Repubblica celebrates the Italian government's "about-turn on the gag law". The centre-left daily has been campaigning for months against the draft law on wiretapping, designed to ban the publication of conversation transcripts. News in...
Government - no racism here (Jyllands-Posten, Aarhus)
Critics of the Danish government have accused it of “hiding evidence of racism.” Jyllands-Posten explains that controversy is focused on a report submitted by the Danish government to the UNHCR Committee on the Elimination of Racism, whic...
Nagehan Alçı: “No headscarf-wearing lady working here
No headscarf-wearing lady working here by NAGEHAN ALÇI – AKŞAM During a TV program several months ago, when Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) Chairwoman Ümit Boyner made a statement about welcoming headscarves...
Online media is vastly improving journalism: Henry Blodget
Online media, hard to believe, still endures shovels full of badmouthing and tsk tsking from its detractors. The blogosphere in particular is routinely chopped up, skewered, fried and refried by its critics. And that cyberspace represents the killing...
Burqa, the cross we must bear (Der Standard, Vienna)
Just for the sake of argument: if Jesus were wearing a burqa, could he still be hung up on the walls of classrooms and public offices? The debate about the full-body veil is flaring up this year in all sorts of different places. It began with Belgian...
Economic immigrants will save the European Social Model
The way to address the aging population of EU effect on state finances in UK, Greece, France, etc, is not by dismantling their Social Models (eg see changes in the NHS) but by adopting a more open (realistic & humanist at the same time) policy (by EU...
Questions please!
I'd like to receive your views and questions about Britain's policies on Europe. It seems sensible to do this through my blog. Watch the video below to find out more about the issues I've been working on, and then submit your questions using the comm...
The Great Hunger Lottery: How Banking Speculation causes Food Crises
Last week a British hedge fund bought 250,000 tonnes of cocoa beans, pushing prices up to a record 33-year high. Hedge funds and banks are constantly speculating on food and other commodity prices, but what was unusual in this case is that the hedge...
EU lists data-sharing policies for first time
The EU and its 27 member states have almost 20 programmes, agencies and agreements governing the exchange of personal, business and telecoms data of EU citizens, a first-ever audit (COM (2010)385 final) has shown. EU home affairs commissioner Cecilia...
Romania and Bulgaria not fighting corruption, EU complains
Fighting corruption? Romania and Bulgaria should do more to fight it, bemoans the EU. A progress report on 20 July singled out the Romanian judiciary and legal system. Romanian bloggers and Bulgarian dailies reply, whilst the Austrian and German pres...
Wolfgang Schäuble attends French Cabinet
OK, so the cartoon is in pretty bad taste, but it is extraordinary that the German Finance Minister is taking part in a full Cabinet of the French Government, and hasn't happened for a few generations.He is there to demand greater compliance with the...
ნატვრის ხეების ქალაქი
რამდენიმე წელია თბილისს საგულდაგულოდ ალამაზებენ. ხდება ქუჩების სისტემატიური გაწმენდა და ქა
SNCF and an example of service
I actually have no time for blogging now, as I’m at Reims Forum journoing and writing some semi serious stuff on a damn complicated French keyboard :), but if I refrain from putting down memories now then the details of this trip will slip from my...
Leaving the Euro: What’s in the Box?
Rumours of Eurozone break-up are mounting. This column argues that exiting a strong currency for a weak one poses almost unthinkable challenges, from the redenomination of contracts and the imposition of bank restrictions to the restructuring of exte...
