In The News

US on Spying Scandal: “Allies Aren't Always Friends”

Marc Pitzke October 29, 2013
It was a rare moment when a national leader could empathize with ordinary citizens: German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted with fury to reports in Der Spiegel that her personal phone was a target of the US National Security Agency. Earlier, during the election campaign as reports dribbled out about mass monitoring by the NSA, she expressed less concern. US President Barack Obama denied claims...

UK Gives Unprecedented Support to £16 Billion Nuclear Deal

Geert De Clercq, Karolin Schaps October 23, 2013
Britain signed a deal with French firm EDF and Chinese partners to build a nuclear plant, with government guarantees – going against the grain for energy privatization in Europe. It’s the first nuclear plant for Europe since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, where leakages and cleanup continue. If approved, the plant could go online in 2023. Reuters reports: “The government will guarantee it...

Bad Policies Caused the Lampedusa Tragedy

Hans-Jürgen Schlamp October 10, 2013
A boat carrying 500 refugees sank just within sight of the Italian island of Lampedusa. More than 250 died and more are missing. The refugees from Somalia, Eritrea and other hopeless states took off from African coast just 160 kilometers away. Europe has failed to offer a political solution to the refugee crisis. More than 200,000 refugees have landed in Lampedusa since 1999 with up to 20,000...

Sweden's NSA Spy Links “Deeply Troubling”

David Landes October 3, 2013
The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the European Parliament continues to hold hearings on electronic mass surveillance of European citizens. During the hearing a journalist suggested that “Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets radioanstalt, FRA) provided the United States National Security Agency (NSA) access to the Baltic underwater cables,” reports...

Merkel Victory Will Mask Germany's Long-Term Economic Problems

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard September 23, 2013
Angela Merkel was reelected chancellor of Germany for a third term. The world’s fourth largest economy, and Europe’s largest, leads in tackling the eurozone crisis. But writing for the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard warns that Germany’s economic strength is deceptive, “an illusion of the business cycle and a China-driven global boom in machinery and capital goods that is running out of steam...

Russia Issues International Travel Advisory to Its Hackers

Kevin Poulsen September 10, 2013
US-Russian relations are strained over revelations about US surveillance programs and Russia’s decision to provide temporary asylum to a former NSA contract worker who exposed details on US electronic spying capabilities. Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a public notice advising citizens against travel abroad, especially to countries with extradition agreements with the United States, reports...

Russia Offers Fukushima Cleanup Help as Tepco Reaches Out

Yuriy Humber, Jacob Adelman September 5, 2013
More than two years after the earthquake-tsunami disaster in Japan that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power station, the power company and government still do not have radiation under control. Russia has repeated an offer to assist in the cleanup. In the globalized nuclear industry, all accidents are international, points out Vladimir Asmolov, of Rosenergoatom, Russia’s nuclear utility. “As...