In The News

NATO's Last Mission?

Fred Kaplan April 19, 2011
With disagreement erupting among its 28 member states, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization operation in Libya strains the alliance started in 1949 for mutual defense against external attack. Similar disagreements emerged with interventions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. For each military operation, allies impose conditions on their involvement. The US, once critical of such conditions, now leaves...

France and Britain Urge Stronger NATO Action in Libya

Alan Cowell, Kareem Fahim April 12, 2011
NATO is divided about how to achieve a quick resolution of conflict in Libya as rebels fail to gain ground against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. Stalemate reduces the likelihood of a political solution, reports a New York Times team of reporters. Libyan rebels flatly rejected a ceasefire proposal from an African Union delegation because it included no mechanisms for removal of Gaddafi or family...

Going Home: The Polish Migrants Who Lost Jobs and Hope in UK

Amelia Gentleman April 11, 2011
For Poles, the UK has long been a destination for opportunity. But the promise of prosperity is deceptive, as higher wages in the UK are accompanied by a higher cost of living. Competition for employment is intense, with a strained UK economy and dwindling numbers of construction, janitorial and restaurant jobs, writes Amelia Gentleman for the Guardian. Young migrants from Poland increasingly...

Italy Seeks to Pass Problem on to EU Partners

Hans-Jürgen Schlamp April 11, 2011
As protests rage throughout northern Africa, young men crowd onto small vessels to cross the Mediterranean for Italy. For 23,000 Tunisian immigrants, Italy’s interior minister negotiated a deal with Tunisia to grant six-month residence permits. Criminals or those with a record of deportation, as well as those who arrived after the initial wave or are not from Tunisia, will be turned away,...

Spanish Scientists Search for Fuel of the Future

Virginie Grognou April 6, 2011
Countries that don’t have massive oil or natural-gas reserves may soon be able to construct their own biofuel reserves. Spanish and French scientists, working for the small firm Bio Fuel Systems, or BSF, are researching a new alternative fuel – based on algae mixed with carbon dioxide. Like solar energy, the process of growing algae requires wide open space. “[T]he idea is to reproduce and speed...

Visa Curbs Will Cut Overseas Students by 80,000, Says Theresa May

Alan Travis March 29, 2011
Great Britain’s dynamic campuses draw ambitious students from around the globe, the likes of India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former US President Bill Clinton and Charles Kao, the so-called Father of Fiber Optics. But campuses may be less inviting as the government aims to reduce total net immigrants to 100,000 per year. Students account for the bulk of visas issued to non-EU immigrants,...

Now Feeling Free, But Still Without Work, Tunisians Look Toward Europe

Scott Sayare March 28, 2011
Zarzis and other cities of Tunisia celebrate new openness and freedoms since the 14 January departure of longtime dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. But jobs and economic promise have been slow to materialize. The revolution and fears of violence even exacerbated economic challenges, including a slowdown in tourism and investment, reports Scott Sayare for the New York Times. Sayare adds that youth...