Europe

Diego Arria in the Foreign Policy magazine on war crimes in Bosnia Our editor, Ambassador Diego Arria - the former presidential candidate in Venezuela - was quoted by the Foreign Policy magazine, alongside former U.S. President Bill Clinton in an op-ed about war crimes in Bosnia & Herzegovina during the war in Yugo...
Cory Booker sets his eyes on 2016 presidential race, boosts his foreign policy credentials The charismatic Mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, met with Great Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss economic issues but also U.S. foreign policy and NATO's intervention in Afghanistan. Apparently, Booker already is boosting his foreign policy c...
Eurozone Economy Shrinks in 4Q A collapse in household spending, exports and manufacturing sucked the life out of the euro zone's economy in the final months of 2011, the EU said on Tuesday, showing the scope of the downturn that looks set to become a fully fledged recession. Link...
Groupon captures 76% of daily deals market in Poland According to Poland's Gazeta Prawna, Groupon has captured 76.08% of the daily deal market in Poland with 286,6 million of PLN ($91 million) in sales in 2011. The next largest competitor is a local clone of Groupon - the Gruper which captured 12,13% of th...
Greece decreases pensions, minimum wages by 20%, GDP to shrink by 5% Bloomberg: "Greece will pledge permanent spending cuts, including lower pension payments and a 20 percent reduction in the minimum wage, as the economy contracts this year at a faster pace than originally estimated, according to the draft of a new finan...
Vaclav Havel dies at 75 CNN: "Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, one of the leading anti-Communist dissidents of the 1970s and 1980s, has died at the age of 75, Czech Television announced Sunday. Havel, a puckish, absurdist playwright turned political activist, spent four and...
Islamic cleric in Europe bans women from proximity to phallus-shaped bananas, cucumbers and carrots "An Egyptian news outlet has a report that is causing an unusual stir. According to the Bikya Masr news service, an Islamic cleric in Europe has ordered Muslim women to prevent “sexual thoughts” by staying away from bananas, cucumbers, carrots, zucchi...
Jon Corzine: The Dark Side of Leadership This is a bad week for the already wrecked financial markets. Not only Greece's Prime Minister shocked the world by announcing that his country will conduct a referendum whether to accept a bail out package from the European Union, but now MF Global Holdi...
5 ways the European debt crisis could affect the U.S. USA Today: "The financial crisis that began in the United States in late 2007 swept across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. Now, U.S. political and financial leaders are hoping a tentative deal to relieve Europe's government debt crisis will prevent a si...
Standard & Poor's downgrades Spain's credit rating BBC News: "Standard & Poor's (S&P) has cut Spain's long-term credit rating by one notch, from AA to AA-, because of weak growth and high levels of private sector debt." Link...
Revolution Eats its Children: Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko convicted for 7 years in prison Former Prime Minister & Orange Revolution leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, jailed 7 years for “abuse of power.” Is it just about Tymoshenko or does it also mean now a definitive end of Orange Revolution and Ukraine's realignment again with Moscow. The E...
Lithuania wants to buy an island from Greece to help it with debt crisis AP: "Controversial Lithuanian mayor Arturas Zuokas on Friday said his nation should buy an island from debt-ravaged Greece and convert it into a holiday resort for tourists from the Baltic state." Link...
Barack #Obama blames Arab revolutions and Greek debt crisis for lack of #jobs and economic growth in America The Telegraph reported that President Barack Obama "speaking at a town hall meeting in Mountain View, California said that the recovery of the US economy was being hampered by setbacks this year due to problems around the world, including rising ene...
Vladimir #Putin decides to become Russia's Lukashenko - the President for life New york Times: "Vladimir V. Putin, who transformed post-Soviet Russia by imposing strict Kremlin control over most aspects of public life, publicly signaled that he will return to the presidency next year and could remain until 2024, giving him a rule ...
IMF downgrades outlook for US and Europe economies Forbes: "The world economy has entered a "dangerous new phase," according to the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. As a result, the international lending organization has sharply downgraded its economic outlook for the United States and ...
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Claims “Doing 8 Women” in One Night But we want to know what the women in the “queue” (his word) where doing after and before “sex” with Silvio. Good evidence to conclude that Silvio was not providing sexual satisfaction to any of them that night, and my guess that these 8 and the 3...
Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary of broke America, lectures Europe to solve its escalating debt crisis Reuters: "Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday urged European leaders to act more forcefully to solve Europe's escalating debt crisis and said they have the financial and economic capacity to do so." Link...
France bans Muslims from praying in the streets The Telegraph: "Praying in the streets of Paris is against the law starting Friday, after the interior minister warned that police will use force if Muslims, and those of any other faith, disobey the new rule to keep the French capital's public spaces sec...
If Euro-zone disintegrates a 3rd World War in Europe will start Turmoil in the European Parliament. Yesterday the EU Parliament debated the situation in Greece and the euro-zone. A lot of controversy was created by Poland's Minister of Finance Jacek Vincent-Rostowski, who said that if euro-zone disintegrates because o...
Number of eBay millionaires will jump to 159 in UK this year "eBay UK said it expects 159 of its sellers to make a million pounds or more in revenue this year, 25% more than last year. How are sellers reaching the million-pound mark? Through exports, the company said, with top categories including Home and Garden, ...
Schwarzenegger museum opens in Austria The Daily Caller: "A museum devoted to the thick-accented actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger opened this weekend in Austria, the Austrian Times reported. The museum, located in Schwarzenegger’s childhood home in the Austrian vil...
Meet the most famous maid in America: Nafi Diallo Nafissatou “Nafi” Diallo, commonly known as the DSK maid, gave a series of exclusive interviews last week to ABC News and Newsweek about her alleged sexual encounter with the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. DSK...
Right wing parties defend Anders Breivik, some members of EU Parliament say his anti-Muslim ideas were righteous The Herald Sun reports that after the first almost unanimous condemnation of Anders Breivik's actions which led to the massacre of over 70 people, some European right-wing parties and politicians came out to defend Breivik's political and ideological view...
Anders Breivik: Norwegian Christian Terrorist Unlike in applying the term “Muslim” or “Islamic” terrorist, mainstream media has almost totally resisted to use the term “Christian” to identify the Norwegian terrorist or his ideological motives. The Norwegian police accurately cited Anders ...
MI5 informed Norway in March that alleged killer Anders Breivik bought chemicals for explosives in Poland but Norway ignored it Sky News reported that: "The man accused of killing at least 76 people in a shooting massacre and car bombing in Norway had been on an intelligence watch list since March, according to reports. The Norwegian newspaper VG Nett claims Anders Behring Breivik...
UK Business Secretary, Vince Cable, calls U.S. House Republicans "rightwing nutters" The Guardian: "Vince Cable has launched an extraordinary attack on "rightwing nutters" in America who are trying to block the raising of the US government's debt ceiling and who are, he said, a bigger threat to the world economy than problems in the euroz...
UK's Ed Miliband begins crusade against Rupert Murdoch, demands break up of his media empire The News of the World scandal in the UK starts to look grimmer and grimmer for media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Yesterday, Scotland Yard's chief of police quit over alleged implications in the wiretapping scandal and his connections to the News Corp. Toda...
Will Murdoch shut down Fox News because of UK scandal? News Corp may still face its biggest challenge to survive in current form from outside the United...
Of Osama Bin Laden and Ratko Mladic The two have a lot in common, but the question here is how others see them similarly or not, particularly among Muslims and Serbs. Muslims globally are frequently challenged in how they respond to terrorism. Those who defend Osama Bin Laden are rather pro...
Prosecutors to drop all charges against Strauss-Kahn It all starts to look like a bad comendy. FoxNews reported that: "Prosecutors will agree to drop the charges against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn -- either on his next court date in two weeks or even sooner, the New York...
China to bailout Greece China offer to assist in the Eurozone crisis to further strategy to convert its continued rising economic weight into a more and assertive political context. This time the focus is not its developing Asian neighbors or resource rich Latin American or Afri...
Greek default will happen sooner or later A debt default by Greece is inevitable. It may be more about how and when the default is engineered, in large part in coordination with Greece’s EU partners. However, the danger may be in prolonging the solution, European leaders make the problem worse,...
Is it the end of Euro? More likely the end of the EMU (European Monetary Union) as we know it now. The Euro will survive, but the membership and underlying rules are likely, perhaps even must change. From the outset, it was an experiment in an oddly matched marriage and with mu...
Strauss-Kahn claimed diplomatic immunity during arrest but NYPD didn't really care Ha! Dominique Strauss-Kahn apparently tried to claim diplomatic immunity when being arrested by the NYPD on the JFK airport over his alleged assault on a maid in Manhattan's Sofitel Hotel. Poor, Strauss-Kahn! He didn't know that something like 'diplomatic...
Ahmadinejad accuses America and Europe of causing drought in Iran by manipulating weather Seriously, we need to make another "Top 10" list, this time about the most craziest Ahmadinejad's moments. Our last list about one-and-only Hugo Chavez was so successfully that this one should be as well. But anyway, I'm telling you, this Ahmadinejad g...
France accuses U.S. of barbarity for publicly showing Strauss-Kahn in handcuffs "French politicians have voiced outrage at America for broadcasting dramatic images of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn handcuffed and unshaven before he has a chance to defend himself on charges of attempted rape." Read more here...
Dominique Strauss-Kahn removed as acting Head of IMF Reports have surfaced that John Lipsky has been designated as acting managing director after The IMF’s chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arrested after an alleged sexual attack on a hotel maid/house-keeper in Manhattan. (See Previous Report) Busin...
Europe criticizes Obama over killing Bin Laden: this you call justice? Discomfort in Europe over how Barack Obama handled elimination of Osama bin Laden grows. Spain's Prime Minister said that: "any democrat" would have preferred bin Laden stood trial. Read more here...
Greece contemplates exiting euro-zone WSJ: "A report indicating Greece was considering bailing out of the euro zone Friday sent the euro its second day of sharp declines." Read more...
Merkel under fire for welcoming killing of Bin Laden "German Chancellor Angela Merkel came under fire on Wednesday from political allies and religious groups for welcoming the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US forces." Read more...
Schwarzenegger wants to become EU ‘Presidentor’ Arnold Schwarzenegger, currently unemployed former Governor of California, is looking for some high profile position for himself. Unfortunately for Arnold, he has found his own birth certificate (unlike some other U.S. politicians), which pretty much bars...
Libya cuts oil supply to Italy, Berlusconi unsure how to solve the dilemma BBC News has an interesting piece analyzing the role of Italy in the military intervention in Libya. Silvio Berlusconi has admitted that the intervention turned from a humanitarian one into a military one what puts his country in a difficult situation. Re...
Was famous Mona Lisa a gay lover? It seems like the Wikileaks’ revelations are never-ending. Not so long ago we heard that Christopher Columbus, who discovered America in 1492, was actually Polish and not Portuguese. And as we reported, the Polish government used that discovery to ass...
Aulich in Polish press on Obama’s economic policies Our editor, Sebastian Aulich, authored an op-ed for Stosunki Międzynarodowe, the largest bi-monthly international relations magazine in Poland. Aulich analyzed the impact of President Obama’s economic policies on Central and Easter Europe (CEE). In par...
Netherlands froze ties with Iran over woman's execution The Netherlands says it has frozen official contacts with Iran to protest the hanging of a Dutch-Iranian woman and will ask the European Union to take action against the country. Link...
American investor brutally attacks Russia An American investor, William Browder, accused Russia of inhumane treatment of foreign investors. Mr. Browder, who invested over $4.5 billion in Russia, said that the Russian government illegally took over parts of his businesses, tortured and eventually ...
Estonia joins crisis-hit euro zone Estonia, one of the three Baltic States that regained independence from Russia in 1991, entered a crisis-hit euro zone starting January 1, 2011. Estonia has a population of only 1,340,000 people and is a member of the European Union since 2004. ...
Does Tony Blair deserve a bronze statue in the House of Commons? Well, that’s a question! I just received from the Santa Mr. Blair’s autobiography “A journey”, which so far is a good read. In the meantime, however, it came to my attention that there are some serious people in the Labour Party, who want to honor...
Politics 2.0: How is Ed Miliband using social media? The Guardian has an interesting story on how Ed Miliband, the leader of UK's opposition Labour Party, is using new media to sharpen his political message. Miliband's new media advisers Tom Baldwin and Bob Roberts have only been in their jobs for a few d...
Hungary's new media law puts EU presidency in doubt Hungary's new media law which is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2011, has drawn a lot of criticism from the EU officials and institutions. The new law adopted by the conservative government will censure new media and tighten control over its ...
Former Russian spy in the U.S. joins Putin's party Anna Chapman, the former Russian spy in the U.S., whose cover was blown up this year by CIA, has started political career in Russia. She is apparently following in the footsteps of Vladimir Putin, who himself used to be a KGB operative in the past. ...
Sikorski condemns Lukashenko Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, condemned the last weekend’s presidential elections in Belarus in which Alexander Lukashenko, the last Soviet-style dictator in Europe, was re-elected the president of the country with unbelieva...
Preserving America’s Heritage Abroad The below is an article by Warren L. Miller, the chairman of a U.S. federal agency - the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, regarding acts of discrimination against Jews, Muslims and Gypsies in Europe. Two y...
The Greek crisis explained We thought you may like to watch this video, which explains the Greek financial crisis in a more graphic way. Will the mighty European Union save Greece? Will the International Monetary Fund come to the rescue? And most importantly, is Portugal, Spain and...
Diego Arria at the House of Commons Our editor, Ambassador Diego Arria, participated today in a discussion about the future of Venezuela, hosted by the Henry Jackson Society at the House of Commons of the British Parliament. Below are some pictures from the event and a short commentary b...
Event: Diego Arria in UK (Oct. 11-19) We cordially invite all our readers in UK to attend a free event in London featuring our editor, Ambassador Diego Arria. The following topic will be discussed: "The Chavez Regime: The Subversion of Democracy in Venezuela and its International Implicati...
Barroso: State of the Union President of the European Commission, Manuel Barroso, delivered yesterday his first-ever “State of the Union” address. In his speech, Mr. Barroso called for closer integration and creation of a common defense policy. Sustainable and inclusive growth o...
The cross and the mosque Public opinions in the U.S. and Poland have been witnessing lately some unusual debates overlapping on politics and religion. In the U.S., President Barack Obama declared that he supports the construction of a mosque near the Ground Zero in New York City,...
Komorowski wins Poland's presidential elections According to the exit polls, Bronislaw Komorowski of the Civic Platform won the presidential elections in Poland. SMG/KRC and OBOP reported that Komorowski won by a small margin over Jaroslaw Kaczynski of the Law and Justice party. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the...
Diego Arria lobbies EU to support free Venezuela Our editor, Diego Arria, continued his European travel to lobby EU’s governments to support free and democratic Venezuela. Mr. Arria is the first Venezuelan opposition leader received by the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, with whom he discus...