In A Change, Turkey Tightens Its Border With Syria
The spring sun is warming the fields and orchards along the Turkey-Syria border, and new refugee camps are sprouting as well. Smugglers who have long worked these mountain border trails are now busy moving civilians out of Syria to the safety of Turkish camps. They’re also moving medical and communications equipment and people into opposition-held [...]
Blind Chinese Activist Flees House Arrest
A blind Chinese activist, one of the country’s most prominent, has made an audacious escape from house arrest and is safe from Chinese authorities, according to his supporters. Yet days after Chen Guangchen fled his home, it’s not clear exactly where he is. Chen has attracted international attention with his efforts to prevent forced illegal [...]
One After Another, European Leaders Get The Boot
It’s been a rough time for European leaders trying to keep their troubled economies afloat. In just over a year, six European leaders or ruling parties have been forced out of office in countries that include Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. French President Nicolas Sarkozy could well be next. He finished second [...]
Dilemma For European Banks: Clean Books Or Lend?
The walls of the Clock Shop in downtown Frankfurt, Germany, are lined with timepieces of every kind, from cuckoo clocks to digital watches. It’s a testament to the store’s 55-year history as a functioning business. One of the things that has remained constant for much of that time is the store’s relationship with its banks, [...]
When Should A Country Abandon Its Own Money?
Iceland is a tiny nation in a big financial mess. It’s still recovering from the aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis, which caused a domestic banking collapse. Its currency, the krona, is also in really bad shape. That’s led Icelanders to pose an existential currency question: Should they abandon the krona? One key problem [...]
Showdown Looms Over Europe’s Largest Shantytown
Europe’s largest illegal settlement lies on the edge of Madrid. As the Spanish capital has grown, the city’s limits have moved ever closer to the shantytown known as Cañada Real, a sprawling tangle of tents and cement houses. And as the economy has tanked, a growing number of people are calling it home. Now the [...]
Wounded Warriors Face New Enemy: Overmedication
Thousands of sick or seriously wounded troops who return to the U.S. from combat duty are assigned to special units called Wounded Warrior Battalions. The more than three dozen such battalions are at bases across the country, and they aim to give soldiers and Marines the months they need to recover from their battlefield wounds. [...]
More Pain In Spain As Economy Goes Down The Drain
There was more bad news for Europe’s attempt to rebuild its economy: Standard & Poor announced Thursday that it was downgrading Spain’s long-term sovereign credit rating by two notches – from “A” to “BBB+.” The agency also lowered Spain’s short-term sovereign credit rating to “A-2″ from “A-1,” and said the outlook on the long-term rating [...]
At Last, Egypt Settles On Presidential Candidates
After months of anticipation, and just a few weeks before the voting, Egypt now has a list of 13 officially approved presidential candidates. Amr Moussa, the former secretary-general of the Arab League, is one of the 13, and he is ahead in most opinion surveys in advance of the May 23-24 election. And in a [...]
Stone Age Mediterranean Farmer ISO Hungry Nordic Hunter-Gatherer?
Farming transformed Europe when it arrived from the Near East about 6,000 years ago. But was it the agricultural know-how that traveled, or the farmers themselves? By comparing DNA from Stone Age farmers and hunter-gatherers, Swedish researchers say it’s clear that the farmers traveled north through Europe, bringing their agrarian skills with them. How else [...]
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