While the world is watching the Middle East protests with concern, Europe is likely to receive the brunt of it with the influx of refugees fleeing their countries some for fear of their lives and some looking for a need to get food and jobs. Apart from Italy which is already tending the arrival of large numbers of Tunisians and Egyptians to the Lampedusa Island, other European countries had not yet had any noticeable increase of Middle East people. Read the rest of this entry »

The man who was often described as Europe’s last dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, appears to have won again the last elections in Belarus. A former collective farm boss, he has ruled his country since he first was elected in 1994, in great part thanks to Russia’s economic and political help. Read the rest of this entry »

The US wants to charge a $14 fee to travelers who visit it. The US fee applies only to travelers from countries not currently required to obtain a visa prior to travel — a list which includes every EU country except for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland and Romania. While the fee is not exorbitant it is just the principle that has upset many. Read the rest of this entry »

Europe is in the middle of a discord over how to handle unwanted immigrants. The country that began the controversy is France and the immigrants involved are the Roma community whose 12 million form the largest ethnic minority in the EU. Read the rest of this entry »

While Cuba celebrates today its National Rebellion Day, the question people are asking themselves more and more is if the country is changing. After the pressure of the Catholic Church and the appeals of Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, Cuban president Raul Castro has agreed to release 52 political prisoners, of the so-called Group of 75, who were imprisoned since 2003 for “counter-revolutionary activities.” Read the rest of this entry »

British Prime Minister David Cameron, in power since last May, arrives Tuesday to the US for his first official visit. In the UK there is a lot of expectation about the treatment he will receive by the Obama administration. The British have not forgotten the shoddy treatment the former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown got last year during his White House visit. Read the rest of this entry »

This time, hopefully, the disproportionate violence of the Israeli government in international waters is not going to be easily forgotten. The death of the activists and the many nationalities involved is going to keep the act alive. And so it should be until a transparent and full independent investigation, not an Israeli one as suggested by the US, takes place. Read the rest of this entry »