"Dozens injured in Paris rampage
Sarkozy 'war' with strikers
The French president's ongoing dispute with striking transport unions is far from won, writes Emma Jane Kirby.
French police stand guard hours after the death of two youths in a motorcycle collision with a police car in Villiers-le-Bel, north of Paris, November 25, 2007. The number of police officers injured in clashes in Paris suburbs overnight reached about 60, police said on Tuesday, after a second night of violence. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Dozens injured in Paris rampage
Nearly 80 police officers are injured in a second night of clashes with youths in the suburbs of Paris.
Map locates Villiers-le-Bel in Paris?f northern suburbs, where dozens injured in riot
Clashes Spread in Paris Suburbs
by Molly Moore
PARIS, Nov. 26 -- Gangs of youths set cars ablaze and clashed with riot police Monday as street violence spread to at least six towns in the northern Paris suburbs, a night after two teenagers were killed when their motorbike collided with a police cruiser, according to police.Protesters disrupt Oxford debate
A debate on free speech at the Oxford Union is disrupted by a protest at the inclusion of two controversial figures.
EU treaty too ambiguous, say MPs
The "ambiguity" of parts of the EU reform treaty is causing concern that power is being surrendered, MPs say.African nations in EU trade deal
The five countries that make up the East African Community sign a trade deal with the European Union.
An ESI report on Bosnia
Today Bosnia is engulfed by a bitter power struggle between the OHR and the Bosnian Serb authorities. This came to a head when the Bosnian prime minister Nikola Spiric resigned recently arguing that "it doesn't matter if I am the head of that state, or Bart Simpson." It is also, as we argue in a new ESI discussion paper - The worst in class - how the international protectorate hurts the European future of Bosnia and Herzegovina - an unnecessary quarrel.
Kosovo's contested future
The main obstacle to a settlement of Kosovo's status is that the UN, EU member states, the US and Russia are deeply divided on the issue "for reasons that have little to do with Kosovo itself", writes Paul Hockenos of Open Democracy.
EU fishing policy: Your views
British fishermen are warning they face ruin because of EU quotas which result in huge amounts of dead fish being dumped back into the sea. Are quotas working?
EU 2008 budget deal heralds shift in policy
For the first time, the EU will be spending more on competitiveness than agriculture. After a conciliation meeting last Friday, the Council and Parliament reached an agreement on the 2008 budget, securing an extra euro 2.7 billion for the EU's two flagship projects - Galileo and the European Institute of Technology.
'Third option' mooted on energy liberalisation
The Commission and the Portuguese Presidency have asked EU countries opposed to proposals on 'ownership unbundling' in the electricity and gas sector to come up with detailed alternatives, as energy ministers prepare for a potentially tense meeting on 3 December.
Experts call for earlier HIV testing in Europe
Health experts and stakeholders at the 'HIV in Europe 2007' conference have called on EU states to step up early diagnosis in a drive to improve the lives of people living with HIV and reduce transmission of the disease.
DOSSIER: Elections in Croatia | 27/11/2007
Croatia held its parliamentary elections Sunday November 25th. According to the preliminary results, the old Prime Minister Ivo Sanader will also be the new one: his conservative HDZ party will probably hold 66 of the 153 parliamentary seats, while the Social Democrat opposition takes 56. The search for a new coalition partner has begun. What does this mean for the reform process in Croatia?
DOSSIER: Opposition in Russia silenced | 26/11/2007
Eight days before Russia's parliamentary elections are due to take place, Garry Kasparov, leader of the Russian opposition coalition the "Other Russia", has been arrested in Moscow during a protest march Saturday November 24th. Kasparov has been sentenced to five days in prison. Some of his fellow demonstrators were also beaten or arrested saturay or the next day, during another march in Saint Petersburg. Has the government's hard line taken on new dimensions?
On Russia, the European Union seems weak and directionless
By Mark Leonard
Newsweek A New French Revolution by Fareed Zakaria
European Islam: Challenges for Society and Public PolicySource: The Centre for European Policy Studies
How condescension benefits terrorism
Nick Cohen: If European Muslims are treated like children, is it surprising that some should act so irrationally?
Will France, NATO's prodigal son, return to the fold?
By Dominique Moisi
On Russia, the European Union seems weak and directionless
By Mark Leonard
Tory concern at EU 'super-president' idea
Croatia and Economic Sustainability in Eastern Europe
by Edward Hugh
The IMF is not amused, or at least better put, the IMF is not amused with Croatia. The reasons for their lack of amusement are many and various, but in particular they are displeased by the rising level of consumer and corporate indebtedness, and doubly so due to the fact that the debts are either contracted-in or indexed-to a foreign currency (mainly the euro, but the Swiss Franc is also used). They are also not unduly thrilled by the sustained and rising current account deficit, the existence of a fiscal deficit, the slow pace of structural reform and the relative lack of “greenfield site” FDI . According to the latest IMF staff report on Croatia:
Decline of the Dollar: Europeans Go Shopping, and Americans Should not Worry
by Joerg Wolf
The Boston Globe writes about an Irish woman travelling to the US for "an extended weekend of binge shopping" and claims: "With dollar low, US is one big outlet: Europeans arriving in droves for bargains"
The Return of Fear
This is a guest blog post by Don, who lives and works in England:
I am an expat American who has been a staunch advocate of free-market capitalism for many years, and still mostly believe that. In recent years I have come to believe that the pressures of globalisation have opened certain fissures in the free-market model and have come to better appreciate certain aspects of the welfare state..........
The futility of closing labour markets
Spain's muted migrant boom
Complexities of Polish Catholicism
 | Jan Kubik Associate Professor of Political Science Rutgers University, NJ, USA American/Polish |
Polish Catholicism is poorly understood outside the country, particularly in Western Europe. Accustomed to the progressive marginalisation of religion in public life, Western secular observers seem to be completely unable to grasp a phenomenon of intense religiosity and the multi-faceted links between religion and politics in a modern European country........
