Are we really witnessing the end of austerity in Europe?
On Wednesday, the European Commission (EC) published its country-specific recommendations for the 2013-2014 European semester, the highlight of which was the announcement that six countries -- Spain,...
View ArticleWhy does Australia's prime minister keep getting hit with sandwiches?
Politicians are used to being targets. Hostile media, political rivals, and would-be assassins all figure in the daily threat assessments for public figures. But Australian Prime Minister Julia...
View ArticleAustralian minister too drunk to debate
Drinking at work: it's an ancient and venerable tradition, and one that enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the United States not too long ago. While the practice is still popular in continental...
View ArticleSigns of the Europocalypse: Spain faces a wave of orange thefts
With the economic crisis in Spain (and Europe as a whole) showing few signs of abating, it shouldn't come as a surprise that robberies are on the rise in the country. This is especially true in...
View ArticleSoccer star Lionel Messi accused of tax fraud
On Wednesday, Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, were formally accused of tax fraud worth €4 million ($5.3 million) by the Spanish Inquisition public prosecutors...
View ArticleThe Best Countries in the World to Be a Father
Father's Day celebrations may have originated in Washington state in the early 20th century, but the United States isn't necessarily the friendliest place for the paterfamilias. What it means for a...
View ArticleSpain's Finance Minister on Tax Error Involving Princess Cristina: 'Oops'
In 2011, just as America was recovering from its collective swoon over the British royal wedding, another European monarchy was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Iñaki Urdangarin, the duke...
View ArticleAngela Merkel Discovers the Internet -- and Inspires a Meme
Barack Obama's visit to Berlin may have sparked a wave of commentary and analysis, but it was an offhand remark from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that gave birth to a meme. Responding to questions...
View ArticleWhat Are the Odds Snowden Ends Up in Ecuador? Funny You Should Ask...
Be it the next pope or the next Nobel Prize winner, an international news event is not an international news event without a rush of betting on its outcome. Enter the British online gambling website...
View Article'Boss,''Batman': What Wikipedia Knows About Egypt's Acting President
It's official: Mohamed Morsy is no longer the president of Egypt. In a July 3 press conference on state television, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the removal of Morsy, the suspension of the...
View ArticleThe French Flicks and American Beef Standing in the Way of a U.S.-EU Trade Deal
On Monday, the United States and the European Union officially launched talks on creating a new free trade zone -- one that could become the largest in the world, covering roughly $31 trillion in...
View Article30 Percent of Indian Lawmakers Have Criminal Cases Against Them
On Wednesday, the Indian Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling banning politicians who have been convicted of serious crimes from sitting in parliament, supplementing an earlier law banning convicts...
View ArticleThe Surprising Relationship Between Corruption and Economic Growth
Another day, another ballooning corruption scandal in southern Europe. On Monday, the former treasurer of Spain's ruling center-right Popular Party (PP), Luis Bárcenas, admitted in court to authoring...
View ArticleBritish Reporters Might Be Covering the Royal Baby, But They Want You to Know...
Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you've probably been exposed to the nearly wall-to-wall coverage of the impending birth of Kate and Will's Baby. And while the media...
View ArticleUruguay's Strategy for Breaking Into the Pot-Dealing Business
Late Wednesday evening, the lower house of Uruguay's legislature passed a bill providing for the establishment of a fully legal, regulated marijuana market. If the bill is approved by the Senate -- a...
View ArticleIran's Not-So-Shocking Exposé of American Frat Boys
American college life is often depicted as a four- (or five-, or six-) year suspension of reality, in which the normal rules of society cease to apply and the nation's youth indulge their baser...
View ArticleWhen Presidents 'Recreate,' the World Falls Apart
On Thursday, Barack Obama took a break from vacationing in Martha's Vineyard to address the ongoing crisis in Egypt, condemning the military's use of violence against pro-Morsy protesters and...
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