News

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti warned that France’s central involvement with the EU will continue to weaken it.  He observed: “In the last few years we have seen France receding in terms of actual economic performance, in terms of complying with all the European rules, and above all in terms of its domestic public opinion which is turning more and more against Europe” (March 21, 2015).

“Arab countries will take necessary measures to protect the region against ‘aggression’ by Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi group if a peaceful solution cannot be found to that country’s turmoil, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said on Monday” (Reuters, March 23, 2015).

The title of a recent Der Spiegel article is telling: “‘The Fourth Reich’: What Some Europeans See When They Look at Germany” (March 23, 2013). The article’s author observed “Following World War II, a German return to dominance in Europe seemed an impossibility. But the euro crisis has transformed the country into a reluctant hegemon and comparisons with the Nazis have become rampant” (ibid.).

Cyclone Pam tore through the south Pacific island nation of Vanuatu last Friday and Saturday, packing winds of over 300 kph/180 mph. The Category 5 storm created so much damage that rescue crews from Australia and New Zealand are having difficulty reaching victims. “‘We have no contact of any sort with the outer islands, the priority is to get communications up and running. It’s very, very concerning that we haven’t heard anything from the outlying islands,’ Joe Lowry, a spokesman for International Organisation for Migration (ILM), told Reuters in Port Vila.

“The Vatican’s ambassador in Geneva has said the use of force will be necessary to protect minority groups from Islamic State [ISIS] aggression if a political solution cannot be achieved” (Jerusalem Post, March 15, 2015). The ambassador called for a coalition that would do “everything possible to achieve a political settlement without violence… but if that’s not possible, then the use of force will be necessary” (ibid.).​​​