The controversy caused by Georgia's Eurovision Song Contest entry seems to be over (or, depending on one's perspective, has reached its climax), now that Georgia has decided not to take part in this year's event in Moscow, following the European Broadcasting Union's demand that the l...

  By Bobbie Leigh   Gouged out of soft stone, the cave dwellings in the  steep, craggy cliffs of  Matera  are  without a doubt the most unusual in all of Italy. There's  probably nothing like their chaotic, troglodyte "spontaneous architecture"...

The French have rejoined NATO: PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Wednesday that France intends to become a full member of NATO, 43 years after Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the alliance’s military command and threw NATO, and American forces, out of the country. “Because it i...

Americans, here's your tax dollars at work: In the U.K., Liverpool's football team has just signed up Bank of America as a major sponsor. BofA, which has received about $45 billion in U.S. federal rescue money after its acquisition of Merrill Lynch and its toxic assets, is the parent of MBNA, which ...

EU: Europäische Kirchen informieren über Wahlen Four ecumenical organizations based in Brussels, including the Conference of European Churches, has launced an information campaign on the upcoming election for the European Parliament. The campaign aims for a higher commitment of EU citizens and thu...

Wall Street Journal: The Dutch are embarking on a decades-long plan to improve their flood-control system because they're afraid that rising sea levels from global warming will threaten their low-lying country. The effort, which the government says could cost EUR1 billion ($1.27 billion) a year thro...

Wall Street Journal: The Dutch are embarking on a decades-long plan to improve their flood-control system because they're afraid that rising sea levels from global warming will threaten their low-lying country. The effort, which the government says could cost EUR1 billion ($1.27 billion) a year thro...

Independent: I have heard that the Gaia theory means that the Earth is alive. What does that mean, exactly? Roger Middleton, Chester The Earth system (Gaia) shares many attributes with a living cell; it metabolises, it responds to changes in its environment, it can die, and it reduces its internal e...

Reuters: Danish state-controlled oil and natural gas group DONG Energy said on Friday it had awarded Siemens a supply contract for up to 500 offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of up to 1,800 megawatts. The wind turbines will be deployed on DONG Energy's coming offshore wind farms in Northe...

I think we can take it as a given that there are some issues with our current preferred modes of transportation in the United States. First off, obviously, our automobile-conscious (or should I say "automobile-fetishization"?) culture comes at a tremendous penalty to our balance of trade, given the ...