European Christmas traditions
21 Dec 2017
There is a story of Martin Luther walking in the woods in Latvia and creating the first Christmas tree in 1510. Whether or not it is true, the first Christmas tree recorded was in the town…
Pope Francis: Lord's Prayer debate
21 Dec 2017
Pope Francis has sparked a debate after saying he wants to make a change to the Lord's Prayer, arguing that the current form wrongly implies that God can lead humans into temptation. The Pontiff said the…
Finland: monitoring Palestinian education
15 Dec 2017
EU officials supervise and fund the Palestinian Authority (PA) education system. A series of Helsinki talks examined the new PA curriculum and agreed that the new textbooks stir up further radicalisation and hatred. They concluded that…
Juncker and wiretapping scandal
15 Dec 2017
The European Commission president’s informal manner at EU meetings has been criticised. He denies accusations that he has a drink problem. Now he must now take urgent steps to explain his role in an illegal wiretap…
Europe: prayers for protection
08 Dec 2017
On 9 December it will be one year since the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin. Europe is on a high level of alert for possible terrorist attacks. In many countries there will be Christmas…
EU / Turkey relationships
08 Dec 2017
Turkey-EU ties are currently marked by mutual resentments and appear to be going nowhere. In a sign of the times, Brussels is withholding 175 million euros in pre-accession funds for Turkey, which on paper remains a…