Category: Blogs

Election Donation Accusations Ensnare Sarkozy

By Katrin Bennhold, the New York Times

From Katrin Bennhold, the New York Times:  President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was officially drawn into a growing scandal on Wednesday after prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into allegations that the richest woman in the country made an illegal cash donation to his 2007 election campaign.

Critical Test for European Security

By Kurt Volker and Juan Zarate

This week brings a critical test for the transatlantic security partnership. The European Parliament will vote on a revised agreement with the United States on tracking terrorist finances using financial data unique to the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). The vote is about more than restoring data-sharing. It is about whether Europe […]

Afghan insurgents supplying Taliban intel to NATO – officials

By Reuters

From Reuters:  A militant Afghan group is supplying intelligence on the Taliban to government and foreign troops leading to the capture or death of several commanders in the north, senior officials have said. In what could signal a split within the insurgency, Hezb-i-Islami fighters have been tipping off U.S. and Afghan forces over the past […]

Turkish Court Rejects Parts of Constitution Overhaul

By Dan Bilefsky and Sebnem Arsu, the New York Times

Global Economic Impact of Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill

By Alexei Monsarrat

Alexei Monsarrat, director of the Atlantic Council’s Global Business & Economics program, interviewed Tom Joyce, debt capital markets strategist for Deutsche Bank, on the impact of the Dodd-Frank bill on the finance industry and global markets. A transcript of their discussion follows. ALEXEI MONSARRAT:  Thanks very much, Tom, for taking part in our 5 Questions […]

Obama sees Turkey turning eastward if snubbed by EU

By Reuters

From Reuters:  Turkey could end up seeking alliances outside the West if the European Union keeps it dangling over its bid for membership, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a newspaper interview on Thursday. Obama told Italy’s Corriere della Sera the United States believed it would be wise for the European Union to accept Turkey, […]

Officials: 3 arrested in Norway al-Qaida bomb plot

By the AP

Russian Spy Arrests: James Bond Meets Woody Allen

By Harlan Ullman

Reports of the arrests last week of 11 alleged Russian agents operating a deep cover espionage ring for Moscow Center in the heart of the United States sounded more like farce and folly than serious spying. So far no classified material has been found in the spies’ possession and the major charge against them is […]

NATO chief slams EU over ‘unfair’ Turkish treatment

By AFP

From AFP:  NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen criticized the European Union on Wednesday for what he called its "unfair" treatment of Turkey, writing in the Danish center-left daily Politiken. The NATO secretary-general advised the EU to "take a series of pragmatic steps to improve relations with Turkey, entirely outside the negotiations" between Ankara and Brussels […]

British troops to leave Sangin this year, Liam Fox says

By the Telegraph

From the Telegraph:  British troops will be withdrawn from the Sangin area of Afghanistan later this year, Defence Secretary Liam Fox told MPs. He said the UK had agreed to a redeployment which will see US Marines assume responsibility for the area where nearly a third of UK deaths in the conflict have occurred.