Europe

Poland: Crime in Warsaw

Date: April 2nd, 2008 |

The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw reported that crime throughout the country is declining but there are places in Warsaw known for criminal activity that are best avoided. Two separate incidents since mid March occurred in the evening near the Wilanow Bus Stop when American juveniles were accosted by young Polish men. No one was seriously [read more]

Italy: Naples Garbage Cleanup Making Progress

Date: March 26th, 2008 |

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The piles of uncollected garbage that plagued Naples the past several months are gone from the center of the city thanks to the efforts of “trash tsar” Gianni De Gennaro, but the damage has been done to the area’s tourism industry. Business at hotels and restaurants has dried up and the city is largely empty [read more]

Germany: Berlin Transit Strike Extended

Date: March 12th, 2008 |

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Striking transit workers in Berlin threatened to extend their strike through March 23 because negotiations were making little progress. Berlin’s bus, tram and underground network will be disrupted should the strike continue. A threatened nationwide rail strike was averted when negotiators reached agreemen [read more]

Norway: Oslo Crime Rate Now Highest in Scandinavia

Date: March 12th, 2008 |

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Crime around the country is reportedly decreasing except in Oslo, where it has become the highest in Scandinavia. Reported crimes in Oslo increased 25 percent in 2007 to 90 per 1,000 inhabitants. That is 12 percent higher than St0ckholm’s crime rate and 45 percent higher than Copenhagen’s. New York’s, by comparison, is 22, making Oslo’s [read more]

Ireland: Air Traffic Controllers’ Strike Postponed

Date: February 27th, 2008 |

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Air traffic controllers set to strike Feb. 28 postponed their action when negotiations to resolve the dispute opened Feb. 25 at the Labor Court in Dublin. Controllers agreed to withhold a strike threat until court-brokered talks are concluded, but they are still demanding more staff and better overtime pay. A strike would shut down Ireland’s [read more]

United Kingdom: Strike on London Underground

Date: April 2nd, 2008 |

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A 72-hour strike on the London Underground is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. April 6 and end at the same time April 9. The two labor unions calling for the strike represent 7,500 station staff and drivers who are protesting what they consider a compromise of safety but what management says has nothing to [read more]

Spain: Authorities Worry About ETA Summer Violence

Date: March 26th, 2008 |

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In the past few weeks the Basque separatist group ETA has assassinated a former politician and detonated a car bomb outside a police station in Calahorra in northern Spain, raising fears among security officials that the group may be planning attacks on tourist areas this summer. The concern arises from an assessment that ETA is [read more]

Netherlands: Threat Level Raised to “Substantial”

Date: March 12th, 2008 |

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The government raised the terrorist threat level to “substantial” March 6 because of increasing links between foreign and European jihadist networks, terror-related arrests in Germany, Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom in the past year, and the forthcoming March 28 release of a controversial film on the Koran by a Dutch legislator. The Dutch prime [read more]

Germany: Strikes Affect Transit in Berlin, Flights in Frankfurt

Date: March 6th, 2008 |

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Berlin transit workers went on strike for 10 days March 5 in a walkout that is part of a nationwide public service workers demand for higher pay. The strike will affect the subway, bus and tram network but not the S-Bahn commuter train system. A similar strike in January paralyzed the network and this one [read more]

Italy: Roman Forum No Longer Free

Date: February 27th, 2008 |

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Free visits to the Roman Forum will become history March 10 when an entry fee will be charged for the first time in ten years. Entrance to the Forum will be included in a single ticket that visitors now buy to enter the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. The new ticket policy will help Rome’s [read more]