Finland's health and social affairs ministry wants to try out a basic income scheme to test the impact of unconditional cash payments on work incentives. The experiment aims to show if the measure can simplify the welfare benefits system and lower unemployment in the country. [...]

Turkey's foreign minister has recalled its Austrian ambassador for "consultations" in the wake of a rally held in Vienna in support of the PKK. "In response to recent events, we have withdrawn our ambassador from Vienna for consultations and to review our relations with Austria," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters. [...]

Germany is on high terror alert following another round of attacks that have shocked the country leading Germany to urge citizens to stockpile resources for the first time since the Cold War. The German government plans to tell citizens to stockpile food and water in case of a catastrophic terror attack the Frankfurther Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported on Sunday as the country find [...]

In its analysis of the outcome of the talks between Presidents Putin and Erdogan earlier this week in St. Petersburg, Italian news magazine L’Espresso says the meeting has sent two strong messages, telling Europe “it is no longer the center of the universe”, and demonstrating to the US that Turkey has “other strategic options on the table.” [...]

In the face of a "war of a thousand cuts" unleashed by Islamists does the West truly have any viable alternative to cooperation with Putin's Russia? Vladimir Putin is certainly one of a kind, writes G. Murphy Donovan, a former American intelligence officer, in his opinion piece for US conservative daily The American Thinker. [Elite_video_player id="6"] [...]

A Dublin court has sent three former senior banking executives to jail for committing "sham transactions" in an effort to deceive customers and shareholders during the 2008 financial crisis."The trio will be among the first senior bankers globally to be jailed for their role in the collapse of a bank during the crisis," as Reuters reports. [...]

Italy may very well be joining the US anti-Daesh operation in Libya, having offered Washington the use of Sigonella air base in Sicily for USAF raids into the North African country. Sputnik spoke to Italian military journalist Mirko Molteni about why Italy has once again allowed itself to become involved in a NATO air war over Libya. [...]

The leaders of Germany’s liberal Free Democrats and Austria’s far-right Freedom parties have both drawn parallels between the Turkish president’s post-coup crackdown and the abuse of power which allowed Adolf Hitler to exert Nazi rule. A failed military coup attempt to oust and potentially kill elected Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan resulted in a hard-line response, with the Turkish par [...]

A stress test conducted a few days ago by the European Banking Authority confirmed a poor condition of many credit institutions in Europe. Italian banks and Germany’s Deutsche Bank are doing the worst. In recent months, Deutsche Bank shares have lost 25% of their value, French bank Société 23% [...]

After Austria suggested putting an end to EU membership talks with Turkey, Ankara hit back, labeling Vienna the “capital of radical racism.” The Austrian foreign minister suggested Turkey should moderate its wording and “do its homework.”   [...]

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, well-known Gaullist and leader of the France Arise party, believes that his country's leaders are losing the war against radical Islamic terrorism. Worse yet, he says, France is losing because it is being led on a string like a puppet to the interests of Brussels, Berlin and Washington. In a cutting op-ed, published by Le Figaro, Dupont-Aignan warned that unfortunately, t [...]

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern has urged the EU to halt membership talks with Turkey following Ankara’s crackdown in the wake of the failed July coup. Turkey’s EU affairs minister said the statements were “disturbing” and “similar to the far right.” [...]

NATO has not flown its white-on-blue flag during the course of its massive Anaconda-2016 war games aimed at demonstrating European solidarity and unity in the face of a purported “Russian threat,” suggesting that there are deep divisions within the alliance over the portrayal of Moscow as an enemy. [...]

There are signs indicating a slight shift in NATO's strategy towards Russia. Western Europe now does not believe in the "Russian menace" while some Western politicians have called upon the EU to regard Moscow as an ally rather than a geopolitical rival. [...]

In June, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) labelled Deutsche Bank as the most risky global financial institution. Experts do not believe the bank will suffer the same destiny as Lehman Brothers. But if it does this would be a global financial catastrophe. [...]

A provocative video in which an Austrian far-right politician explains to asylum seekers, using a blonde mannequin and posters in Arabic, that European women generally don’t like being groped in public by strangers has stirred controversy. The video has sparked a lot of negative comments and a series of video responses, forcing Freedom Party politician Armin Sippel to take the video down due [...]

Austria’s interior minister has rejected a proposal that would require EU member states to grant asylum seekers the right to work, calling the plan “unthinkable,” as the country’s job market could not absorb the flood of new workers. [...]

Commenting on what he sees as a new attempt by US policymakers to use Europe as a battering ram against Russia, a prodigious Russian blogger and geopolitical analyst ponders the implications of the titanic efforts being made by Russia and China to detach the continent from Washington's embrace. [...]

Today, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz warned about the negative consequences of the current migration crisis and possible collapse of Europe. In an interview with Sputnik Austrian politician Johannes Hübner commented on this statement as well as prospects for Austria's withdrawal from the EU. [...]

Politicians like Norbert Hofer, the Austrian presidential candidate from the Freedom Party of Austria, are becoming increasingly popular in Europe because people don’t like how the EU is being run. Petr Hájek, press secretary to the former Czech president Vaclav Klaus and head of the media portal Protiproud told Sputnik that people listen to Hofer because he talks about things that they feel [...]

The legislative assembly of the Italian province of Tuscany has unanimously backed a resolution urging the lifting of the EU’s sanctions against Russia, following in the footsteps of several of the country’s other regions. The vote at Tuscany’s Regional Council, where the majority is held by the ruling Democratic party, took place on Wednesday. [...]

Russia is not a threat to Europe; on the contrary, Washington is attempting to provoke Moscow into fighting a 'civil war' with Ukraine. That's according to renowned German playwright Rolf Hochhuth, who laid down his views on relations between Russia and the West in an interview with Germany's Hessische/Niedersachsische Allgemeine newspaper. [...]