Europe | Charlemagne

Two flights explain EU asylum policy

An Iraqi plane and an Austrian one show both sides of Europe’s asylum system

IRAQI AIRWAYS flight IA271 from Baghdad to Minsk was a surprisingly popular service. The four-hour trip from Iraq, an unstable country in the Middle East, to Belarus, a dictatorship on the edge of Europe, became busy this summer. At the start of the year the flight ran once a week; in July it was going four times as often.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “A tale of two flights”

China’s attack on tech

From the August 14th 2021 edition

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Marine Le Pen (L) arrives at the Paris criminal courthouse for her trial on suspicion of embezzlement of European public funds

Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets

She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics

Donald Trump shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as they meet in Palm Beach, Florida, United States, November 22nd 2024

The maths of Europe’s military black hole 

It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk


Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south 

Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale


Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats

The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare

Once dominant, Germany is now desperate

As an election looms its business model is breaking down