Università Bologna, founded in 1088 and the first to bear the name of a university, welcomed international students. They gathered in what were called nationes, lodging and carousing together. The locals complained about disruption and violence. Eventually the nationes gained special recognition of their status, though the relationship with locals remained tense. Australia’s international students are not quite so lucky. Australia’s public universities, originally modelled on British institutions, have attracted a high proportion of international students – now more per capita read more

Seventy-five years ago, in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed. Its members signed the Washington Treaty. Its objective was to guard the independence and security of its members, strategically using both political and military means. Starting with 12 members, NATO now has 32 Member States mainly from Europe, and the U.S. and Canada from North America. The U.S. traditionally led the funding and policy of NATO. NATO hinges on Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which provides read more

One of the items on the agenda during Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s April 22-24 visit to Pakistan was the revival of the stalled Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline read more

In Cold War Angola in the early 1980s all the liberation movements were located in the Rua da Liberdade on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Luanda. They included FRETILIN from East Timor, Polisario from Western Sahara, SWAPO from Namibia and the African National Congress (ANC) from South Africa. The ANC was banned during the Apartheid-era and much of its military wing was based in Angola, a former Portuguese colony run by the pro-Soviet MPLA. Even then one wondered at read more