I en annan del av världen

Frankrike och Spanien skissar på en ny EU-gemensam migrationspolitik.

"French President Nicolas Sarkozy pressed his agenda for France's upcoming presidency of the European Union, including an immigration and a climate package, during a brief visit to Austria Friday.

"We need immigration but we don't want illegal immigration," he told journalists during a joint press conference with Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer in Vienna.

Europe needs a common policy to ensure that all member states follow the same rules in accepting or rejecting asylum seekers, he said."

"El País reports this morning that Spain and France are drawing up an immigration plan for the E.U. The paper says it has seen the draft of the proposals which are for a strict control on frontiers and the future ‘selection’ of immigrants.

Controversially the idea also includes making sure that immigrants learn the language and sign a contract of integration, similar to that proposed by the Partido Popular at the last Spanish general election, which was then rejected by the Socialists, who say they still oppose it. "

Japan undviker invandring

"There are people who say that if we accept more immigrants, crime will increase," Fukuda said. "Any sudden increase in immigrants causing social chaos [and] social unrest is a result that we must avoid by all means."

In his speeches and public appearances, Fukuda rarely mentions immigration. In that respect, he is like most politicians in Japan, which has little historical experience of substantial immigration.

"We really need to let the people know that the economy simply cannot be managed without the help of foreigners," said Seiji Maehara, a member of parliament and a vice president in the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

But Maehara said no leading politician here has the courage to say as much to voters. The silence is enforced, in part, by political ambition.

I Tyskland rasar debatten om hedersmorden vidare.

At age 16, all Morsal Obeidi wanted was to live the way other girls in Germany do. She paid dearly: Obeidi's brother stabbed her 20 times. Her murder has sparked a renewed debate in Germany about the failure of many immigrant families to integrate into Western society.