There might be no free lunch, as the saying goes, but a bold experiment in Finland has renewed interest in the idea of money for nothing.

In January 2017, the country embarked on a two-year pilot program that gave 2,000 unemployed citizens the equivalent of nearly $700 a month, with no strings attached. The program will run through the beginning of next year after the government announced this week that it would decline to extend the duration of the program.

The idea of a guaranteed or universal income, often abbreviated to UBI for “universal basic income,” has attracted attention on this side of the Atlantic, as well. Mark Zuckerberg floated the idea in the speech he gave last year at Harvard University’s commencement, and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes argued inAl Qaeda claims attack wave and jailbreak in Iraq

Sept. 30, 2012 - Iraqis stand in rubble at the scene of a car bomb attack in the town of Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq.
(AP2012)

BAGHDAD – Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq claimed responsibility on Friday for a stunning jailbreak last week that was followed by a wave of deadly attacks across the country that left 26 dead.

In a statement posted on a militant website, the Islamic State of Iraq said the attacks, mostly bombings using explosive-rigged parked cars, were launched against "carefully selected targets" in Baghdad and some other provinces.

The group, also called the Islamic State of Iraq, has said that both the freeing of its prisoners and the assassination of officials are top priorities, part of