Europe

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Euro Heat Wave Kills Hundreds
Euro Heat Wave Kills Hundreds

Euro Heat Wave Kills Hundreds

Most victims are elderly; Hungary hit hardest

(Newser) - More than 500 people have died in the last week in the heat wave gripping central Europe. Most of the victims lived in Hungary, with some casualties reported in nearby Romania, the BBC reports. The elderly have been hardest hit. Temperatures in some areas have reached 107 degrees; the intense...

Sarkozy and Merkel Face Off
Sarkozy and Merkel Face Off

Sarkozy and Merkel Face Off

Two ambitious heads of state struggle for European dominance

(Newser) - French president Nicolas Sarkozy is stepping up to challenge German chancellor Angela Merkel for the leadership of Europe, Der Spiegel reports, and the result  will be first-rate political spectacle. The two alpha heads of state, who met today in Toulouse, have very different styles: Merkel is restrained and accute; Sarkozy...

Euro Hotels Hot After Blackstone Deal

Stocks soar on speculation of more private equity buyouts

(Newser) - Investors are snapping up shares of some Europe's biggest hotel chains, the Financial Times reports, as the market bets that more private equity firms will tuck into new cross-Atlantic deals. They're inspired by Blackstone's $26 billion Hilton offer, and a banner year for hotel buyouts more generally.

World Bank Confirms New Prez
World Bank Confirms New Prez

World Bank Confirms New Prez

Robert Zoellick to take over July 1

(Newser) - Declaring that he's looking forward to "encouraging hope, opportunity and dignity," Robert Zoellick was elected yesterday to succeed the embattled Paul Wolfowitz as new chief of the World Bank. The Goldman Sachs investment banker and former US deputy secretary of state will officially step into office July 1....

Sarkozy Is Europe's New Clinton
Sarkozy Is Europe's
New Clinton

Sarkozy Is Europe's New Clinton

French PM scored with diplomatic charm offensive at EU summit

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy was the star of the EU’s constitutional summit last weekend, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat with a virtuoso diplomatic performance reminiscent of the former president. The new PM displayed what Der Spiegel called ‘Clintonesque ease’ in solving big problems, returning France to her traditional...

EU Leaders OK New Treaty
EU Leaders OK New Treaty

EU Leaders OK New Treaty

Brussels summit ends with hard-won deal to replace failed constitution

(Newser) - EU negotiators pulled an all-nighter and the German chancellor played a risky game of chicken with Poland en route to reaching an agreement on a treaty that will govern the 27-nation body. The deal resurrects much of the ill-fated 2005 constitution while streamlining bureaucracy and introducing a top foreign-policy position...

Dutch Do Pensions Right
Dutch Do Pensions Right

Dutch Do Pensions Right

The US should read up on Social Security in the Netherlands, reports Time

(Newser) - Governments around the world are stuck between tightfisted Anglo-American pension plans that pay only a fraction of one's past salary, and extravagant European-style social security that ends up welshing on the payments. But the Dutch have struck a balance that's working, reports Time, as sufficient amounts of money are saved...

Sarkozy Says 'Non' to Turkey's Euro Hopes

France hopes to block full membership bid

(Newser) - France is threatening to block Turkey's full membership in the European Union this month and hopes to push the nation into a "privileged partnership" short of complete participation, the Financial Times reports. It's the first time new French President Nicolas Sarkozy will flex his political muscle in an EU...

Bush Urges Stiffer Sanctions on Iran

Iran persists in building nukes, against UN orders

(Newser) - President Bush called for tougher sanctions against Iran today, a day after a new report showed the country is continuing its nuclear enrichment programs. Bush vowed to form a multinational bloc with Russia, China, and European allies to pressure Iran into ceasing its nuclear aspirations, reports the Washington Post.

EU Universities Could Lose Ground to Asia

Old-world schools hear footsteps from China, India in college rankings

(Newser) - Top-tier European universities like Oxford, Cambridge and the Sorbonne will fall behind competitors in China and India within 10 years, the EU's education commissioner warns. The Times of London reports underfunding and outmoded curricula could cost the mossier Western schools their international reputations, and international enrollments with them.

Rome Deal Creates World's 5th-Largest Bank

(Newser) - Italian lenders UniCredit and Capitalia yesterday inked a $29.7 billion deal to create a bank with the world's fifth (and Europe's second) largest market cap. The hurried Rome merger indicates, according to the Wall Street Journal, a rush to consolidate Europe's banking sector, but also the persistent challenges to...

Search for Maddie Turns Corporate
Search for Maddie Turns Corporate

Search for Maddie Turns Corporate

From McDonald's to British Airways, firms join hunt

(Newser) - The search for Maddy has become big business. Multinational corporations across Europe have joined celebrities, sports figures and politicians to spread the word about kidnapped 4-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal 15 days ago while on vacation with her parents. Companies from Shell Oil to McDonald's will blanket gas...

Germany, UK Court Sarkozy in EU Dispute

French president could be be key to European constitution

(Newser) - Hours after Nicolas Sarkozy became president of France, both Germany and Britain began wooing him—Germany to win his support for a European constitution, Britain to secure his opposition to it. Sarkozy immediately huddled with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who has been lobbying hold-outs with one-on-one talks, the London...

Sunset for Blair&rsquo;s New Dawn
Sunset for Blair’s New Dawn

Sunset for Blair’s New Dawn

(Newser) - With Tony Blair about to step down, Alan Cowell considers the departing PM's most important accomplishments and failures. The former: moving Britain’s poiltical center of gravity away from Margaret Thatcher’s rugged individualism and toward a more compassionate society. 

Bible Belt Brings Fight to Europe
Bible Belt Brings Fight to Europe

Bible Belt Brings Fight to Europe

Evangelicals attack stem cells, gays, truancy laws on the continent

(Newser) - American evangelicals have opened a new front in the culture wars—across the Atlantic. Christian groups, including Pat Robertson's legal organization, the American Center for Law and Justice, are actively challenging German laws against home schooling, defending Britons who refuse to work on Sunday, and combating same-sex marriage and stem...

Court Orders Abortion Access in Poland

Even where abortion is severely restricted, it must be available to women legally entitled

(Newser) - Even countries that severely restrict abortion must make them available to those who are entitled to them by law, the European court of human rights ruled yesterday. A Polish mother sued because her fourth pregnancy's damage to her failing eyesight made her legally eligible for an abortion to preserve her...

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