Europe

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Georgian Church Leader Sparks a Baby Boom

(Newser) - A little divine intervention has apparently helped a city in the nation of Georgia give its population a boost. Two years ago, faced with a stagnant birth rate, the head of Georgia’s Orthodox Church pledged to personally baptize any child born to parents with more than two other kids....

Obama to Travel to Normandy for D-Day Anniversary

Washington, Paris on good terms, Sarkozy aide says

(Newser) - President Obama will travel to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the New York Daily News reports. An aide to Nicolas Sarkozy spilled the beans on Obama’s June 6 visit after a reporter claimed the relationship between the two presidents was distant. “Relations are excellent...

Decriminalize Incest? Romania Is Not Alone

Bucharest aims to match laws in 3 EU nations

(Newser) - As the Josef Fritzl case echoes across Europe, Romania is considering a new approach to incest: legalizing it, the AP reports. The Justice Ministry is contemplating the move amid wider legal reforms, arguing that decriminalization would sync its stance with EU members France, Spain, and Portugal. “Not everything...

Sarkozy Faces Confidence Vote Over Rejoining NATO

But French opposition unlikely to best president's party

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy’s government must submit to a vote of confidence after the president announced his intention to have France rejoin NATO’s integrated military command, the BBC reports. Opposition politicians and some in Sarkozy’s UMP party say tightening NATO ties will threaten France’s independence. But Sarkozy says...

Hard Times Again Push Irish Youth Abroad

Flatlining economy makes US, Britain, Canada attractive

(Newser) - After two decades of boom, Ireland’s economy has faltered and Irish youth are once again looking to distant shores for opportunity, the Los Angeles Times reports. Experts predict up to a 7% contraction this year for an economy that posted double-digit gains not too long ago, and, like their...

President: Don't Worry About T-Bills

Investors, especially China, should have 'absolute confidence'

(Newser) - T-bills are safe bets, says President Obama. In response to the much-publicized worry expressed by Beijing about its US assets, Obama today offered a clear response: "I think that not just the Chinese government, but every investor, can have absolute confidence in the soundness of investments in the United...

Europe's New Temp Worker Class Bears Recession Brunt

(Newser) - The new class of temporary workers created by European labor reform is suffering most in the current wave of job cuts, the Wall Street Journal reports, testing the new policies amid the threat of backlash. Short-term employees—easier and cheaper to fire than permanent ones—also get fewer unemployment benefits,...

Stimulus Sours Obama's European Honeymoon

US urges more spending; EU focused on regulation

(Newser) - European leaders’ love affair with President Obama has hit its first snag: Obama is pushing Europe to spend more to battle the financial crisis, while Europe would prefer to focus on stricter regulation, the Los Angeles Times reports. “The Americans should be more modest about giving lessons, because the...

Earth to GOP: Obama's No Socialist
Earth to GOP: Obama's
No Socialist 

analysis

Earth to GOP: Obama's No Socialist

Obama favors free-market approach

(Newser) - Horrified by President Obama's stimulus plan, conservatives are calling him a European-style socialist—when in fact he's all-American, Jacob Weisberg writes in Newsweek. Obama envisions “cradle-to-grave opportunity, as opposed to the European model of cradle-to-grave security,” writes Weisberg, who explains that Obama’s plans to tackle hot issues...

Clinton Heads to Mideast, Europe and Russia

Egypt, Israel and Europe all on the itinerary

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton is using her second overseas trip as the nation's top diplomat to assess peace prospects in the Middle East, reconnect with European allies, and discuss America's strained relationship with Moscow with her Russian counterpart. Clinton will begin the weeklong journey in Egypt, where she'll attend an international conference...

120K Protest 'Economic Treason' in Dublin

(Newser) - As many as 120,000 marched through Dublin today, enraged over a government plan to repair the economy by freezing worker pay and taxing pensions, the Irish Times reports. Calling the strategy "economic treason" in a speech to the crowd, union leader David Begg blamed "a business...

World Euphoric, a Bit Worried About Obama

Positive outlook on US could heighten tension abroad

(Newser) - At recent international gatherings in Munich and Doha, world leaders were “mildly euphoric” about the Obama administration, writes Joe Klein in Time. Muslim leaders called for support for the new president, while Joe Biden’s promises to “listen” and “consult” left a “stunned silence.” But...

GDP Nosedives Across Atlantic
 GDP Nosedives Across Atlantic 

GDP Nosedives Across Atlantic

4th-quarter GDP drop signals worsening recession

(Newser) - We're not alone: The euro zone’s recession worsened in the fourth quarter of last year as its GDP saw its biggest decline since records began in 1995, the Wall Street Journal reports. The GDP contracted 1.5% quarter-to-quarter and 1.2% since the year before, EU figures showed. Germany,...

Now Europe Has Gitmo Problem
Now Europe Has Gitmo Problem

Now Europe Has Gitmo Problem

EU leaders ponder course for up to 60 former inmates they've agreed to take in

(Newser) - EU leaders have promised President Obama they’ll take up to 60 detainees as Guantanamo closes, but the devil is in the details over exactly what to do with them, the Los Angeles Times reports. Questions abound over which country should take which detainee, whether they should face prosecution, and...

Biden Vows 'New Tone' in Foreign Policy

In Germany, VP cites 'new tone in Washington'

(Newser) - Joe Biden offered an outline of "a new tone" in US foreign policy today, one that puts a priority on diplomacy over military force, Reuters reports. The US also will call on allies for help in handling world threats. “We will engage. We will listen. We will consult....

Eat This Brain and Call Me in the Morning

Europe's first doctors prescribed 'medicinal cannibalism'

(Newser) - Though safely out of fashion in today’s Europe, Western doctors just a few centuries ago recommended drinking blood, tasting brains, and eating flesh, Der Spiegel reports. Pieces of cadavers could be had in almost any pharmacy, says a British researcher who’s writing a book on "medicinal cannibalism....

Iceland to Appoint First Openly Gay Woman as PM

Ex-flight attendant to lead until May elections

(Newser) - Iceland is set to appoint the world's first openly gay woman as prime minister: a former flight attendant who rose through the political ranks to become a cabinet minister. Johanna Sigurdardottir, the 66-year-old social affairs minister, is the pick of the Social Democratic Alliance Party to lead an interim government....

Booming Mickey D's Plans European Surge

Global downturn? They're lovin' it

(Newser) - A rare beneficiary of the financial crisis, McDonald’s says it will build 240 new European locations and create 12,000 jobs, the Financial Times reports. The firm’s biggest expansion in 5 years will extend mainly to Spain, France, Italy, Russia, and Poland. “We’re certainly not slowing...

Worldwide Downturn Speeds Up Alarmingly

Analysts don't expect recovery in 2009

(Newser) - The global economy is in a faster decline than economists predicted only weeks ago, as the bursting of the biggest-ever real-estate bubble hits real economies in Europe and Asia, killing millions of jobs and shutting businesses, the Washington Post reports. Britain just posted its biggest quarterly slump since 1980, while...

Israel Completes Gaza Withdrawal

(Newser) - The last Israeli troops left the Gaza Strip before dawn today, the military said, as Israel dispatched its foreign minister to Europe in a bid to rally international support to end arms smuggling into the Hamas-ruled territory. The timing of the pullout reflected Israeli hopes to defuse the Gaza crisis...

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