Moodys downgrades PKO Bank Polski from C to C-
Moodys Investors Service Ltd. Moodys has downgraded the PKO Bank Polski one of the largest and oldest Polish banks from C to C- with a negative outlook the Management Board of Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank Polski Spólka Akcyjna PKO Bank Polski announced on June 19. The main reasons for this include...

Women 50% of total headcount at Warsaw Stock Exchange
According to CBOS polling centres report on women in the last 20 years women account for 50 percent of the total headcount on the Warsaw Stock Exchange WSE ; two out of four members sitting on the WSE Management Board are women. 48 percent of the management directors heads of...

20 Years of Transition whats next?
Tadeusz Mazowiecki Polands first prime minister after the fall of communism in 1989 joined the Assembly of European Regions AER to mark the 20th anniversary of Polands first free elections with a European Citizens Forum held in Szczecin in the Zachodniopmorskie region PL on June 19. The forum brought together...

Deutsche Bahn acquisition of logistics ops approved
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the Polish logistics operations of PCC SE of Germany by German rail company Deutsche Bahn AG DB . The Commission has concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic...

Bank of Portugal claims innocent over lack of regulation
Vitor Constancio the controversial governor of the Bank of Portugal recently confirmed that he would not stand down from his post. The announcement came against the demands by opposition Members of Parliament MPs . He also denied any responsibility in the shambles surrounding the nationalisation of BPN bank and said...

PKO BP to pay 2.88 zloty per share of 2008 income
On June 8 the Management Board of PKO BP SA one of the largest and oldest Polish banks adopted the resolution concerning the distribution of profit earned by Powszechna Kasa Oszcz?dno?ci Bank Polski Spó?ka Akcyjna in the year 2008 and resolved to recommend to the Ordinary General Meeting of the...

Crude oil deliveries see new agreement
Polish crude oil refining company Polski Koncern Naftowy ORLEN S.A. on June 2 signed a spot agreement with JS Service Investment Ltd. From Cyprus for REBCO crude oil deliveries via the Przyjazn pipeline to PKN ORLEN in June 2009. The estimated value of the agreement amounts to USD 12.1 million...

Level 3 expands fiber-based network
Level 3 Communications Inc. a leading international provider of fiber-based communications services on June 9 announced it has increased its network presence in Poland with a new fiber route extending from Berlin through to Poznan and onwards to Warsaw. With the expansion of the route through Poznan Level 3 now...

PGNiG Gazprom sign pact for natural gas deliveries
...

Kroes positive on Gdansk shipyard restructuring
...

Bank recapitalisation gets thumbs up from Commission
The European Commission on May 20 has approved under EC Treaty state aid rules a Portuguese bank recapitalisation scheme intended to bolster financing of the real economy. The scheme is in line with the Commissions guidance on support measures for credit institutions during the financial crisis. The Commission therefore concluded...

2009 sees 1 mln homes with fibre by Portugal Telecom
The Portuguese telecommunications major Portugal Telecom recently unveiled plans to bring fibre-to-the-home FTTH connections to one million Portuguese households by the end of this year having been encouraged by its success with new services such as its IPTV offering Meo to invest further in a higher-capacity network. According to a...

Bank recapitalisation gets thumbs up from Commission
...

2009 sees 1 mln homes with fibre by Portugal Telecom
...

Over 25 billion for investment
Investments in the Polish energy sector initiated by domestic energy producers envisage the construction of new plants generating 17 000 MW of electric energy and are estimated at 25.5 billion Euro wnp.pl reported. These investments will allow the power plants to receive a greater part of CO2 emission credits for...

Poland to send 400 soldiers to Afghanistan
Poland will add 400 soldiers to its mission in Afghanistan by mid-April Prime Minister Donald Tusks government said March 24. Another 200 soldiers will be in Poland ready for deployment to the war-torn nation a government statement said. Poland currently has some 1 600 soldiers in Afghanistan and has said...

Highway to bypass valuable marshlands
A highway in northeastern Poland will be built along a new route to avoid harming valuable marshlands Environment Minister Maciej Nowicki said on March 24. The new route will only be two kilometres longer and also cheaper than the controversial proposal cutting through the scenic Rospuda Valley Nowicki said....

Poles protest against anti-labour politics
Hundreds of miners shipyard workers and medical rescuers marched in the Polish capital on March 26 against what they charged were the governments anti-labour politics. Metalworkers and trade unionists were also in the crowd that demonstrated at the economy and health ministries. Under banners reading We wont pay for your...

Gas crisis ups support for nuclear power
A growing number of Poles now support building a civil nuclear reactor in their country according to an opinion poll in the daily Rzeczpospolita on March 16. Some 42 percent are opposed to the project compared to 56 percent last year against nuclear energy said the survey of 1 000...

Poland to boost its mission to Afghanistan
Poland plans to strengthen its mission in Afghanistan and create a new strategic reserve? force ready for deployment there at anytime Defence Minister Bogdan Klich said on March 18. The government could boost Polands contingent in Afghanistan in April or May Klich said and is already working on a proposal...

Simple Green Money
The financial turned economic crisis is gradually having a more visible impact on the European economies. Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner sat down with New Europersquo;s Editor Alexandros Koronakis and discussed what role regional policy has in saving Europe from the crisis the important changes in the policies which will...

German-Polish relations recover after museum board bid is withdrawn
A major irritant in German-Polish relations was removed on March 4 when an expellees group said its controversial president would not after all join the board of a new museum depicting the ordeal of Germans expelled from eastern Europe after World War II. The Federation of Expellees said it was...

Secret US-Russian correspondence ending the new Cold War?
Aletter offering to back off deploying a controversial missile defence shield in Eastern Europe in return for Moscowrsquo;s support against the Iranian nuclear programme was sent by United States President Barack Obama to his Russian counterpart. The message to President Dmitry A. Medvedev was hand-delivered in Moscow by top administration...

NBP lowers interest rates by 0.75%
During the meeting the Monetary Policy Council of National Bank of Poland the motions to lower the NBP interest rates by 75 basis points was passed. The Council decided to lower the NBP interest rates to the level: the reference rate to 4.25 percent the lombard rate to 5.75 percent...

PKN Orlens Mazeikiu Nafta Lithuanian Railways ink deal
Polish crude oil refining company PKN Orlen said recently that Lithuanian refinery Mazeikiu Nafta in which PKN Orlen owns 90 percent of the shares has signed an agreement for the transport of refining products with Lithuanian Railways. The agreement will be valid up to the end of 2024. The total...

Poland News - New Europe News
Poland News - New Europe News: The European News Source.

 

On International Correspondents this month
On this month's show we rewind the clock to June 4th, 1989. It was on this day that the media reported on two monumental events - the Tiananmen Square massacre in China and Poland's first free elections. The latter signalled the start of the end of Communism in central and Eastern Europe.

The soldier and the shipyard worker
One was the archetypal military strongman, intent on maintaining the social order and saving his country from "catastrophe." The other was a charismatic shipyard electrician and trade union leader who was just as determined to lead his countrymen to freedom.

The New Poland: A country transformed
It is 20 years since Poland's Solidarity movement defeated the Communist Party in an historic election that prompted the fall of communism across central and eastern Europe.

Poland: From Soviet satellite to 'Tiger of Europe'
Leszek Balcerowicz, Poland's former finance minister, recently said his country is enjoying "its best period in 300 years." CNN looks at how the country emerged from communism to become one of eastern Europe's most stable and thriving democracies.

Life after communism
Leszek Balcerowicz, Poland's former finance minister, recently said his country is enjoying "its best period in 300 years." CNN looks at how the country emerged from communism to become one of eastern Europe's most stable and thriving democracies.

Polish navy training flight crashes
A Polish navy aircraft on a training flight crashed Tuesday on Poland's northeastern coast, and the four service members aboard are feared dead, navy spokesman Lt. Gregory Lyko told CNN.

Poland: Jazz and all that politics
Jazz has always been a popular form of music because its improvisatory nature is easily adapted by a community or nation to reflect its individual identity.

Your opinions on Poland
As part of its Eye on Poland coverage, CNN is asking its viewers -- including Poles living in Poland and abroad -- about what defines the nation today.

Eye on Poland: Country at the crossroads
A nation with a proud past and promising future -- Poland's influence on the global stage is growing. A driving force in the new Europe with a skilled workforce spreading its influence beyond its borders and an economy increasingly attractive to foreign investors -- Poland is making its mark.

Playing poker with the Polish powerbrokers
Some say Poland is the biggest of the "small countries" in the European Union. Others call it the smallest of the "big countries."

Football offers Poland chance to shine
In April 2007, UEFA's executive committee voted to accept a joint proposal from Poland and Ukraine to host the European football Championships in 2012.

Poland's Jews alive and kicking
Before its occupation by Nazi Germany in 1939, Poland was home to Europe's largest Jewish community, and its capital Warsaw was the continent's largest Jewish city.

Eye on Poland: Daily Coverage
Eye on Poland focuses on the color and contrast of one of Europe's fastest developing nations, explaining Poland's rising influence across the European region and the impact its people are having on the wider international stage - from business to politics to pop culture. TV Schedule

Man held over daughter's '6-year kidnap, rape'
A Polish court has ordered the detention of a man accused of holding his daughter captive for six years and repeatedly raping her, ultimately fathering two children with her.

Poland signs missile shield deal with U.S.
The United States and Poland on Wednesday signed an agreement to base U.S. ballistic missile interceptors in Poland, a move that angered Russia.

Behind Poland's Defying Russia
Moscow's regional threats ended up making Poland more resolved to embrace the controversial U.S. missile shield

Will Russia Attack Poland Next?
Russia warned Poland on Friday that it is exposing itself to attack, even a nuclear one, by accepting a U.S. missile interceptor base on its soil

Poland, U.S. sign missile shield deal
Poland and the United States have signed a preliminary deal to place part of a U.S. ballistic missile defense system in Poland, a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia.

US, Poland Deal Angers Russia
Poland and the United States reached an agreement that will see a battery of American missiles established inside Poland, a plan that has infuriated Russia

Poland, U.S. to sign missile shield deal
Poland and the United States will sign a preliminary deal to place part of a U.S. ballistic missile defense system in Poland -- a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia, the Polish president's office confirmed Thursday to CNN.

Poland firm on U.S. missile defense opposition
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried and failed just before leaving for Europe on Monday to seal a deal to place missiles in Poland, the State Department said.

U.S., Poland strike missile deal while Russia objects
The United States and Poland have reached a tentative deal to place part of a ballistic missile defense system on its territory, a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

Poles, Czechs Balk at Missile Shield
The two US allies are suddenly in no hurry to see the implementation of the Bush Administration's plan to station an interceptor system on their soil

Nostalgia in a Polish 'milk bar'
I remember a bleak time in Poland when the economy was so maddeningly out of touch with the needs of its people that anyone lucky enough to own a car would remove their windshield wipers at night and take them inside. In their command economy -- oblivious to the laws of supply and demand -- some official forgot to order wipers and consequently, they weren't for sale anywhere. Inspired by a hungry black market, thieves would work late into the night snapping them up.

Opposition wins Polish election
Poland's opposition parties have won the parliamentary elections, ending two years of robust nationalism which have frequently led to confrontation with other countries.

Good turnout for Polish vote
Poles voted on Sunday in national elections that could decide the future direction of the central European country.

Poland faces landmark election
Poles vote Sunday in national elections that could decide the future direction of the central European country.

Solidarity shipyard seeks rescue
Poland's Gdansk shipyard, the birthplace of the anti-communist Solidarity movement, has submitted a last-ditch rescue plan to prevent its closure.

Why Polish is the New Language of British Retail
A migrant community whose disposable income runs to billions has become a prized market for high-street banks, supermarkets and bookstores

Is it the flu? Get the fast flu test
Fast flu tests, which drastically cut the time to diagnose a patient with influenza or not, are helping doctors better treat the illness, according to a recent study and medical experts.

Mine blast kills eight; 15 missing
At least eight miners were killed and another 15 missing after a gas explosion in a Polish coal mine Tuesday, a government spokesman said.

Poland pledges 1,000 Afghan troops
Poland will send up to an additional 1,000 troops to bolster NATO forces in Afghanistan, Polish defense ministry spokesman Leszek Laszczak says.

Poland collapse toll now 67
A 34-year-old man seriously injured in the roof collapse at a Polish exhibition hall died Monday, bringing the total number of deaths to 67.

Poland collapse: Buildings shut
The Polish government ordered the temporary closure of some large buildings Monday after the roof collapse of an exhibition hall in the southern city of Chorzow that killed 62 people.

Roof collapse: 'No more survivors'
Emergency workers shifted their efforts from rescue to recovery Sunday at the site of an exhibition center that's roof collapsed over the weekend in southern Poland, killing 66 people, after officials determined it unlikely that anyone else would be found alive.

Thousands remember pope in Krakow
Hundreds of thousands of people have been gathering in a Krakow field and clogged Poland's city streets to watch coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II, a man revered as a national hero in his homeland.

Pope's heart may rest in Poland
The city that captured the heart of Pope John Paul II long before he followed his calling into the priesthood may become the final resting place of his physical heart, a Roman Catholic church official in Krakow has told CNN.

Your e-mails: Europe
CNN.com asked its readers to share their thoughts about the death of Pope John Paul II. Here is a sampling from thousands of responses, some of which have been edited:

Polish hostage pleads for life
A video of a Polish woman captured last week by an Iraqi militant group showed her pleading for her life Saturday and urging Poland to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Poland may pull troops out of Iraq
Poland may reduce its commitment of forces to the war in Iraq by 40 percent by January 2005 and have all its troops out by the end of that year, Polish officials said Monday.

Poland on Iraq: 'No rash gestures'
Poland's outgoing prime minister has said his country cannot ignore Spain's plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq, but a government spokesman denied Warsaw was considering a similar pullout.

Poles hoping for economic gains
Warsaw is already beginning to look like other cities to the West. The same multi-national names are on display. In glitzy malls, shoppers can take their pick of international merchandise.

FUNDS RUSH TO CASH IN ON EASTERN EUROPE'S BOOM
Lured by spectacular gains in markets such as Russia (up 105% in the first eight months of this year), Hungary (86%), Poland (77%) and the Czech Republic (26%), several new mutual funds have sprung...

HOTTEST NEW STOCK MARKET
What country was home to 1993's fastest-growing emerging stock market? If you guessed China, think again. The clear winner is Poland. From December 31, 1992, through December 23, 1993, the Warsaw t...

WARM MEMORIES ARE AWAKENED
I want to tell you how very much I enjoyed the October Editor's Notes, ''An American Dream.'' I've recommended it to everyone I know. I've had similar stories told to me by my late father. He came ...

WHO'S WHO IN THE EAST In Eastern Europe, the people to know are both colorful and energetic. ! Want to meet the Clark Gable of f
Business is always personal, but especially so in Eastern Europe, where daunting bureaucracy and changing ground rules can spook even veteran investors from abroad. In such a climate, knowing the r...

COOLING DOWN THE WORLD DEBT BOMB / At last, here's something to worry less about. Third World debts are still a threat to some b
WHEN THE U.S. said it would help Lech Walesa reform Poland's economy by forgiving 70% of the debt his government owes Washington, you could practically hear the champagne corks popping in Warsaw. T...

SHOCK THERAPY WORKS IN POLAND
Ten months of fiscal austerity may not have made Poland paradise, but it has noticeably improved the lives of 38 million Poles. Though real wages have dropped 40%, shop shelves now sag with consume...

POLAND'S GAMBLE BEGINS TO PAY OFF The Poles have achieved remarkable results in the first stages of their rush toward a free-mar
FOR POLAND this may be the most dangerous summer since 1939. While their Soviet neighbors fiddle, the gutsy Poles are switching from Communism to capitalism in one stroke. But their boldness has al...

SEED MONEY FOR EASTERN EUROPE
If it worked for Silicon Valley, it can work for Eastern Europe -- or so the theory goes. The U.S. government is investing taxpayer dollars in venture capital funds -- the same financial vehicles t...

GLASNOST'S HARVEST: JEANS THAT NEED A SCREWDRIVER, AN ANGEL FOR BORIS, AND MORE
-- The red star and the Cyrillic writing on the back pockets and an accessory in the form of a free screwdriver mark a hot new seller: cotton jeans ($60 and up) from the Soviet Union. The screwdriv...

THE AMERICAN OUT TO SAVE POLAND Harvard's young Jeffrey Sachs is pushing Solidarity to take the pain now for a big gain later. T
IT'S A BLEAK winter evening in a drab Warsaw suburb. Some four dozen Polish workers in leather jackets have crowded into the parish house of a Catholic church. They used to meet there secretly afte...

HOW THE WORLD WILL CHANGE In the new era, economic performance will replace military might as the measure of a nation. This will
The world is entering unknown territory. For two out of three living Americans -- and about as many Russians and Europeans -- the bipolar system forged by the cold war is all they have ever known. ...

WHO GAINS FROM THE NEW EUROPE Almost everybody does -- and there's opportunity aplenty for deals. The combined GNP of East Germa
WITH THE FALL of the Wall and the lifting of the Curtain, Western managers and investors must rethink their strategies for doing business in Europe in the 1990s. Suddenly the Old World has gained a...

POLAND IS FOR GAMBLERS
Investing in Poland is like buying into a bankrupt company, says Jan Vanous, research director of PlanEcon, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm specializing in Eastern bloc countries. ''It's for ga...

Poland: News & Videos about Poland - CNN.com
Find stories, videos, and photos about Poland from CNN.com.

 

Polish Diaspora Fills Women’s Top Ranks
A new language is joining Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish in in the later rounds of important tournaments on the women's tennis tour: Polish.

For Obama Abroad, Moscow Is a Special Case
When Barack Obama goes to Moscow early next month, he is likely to find that the Kremlin, about 20 years after the Soviet Union’s implosion, still offers little in the line of atmosphere fit to accommodate an American leader’s desires.

Poland Seeks Missiles Regardless of Shield
Warsaw wants to reach agreement with Washington over stationing a battery of Patriot missiles by the end of this year.

Meatpacker Puts Stamp On Europe
Smithfield Foods has moved into Eastern Europe, assembling networks of farms, breeding pigs and on fast track and slaughtering them for every bit of meat and muscle; upheaval in hog farm belts of Eastern Europe's largest countries, Poland and Romania, ranks among continent's biggest agricultural transformations; it offers window on how Smithfield operates in far-flung outposts; in less than five years, Smithfield has enlisted politicians in Poland and Romania, tapped into European Union farm su...

Made Dizzy by the Zloty, Poland Looks to the Predictable Euro
Big swings in the value of Poland’s currency make it hard for many businesses, especially importers, to plan their future expenses.

Poland Gets $20 Billion Credit Line From I.M.F.
The finance minister said the funds would bolster the Polish central bank’s reserves and help protect the country’s economy.

Poland Investigates Deadly Shelter Fire
Some of the survivors criticized the fire brigades that arrived on the scene for not doing enough to rescue people living in the building.

At Least 21 Killed in Polish Blaze
A homeless shelter in the northwestern town of Kamien Pomorski was the site of Poland’s deadliest fire in nearly three decades.

Poland Searches Its Own Soul
Culture, despite a small Jewish population in Poland, has helped shift attitudes toward Jews in the country.

One Group’s Music, Telling of a Struggle for Survival in the Holocaust
A community orchestra in Woodstock, N.Y., emulates one of the best known of the concentration-camp ensembles with its instrumentation, uniforms and repertory.

President of Poland Is Sanguine on Economy
Poland’s president, Lech Kaczynski, challenged the view that Eastern Europe is heading into a deep recession that is dragging down Western Europe.

Europeans Debate Castration of Sex Offenders
Whether castration can help rehabilitate violent sex offenders is under scrutiny in the Czech Republic.

In East Europe, Some Hope of Avoiding Recession
A research institute said bigger nations like Poland and the Czech Republic would suffer stagnating economies, but not necessarily recession.

Facing German Suffering, and Not Looking Away
The discovery of a World War II mass grave in Poland has revealed that an understanding of civilian suffering in former German territories is starting to gain traction.

A Crisis Is Separating Eastern Europe’s Strong From Its Weak
Financial problems have reached the Danube, even in a relatively resilient economy like the Czech Republic’s.

NYT > Poland
In 2003, Polish voters overwhelmingly approved entry into the European Union in a nationwide referendum, and the economy has been among the fastest-growing in on the continent. However, rejection of the E.U. constitution by France and the Netherlands was seen as backlash to cheap labor from Eastern European countries like Poland. Since then, a lesser zeal for Europe has coincided with an increased commitment to Polish tradition.

 

New Anti-Federalist Group in EU Parliament

Polish-German Relations Improving
The Polish foreign minister’s visit to Germany has been hailed as a breakthrough in foreign relations.

Poland Draws Closer to Germany, EU
Poland’s new prime minister is determined to mend relations with Berlin—even if it means accepting Germany as a victim of World War II.

EU Leaders "Get Tough With Russia"
The European Union has decided that it needs to take a strong position in its relations with the Kremlin.

Papal Vote Rigged?
Poland and mathematics seem to go together.

EU Parliament to Block Attempts to Water Down Reform Treaty
The European Constitution lives again.

German-Russian Energy--a Dangerous Partnership
The ensuing completion of the Nord Stream pipeline heralds a developing relationship in which Germany and Russia are slicing up their respective spheres of influence within Europe.

Britain to Become German Energy Vassal
As Britain’s North Sea energy supply begins to fail, the nation is looking for replacement energy from Germany.

What Eastern Europe Offers the EU
Romania and Bulgaria have just joined the European Union. What does Europe get out of the deal?

EU to Give Power to Fewer Commissioners?

Skittish About EU, Russia Looks East for Energy Customers
More evidence of Russia joining forces with its Asian neighbors

Berlin Exhibition Depicts Germans as Victims

Right-Wingers Make Waves in Europe
The rising influence of right-wingers in Germany is sweeping across what is widely regarded as a secular, liberal-socialist Continent.

EU Threatens Members States That Help U.S.
Anti-Americanism is a rising sentiment in Europe. But what if every European Union nation were forced to embrace this as official policy?

Forging a More Efficient Europe
Leaders plan to overhaul the massive bureaucracy that is the European Union.

Energy Alliance Fuels Fears
Could the new Russo-German “energy alliance” be history repeating itself?

Church Uses Same-Sex Marriage Issue to Rally Catholics
Despite Spain’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, the run-up to the parliamentary vote was frought with mass protests from its Catholic citizens. Other events in Poland and Italy show the increasing power the Roman Catholic Church holds over European politics.

theTrumpet.com: Poland
theTrumpet.com -- Understand your world.

 

Merkel coalition leaves record legacy
Angela Merkel's grand coalition will go down in history as the hardest-working German government in 60 years, adding to the list of records broken by the chancellor since she took office four years ago

Borissov set to win Bulgaria poll
A new right-of-centre party led by Boyko Borissov, a former police officer, is set to finish first in Bulgaria's general election on Sunday but will fail to win an outright majority, according to opinion polls

Doping scandals likely to lead each stage of the Tour
The Tour de France starts on Saturday, but you'd barely notice it. No one is talking about the legendary race, and figures show that doping is finally destroying it, writes Simon Kuper

Portugal's economy minister resigns
Portugal's economy minister has resigned after making an insulting gesture during a parliamentary debate, damaging the image of the Socialist government three months before a general election

US and Russia square up over missile shield
The US and Russia are digging in for a fight over plans for missile defence bases in eastern Europe before next week's summit between Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev

EU faces permanent loss of output
Europe is likely to suffer a permanent loss in potential economic output as a result of the global crisis, and government finances will be under pressure for years to come, according to a new European Commission study

Moody's downgrades Irish debt
Downgrade follows IMF report that warned the country faced the biggest contraction of any advanced economy, with gross domestic product shrinking by 13.5 per cent in the 3 years to 2010

European nuclear industry in grip of revival
The energy policies of several European governments have shifted substantially over the past few years, driven by concerns over energy security and climate change

ECB puts pressure on banks
Eurozone official interest rates were left unchanged at 1 per cent by the European Central Bank as policymakers await signs of the region's economic recovery gaining momentum

Spain reprieves ageing nuclear plant
Santa María de Garoña plant in northern Spain provides only 1.4 per cent of Spain's electricity, but the agreement could pave the way for similar extensions for other such power stations

Air France crash plane 'hit water at speed'
Preliminary report casts doubt on two possible theories for the crash: that it was caused by a ferocious storm or directly by faulty air speed sensors

Casinos shut as Moscow takes on society's ills
Barack Obama's arrival in Russia next week will coincide with an official campaign against social ills, from gambling and drinking to dog mess. Moscow's flourishing...

Dutch brewer cheers Bavaria ruling
Europe's highest court rules that the beermaker with the same name as the southern German state should in principle be allowed to continue to use its trademark

Familiar tensions surface after early thaw
Missile interceptors and former Soviet states' Nato hopes will cast a shadow over talks, write Edward Luce and Alexandra Ulme

Ukraine GDP down by 20%
The first quarter GDP numbers released by the government of Yulia Tymoshenko, prime minister, appear less dramatic than estimates by her bitter rival Viktor Yushchenko, president

FT.com - World, Europe
FT.com - World, Europe

 

Croatia Facing Turmoil as Prime Minister Suddenly Resigns
Ivo Sanader tells reporters he wants a new beginning in his life

Britain Rolls Out New Flu Strategy
Officially, Britain has recorded nearly 8,000 confirmed cases of H1N1, but the real total is thought to be much higher as symptoms for most are mild and they simply go undetected

Air France Plane Did Not Break Up in Air, Investigators Say
French investigator says airplane may have hit the water with strong vertical acceleration, suggests possible air traffic control failure

IAEA Elects New Chief
Yukiya Amano replaces outgoing chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who steps down later this year after 12 years as director-general

Obama Praises Russian Help on Nuclear Issues Ahead of Summit
US president spoke Thursday in Washington to AP, just days ahead of  US-Russian summit in Moscow

Analysts Say Russia's Influence on Iran Very Limited
Iran's nuclear weapons aspirations is expected to be discussed during upcoming Moscow summit between US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev

EU Recalls Iranian Envoys in British Embassy Dispute
Move follows Iran's decision to put some British Embassy staff on trial for allegedly playing role in post-election demonstrations

Putin: US-Russia Ties Will Improve if US Halts Missile Defense Plans
Russian PM says US should give up 'bloc mentality,' halt its approach to expanding military alliances, a clear reference to NATO

Obama Prepares for Russia Summit, G8, Africa Visit
US president leaves Washington Sunday for Moscow for meeting on arms control; trip ends with likely emotional visit to Ghana

Britain Finds Original Copy of US Declaration of Independence
Officials at National Archives in London say poster-sized document hidden among correspondence from US colonists

VOA News: Europe,Europe
Up to the minute news from Voice of America

 

Reforms in Turkey: Marching along

Tension between the army and the government may promote reforms

COULD it be Turkish democracy’s great leap forward? On June 26th Turkey’s parliament, dominated by the Justice and Development (AK) Party, passed a groundbreaking law allowing civilian courts to prosecute army officials. Four days later a civilian prosecutor charged and briefly arrested a serving colonel for his alleged involvement in a plan to overthrow AK.

Colonel Dogan Cicek is at the centre of an alleged conspiracy that has rocked the political establishment since it was exposed by a Turkish newspaper last month. The army has ordered an investigation. But it has just as promptly declared the colonel to be innocent and the document, entitled “The Plan to Combat Islamic Fundamentalism”, a fake. In the old days, the army’s growls would have cowed the civilians into silence. But contrary to speculation that he would retreat, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, appears this time to be holding his ground. ...

Hip-hop in France: A hip-hop happening they had of it

A new festival marks the maturing of a gritty musical form

SUMMER is the season of arts festivals in France: opera in Aix-en-Provence, theatre in Avignon, jazz in Vienne. But one festival will have the purists frowning into their opera glasses: the Paris Hip-Hop Fortnight, which runs until July 5th. The French are better known for high culture, but the American-inspired street arts of rap, hip-hop and graffiti have become so vibrant in France that even officialdom has taken note.

The Paris Hip-Hop Fortnight is sponsored by the town hall and by the national government. More than 300 artists, from breakdancers to rappers, are taking part, at 18 venues. Highlights have included a concert by IAM, a hip-hop band from Marseilles, and an appearance by Grandmaster Flash, a pioneer of American rap. Even as French hip-hop flourished, official policy treated it as “a fashion, a sport, or an adolescent activity”, as a 2005 report put it. “Now we’re finally getting official recognition,” says Bruno Laforestrie, who runs a hip-hop radio station and is director of the festival. ...

Correction: Jan Fischer and Opel

Because of an editing error, Charlemagne on June 27th referred to the Czech prime minister as Ivan not Jan Fischer; and on June 20th described a bidder for the carmaker Opel as an Austro-Russian not a Canadian-Austrian-Russian consortium. Sorry. These mistakes have been corrected online.

...

Charlemagne : Those exceptional Swedes

Why Sweden usually makes a good president of the European Union

HERE are three Europeans, talking about the best way to help car workers in the recession. For the first, the state must use “all means necessary” to preserve key industries: ie, give carmakers billions of euros. In return, it is “quite normal” to ask them to halt lay-offs, to keep existing factories open and if possible to “bring production home” from lower-cost countries.

A second European says that governments should focus on ensuring individual workers are employable, not propping up uncompetitive firms. For him, the problem with the car industry lies in “the overproduction of cars that nobody wants to buy.” That leads him to a blunt conclusion: save the workers, not the factories that turn out such clunkers. In his words, “when a ship is sinking my main aim is to save the sailors, not the ship.” ...

Kosovo and media freedom: No criticism, please

Political bigwigs in Kosovo harass its brave free media

EXACTLY 20 years ago Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia’s leader, spoke to Serbs at Gazimestan, the site of the Battle of Kosovo on June 28th 1389. The speech came to be seen as a significant step on the path to war in the former Yugoslavia. This year thousands of Serbs turned up for the battle’s commemoration, including several Serbian ministers. They were escorted by police from Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February last year.

The escort and the arrival of so many Serbs are signs of the times. Serbia continues to reject Kosovo’s independence. The Serb-dominated north of the country is under de facto Serbian control. And yet tensions between Serbs and Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority are low. This week most of Kosovo’s Serb policemen, who were pressed by Serbia to resign on independence, returned to work. ...

Albania’s tight election: Close but no government

A draw in Albania means horse-trading and perhaps a new election

FOR months the opinion polls suggested that Albania’s election would be close. Most pundits said they were wrong, because respondents were giving unreliable answers. Now Albanian opinion polling has come of age. So close was the June 28th election that, four days later, the result was still unclear. Albania faces weeks of election challenges and political horse-trading—and perhaps even a fresh election in the autumn.

The poll pitted the prime minister, Sali Berisha, who has dominated Albanian politics ever since 1990, against the mayor of Tirana, Edi Rama. Both Mr Berisha’s centre-right Democratic Party and Mr Rama’s Socialists have alliances with smaller parties. With almost all votes counted, Mr Berisha was claiming 71 seats in the 140-seat parliament, but Mr Rama’s party hotly disputed this. ...

Italy and the G8 summit: A cavalier preparing to host the world

The host of the G8 summit, Silvio Berlusconi, faces many lurid scandals at home. But the biggest should be his refusal to accept the extent of Italy’s economic woes

WHEN the leaders of the world’s largest economies meet on July 8th near the Italian city of L’Aquila for this year’s G8 summit, they will find themselves in an apposite setting. Three months ago L’Aquila was hit by an earthquake that left 300 people dead and much of the city centre in ruins. The area is still experiencing powerful aftershocks: on June 22nd there was yet another one.

It might be imagined that none of the assembled leaders would deny that their economies have also been shaken to their foundations. But one does: the host. Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has from the outset insisted that in Italy the recession will be neither as severe nor as prolonged as elsewhere. ...

Ukraine, Russia and gas: Energetic blackmail

Efforts to extort money to avoid another gas cut-off come to nothing

IN BLACKMAIL timing can be everything. The governments of Russia and Ukraine have cause to ponder this after failing to extract billions of euros from the European Union in the name of keeping Russian gas flowing to Europe next winter.

Thanks to recession and competition from cheaper suppliers, European demand for Russian gas has fallen. It is also summer. So right now governments and gas companies are unusually brave over threats to cut off the gas. They have resisted pressure to give Ukraine a huge loan that both the Russians and Ukraine’s squabbling leaders say is needed to avoid another dispute like the one that blocked Russian gas in January, affecting 18 of the 27 EU countries. Whether Europe’s nerve will hold as winter approaches remains to be seen. Russia supplies 42% of all EU gas imports, and its share is rising. ...

Charlemagne : A hopper but not a pleaser

European leaders are grudging in their backing for the European Commission president

Correction to this article

SOME years ago, when Charlemagne was living in China, he heard complaints that the kangaroo in Beijing Zoo was a very dull animal. The “pouch rat” (as kangaroos are known in Mandarin) just sat there looking miserable, it was said. It did not jump or move at all, no matter how many people prodded it. ...

Silvio Berlusconi's woes: A conqueror, not an end-user

More embarrassment, but the prime minister toughs it out

AN ELECTION win would gladden most politicians. But Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, was not inclined to lead the celebrations after his party did well in the second round of local polls on June 21st and 22nd. For on June 18th it had emerged that magistrates in Bari were investigating a possible call-girl ring, and that some of its women had been guests of Mr Berlusconi in Rome.

This has pushed questions about Mr Berlusconi’s relations with a young woman from Naples called Noemi Letizia into the background. But it has also meant that he has had to focus more energy on efforts to limit the damage to his reputation than on running Italy or helping its economy. ...

Troubled Ireland and Europe: Lisbon's last hope

The Irish government is unpopular—but may still win a Yes to the Lisbon treaty

THE Lisbon treaty has not changed since Irish voters decisively rejected it a year ago. Yet Ireland’s prime minister, Brian Cowen, is confident of winning a second referendum on it in early October, despite his government’s unpopularity. At the European Union summit on June 18th and 19th the other EU countries gave him enough guarantees over how the treaty will affect Ireland. The first referendum was lost partly because voters were confused by false claims. The guarantees make clear that the treaty does not threaten Ireland’s stance on abortion, its right to set corporate-tax rates or its neutrality.

EU leaders have also agreed to change the rules so that each country will now retain a commissioner. The prospect of losing their commissioner (which, ironically, might now happen only if Lisbon fails) seemed particularly to upset voters last June. For Mr Cowen, this is a negotiating triumph—but it is also his sole political success in a dismal year, during which his government has lost public confidence as it struggles to cope with a deep recession. ...

Sarkozy addresses parliament: The state of the state

Reforms relaunched and new ministers, but the same ambiguous president

THIS was to be the moment that Nicolas Sarkozy relaunched his reforms for the second half of his five-year term. On June 22nd, in a ceremony with all the gravitas of an American president’s state-of-the-union address, he spoke to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate in Versailles—the first French president to do this since 1873. Yet, aside from strong words against the burqa (see article), Mr Sarkozy’s speech, like his ministerial reshuffle a day later, left unanswered questions.

Typically, Mr Sarkozy offered both more protection and more competition, more borrowing and cost savings, a defence of the French way and a plea for its overhaul. He crowed that “the recession has brought the French model back into fashion.” He promised to save jobs and raise unemployment pay. In a phrase bearing the hallmark of Henri Guaino, his market-sceptic speechwriter, he called for new globalisation not based on “each seeking by all means to take jobs and markets from others”. Instead of spending cuts or tax rises, he announced a special bond issue. ...

France ponders a burqa ban: No cover up

The government takes on a “walking prison”

WHEN the French government decided in 2004 to ban the Muslim headscarf in state schools and other public buildings, it set off a heated debate over religious expression and women’s rights in a secular state. Now Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked another by calling the burqa, a head-to-toe Islamic garment, “a sign of subjugation…of debasement” that is “not welcome on French territory”.

Mr Sarkozy’s comments came after a group of deputies, led by Andre Gerin, a Communist, had called for a parliamentary inquiry into the wearing of the burqa, with a view to a possible ban. This would mean in all public places, since it is already banned in state institutions under the 2004 law. The deputies called burqas “veritable walking prisons”. ...

Correction: Eva Joly

In our analysis of France’s European election (June 13th) we described Eva Joly as Franco-Swedish. In fact she is Franco-Norwegian. Sorry

...

Germany's mediocre universities: On shaky foundations

The effort to improve German universities still has a long way to go

THE IG FARBEN building in Frankfurt has a history. This is where Zyklon B gas, used at Auschwitz, was invented and Dwight Eisenhower later worked. Now it is part of an €1.8 billion ($2.5 billion) building project at Frankfurt’s Goethe University. Not for Goethe’s 35,000 students the grotty campuses of others: the “House of Finance” has a marble floor inspired by Raphael’s fresco “The School of Athens.”

Thousands of less coddled students recently staged protests across Germany against their conditions. “Back education, not banks”, demanded protesters fed up with overcrowded lecture halls, crumbling campuses, tuition fees and a chaotic conversion from the traditional diploma to a European two-tier degree system. ...

Charlemagne: The danger of unemployment

Rising unemployment will test many governments’ commitment to labour reforms

Correction to this article

SO FAR this recession has not been all bad for Europe. Above all, the past few months have looked good for the European concept of “flexicurity”. First coined in Denmark, this is an appalling word for an appealing idea: that Europeans will tolerate more flexible labour markets (ie, quicker firing) so long as they have the security of generous social assistance if things go wrong. ...

Silvio Berlusconi and the press: Language problems

Italy’s prime minister campaigns against the foreign media

NO POLITICIAN likes a critical press and Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, is no exception. In recent weeks he has come in for close scrutiny by foreign journalists, and what they have written has not made pleasant reading. Yet the knocks to his standing are partly of his own making. Questions hang over his relations with young women and with David Mills, a British lawyer paid by him and recently convicted of giving false evidence in his favour (Mr Mills is appealing). Mr Berlusconi tried to stop publication of photographs of guests at his Sardinian villa. He said that this would be an invasion of privacy, but the foreign media see it is part of a pattern that betrays a dislike of a free press.

Mr Berlusconi believes that the best form of defence is attack. Last month his foreign minister called a critical leading article in the Financial Times, a British business newspaper (and part-owner of The Economist), bad and dishonest journalism. Early this month Mr Berlusconi himself accused the foreign press of being at the service of the centre-left opposition. He has attacked newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch, especially the Times, for their recent highly critical coverage. Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by Mr Berlusconi’s brother, has described the work of the foreign press as poison and lies, pointing especially at publications based in Britain, France, Germany and Spain. ...

France and Africa: They came to bury him, not to praise him

A funeral in Gabon is a test of how fast and how far Nicolas Sarkozy is changing France’s policy towards Africa

TWO French presidents, one serving (Nicolas Sarkozy), one retired (Jacques Chirac), a foreign minister (Bernard Kouchner), plus a clutch of current and former ministers and other dignitaries. The weight of the French delegation that flew from Paris to Libreville for the funeral on June 16th of Omar Bongo Ondimba, Africa’s longest-serving leader and object of a big corruption case in France, reflects the close-knit ties the country has kept with leaders of former African colonies, however unsavoury. But did so many French bigwigs go to Gabon to praise what they like to call francafrique—or to bury it, along with Mr Bongo (see obituary)?

Before his election in 2007 Mr Sarkozy promised to loosen France’s complicit bonds to African leaders, calling them “networks of a bygone era”. French-African ties, he argued, needed to be more transparent and less personal, based on respect not paternalism. The post-colonial web of petrodollars, political influence and business contracts, which linked French leaders of both left and right to their African counterparts, had come to discredit France. This was starkly exposed during the 2002-03 corruption trial involving Elf-Aquitaine, an oil company, in which several French bosses were jailed. An echo from that era could be heard recently when one former French president, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, accused another, Mr Chirac, of receiving party finance from Mr Bongo in 1981—a charge that Mr Chirac emphatically denies. ...

Hungary's opposition: A nasty party

The centre-right frets over the rise of the far right

VIKTOR ORBAN, leader of Hungary’s centre-right Fidesz party, should be celebrating. His party has just won 14 of Hungary’s 22 seats in the European Parliament. The ruling Socialists, stricken by scandal and economic crisis, took only four. But Mr Orban is worried. For the other big winner was the far-right Jobbik party, with 427,000 votes and three seats. Supported both by far-right voters and by disgruntled ex-socialists, Jobbik is the big new thing in Hungarian politics.

The party did best in the country’s rundown, often jobless eastern regions, where it played on growing fears of crime, which it linked to the Roma (Gypsy) minority. Jobbik denies anti-Roma racism; it says it is just against gypsy criminals. But the badges, black trousers and heavy boots of its uniformed wing, the Magyar Garda (Hungarian Guard), which marches in formation against Roma wrongdoers, evoke unhappy memories of Hungary’s past. ...

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