Basque premier in court over forbidden talks
On the sword: Law
The head of the provincial government in Spain's northern Basque country has appeared in court, charged with holding illegal talks with a banned political group. Juan José Ibarretxe, the prime minister of the self governing region, had been in discussions with the militant Batasuna party and its leader Arnaldo Otegi.
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Euronews- Cartoon by Gallego & Rey for El Mundo (Madrid)
EU Report Slams Members for Involvement in Secret CIA Affair
European Union lawmakers have approved a report which lashes out at EU countries for tolerating or assisting the United States' practice of secret detentions of terrorist suspects. At least 10 European states, including Britain, Poland, Portugal, Italy and Germany aided or knew about the CIA's clandestine program of taking terrorism suspects to other countries for interrogation, the report said.
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Deutsche Welle- Cartoon by Rodrigo for Expresso (Lisbon)
Business leaders' confidence hits record high
Leaders of the world's top companies are meeting this week in Davos in buoyant mood. With the global economy enjoying one of its longest periods of growth since World War Two, confidence about corporate revenues is running at record levels and economists are bullish about the future.
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Reuters- Cartoon by Chappatte for International Herald Tribune (Paris)
Ukraine told not to get its EU hopes upEU foreign ministers have approved a mandate for talks with Kiev on a wide-ranging fresh cooperation pact. But this meant resolving differences on how to treat Ukraine's EU membership hopes first. The ex-Soviet state borders four countries of the European Union, now. France and other countries where public opinion is prickly towards further EU enlargement wanted a damper on Ukrainian aspirations.
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Euronews
The European Parliament has yet to fill the democratic deficitThis week a conservative took over from a socialist as president of the European Parliament and many of its committees changed hands. If this were a normal parliament, presumably there would have been a fiercely contested election or some other basic political shift. In practice, the changes represent Buggins's turn: halfway through the European Parliament's five-year term, the top jobs are shuffled to give someone else a go. There has been no discernible shift in popular opinion and the choice of Hans-Gert Pöttering as president was a foregone conclusion. Clearly, the European Parliament is not a normal parliament.
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The Economist
EU Unveils Major New Energy Policy
The European Commission unveiled sweeping plans to diversify EU energy sources, slash carbon emissions by 20 percent and enforce rules for fuel competition. To achieve that goal, the EU Commission also calls for the promotion of nuclear energy, which is being phased out by several countries.
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Deutsche Welle- Cartoon by Rodrigo for Expresso (Lisbon)
Celebrations as Romania and Bulgaria join EU
Blue-and-gold EU flags fluttered and fireworks thundered in Romania and Bulgaria at the stroke of midnight, as the two Balkan nations became the latest countries to join the European Union.
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The Independent- Cartoon by Christo Komarnitski for Sega (Sofia)
Ex-communist Slovenia adopts euroSlovenia adopted Europe's single currency, the euro, on Monday, crowning its 15-year transition from a republic in socialist Yugoslavia to the continent's most advanced post-communist economy.
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CNN
