As the Beijing Olympic Games highlight China’s emergence as a world power, the EU is struggling to take a coherent approach to the Asian giant.
Europe, North Africa and the Middle East launched the Union for the Mediterranean on Sunday pledging cooperation on water, energy and education.
United States President George Bush set the stage for a clash at his last Nato summit on Wednesday by pressing reluctant West European allies to set former Soviet republics Georgia and Ukraine on a path to membership. He also urged allies to follow the example of France and host nation Romania in providing extra troops for Nato’s battle against Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan.
The prospect of France returning to Nato’s military command after more than four decades of estrangement is tilting the balance of transatlantic relations. The United States is courting France as a new partner in leadership, overshadowing Britain and Germany, diplomats and analysts say, even though President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to skirt the reintegration issue at this week’s Bucharest summit.
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/ 23 January 2008
The European Union’s executive adopted landmark proposals on Wednesday that will make the 27-nation bloc a world leader in the fight against climate change, but trade-offs will include higher energy bills. The European Commission approved detailed plans to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by one-fifth and set each EU state individual targets.
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/ 22 January 2008
The European Union’s exective commission fine-tuned a blueprint to slash the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions amid lobbying on Tuesday over details which environmentalists said over indulged oil companies and airlines. The EU is trying to lead the global fight against climate change without harming a fragile economy.
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/ 25 September 2007
President George Bush announced new United States sanctions against Burma on Tuesday as world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly focused on rising protests against military rule in the South-East Asian state. Bush urged all nations to ”help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom”.
Bulgaria said it was hopeful of an agreement with Libyan authorities on Monday that would pave the way for the release of six foreign medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV. Prospects for the release of the five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor appeared to rise after France’s first lady and a top European Commission official flew to Libya.
The European Union (EU) is set to take a tentative step on Monday towards sending forces to Chad to help the United Nations protect refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno had urged the 27-nation bloc on Tuesday to send troops and helicopters.
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/ 13 February 2007
International sanctions alone will not prevent Iran making enough high-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb, according to an internal European Union study leaked on Tuesday. The United Nations has imposed sanctions banning transfers of technology and know-how to Iran’s nuclear programme and hinting at broader penalties.