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Sarkozy Starts Immigration Row
France's interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a tough EU-level solution to the continent's illegal immigration crisis.
Brown And Desperate
Does anyone out there fervently believe that Chancellor Gordon Brown is going to lead Britain to the promised land when he becomes prime minister? Apart from Brown himself, surely the Guardian's Polly Toynbee is alone in belief. It's ironic really, as Toynbee is one of the media's most ferocious critics of religious belief, yet her case for Brown rests on little else but witchdoctery.
"Simple, Speedy, Summary"
Britain is planning "simple, speedy and summary justice" for criminals, with proposals that the authorities hope will save the expense of putting thousands of cases through court. According to a report in The Times, police will be able to impose fines of up to £100 on hoodlums who will later be able to contest the penalty.
Britain's Disappearing X-Files
Newly released secret documents reveal that Britain's secret services went to "extraordinary lengths" to cover up the extent of its 30-year investigation into UFO sightings and activity. The papers don't reveal the presence of aliens in the skies above Blighty - but they do show how government spooks tampered with their own records to hide the fact that a special unit was dedicated to looking out for them. Full story in The Guardian.
Frightened Already?
18 Doughty Street, a new web TV channel hasn't even launched yet, and already the mainstream media is wheeling out its big guns to attack it.
MSM *hearts* NGOs
Nelson Ascher has an excellent essay on Politics Central on how the mainstream media's reliance on NGOs, pressure groups and self-selected "spokespeople" is corroding reporting - and democracy.
Keep It In The (Royal) Family
We all knew that France's Socialist presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal came from a "traditional, Catholic" family - it's just we didn't realise quite how traditional. Her cousin, Anne-Christine Royal is also running for office, though for the rather more modest position of municipal councillor in Bordeaux. However, she's no Socialist: Anne-Christine is on the lists of the far-right National Front.
Sarkozy Attacked For US Stance
France's centre-right presidential contender has found himself in deep water with his country's political and cultural elite once again, this time for calling for friendlier relations with the United States.
Archbishop Defends Pope
The former head of the Anglican church Lord Carey has defended Benedict XVI"s speech on war and religion, and warned that there is some merit in the vision of a "clash of civilisations."
An Obscure Fate
Nice to see some Euro-stories have a happy ending. David Rennie posts in his Brussels Blog in the Telegraph on the grand opening of the EU's "Jacques Delors Building." Delors, as some of you might reminder, was the EU's most famous and visionary Commission President: His zeal for federalism, coupled with his Gallic Socialism, made him a bogeyman among Eurosceptics.
Here We Go Again
France's president Jacques Chirac given Iran more wriggle-room in the standoff with the west over its nuclear programme by announcing that he is not in favour of sanctions.
Centre-Right Wins In Sweden
Sweden's centre-right coalition has defeated the ruling Social Democratic party in what has been the countries narrowest (and toughest-fought) election for decades.
Time For Tubby Bye-Bye
Britain's growing surveillance society has taken another twist. Not content with CCTV cameras on every street corner recording citizens' every move, the town of Middlesborough has fitted some of its cameras with loudspeakers, so wrongdoers can be dressed down publicly as they indulge in anti-social behaviour.
News Round Up
Neo-Nazis make gains in Germany, al-Qaeda calls for attacks on France, Pope declares holy war.
Tory Topiary
The Conservatives revealed their new logo today. It's a rather scribbly-looking oak tree and it cost them £40,000 - that's it on the right above.
It's meant to stand for friendship, solidity, sensitivity to the environment, our heritage... EURSOC is just reminded how Dave Cameron's policies have yet to take on any recognisable shape or form.
Orianna Fallaci Dies
Italian news agencies are reporting that the writer Orianna Fallaci has died. Fallaci, who was formerly a war correspondent, rose to fame following uncompromising interviews with global figures including Iran's theocratic leader Ayatollah Khomeini. A lifelong leftist, she was reportedly so disgusted with the Ayatollah she ripped off her headscarf and threw it in his face.
In recent years she stirred a controversy with the publication of a series of essays attacking the influence of radical Islam and Islamist-inspired terrorism.
Stubbing Out Smokers
Here's one that might have slipped under your radar this summer: The European Commission says its OK for a company to refuse to hire smokers.
No Sex Please, We're Colombian
Gang members in the city of Pereira in Colombia are today facing an ultimatum: give up guns or give up sex.
In a modern day echo of the famous Greek comedy Lysistrata, the wives and girlfriends of the town's gang members are refusing sex until their menfolk lay down their weapons.
Boozers Sans Frontieres
The news that the British government is planning drastic action against teenage binge drinkers should come as no surprise. However, reports that French kids are adopting the boozy habits of their peers across the Channel has set alarm bells ringing in Paris.
MEPs Cover Up Pensions Scam
Centre-right and Socialist MEPs have united to bury a report slamming a scheme which makes taxpayers bail out European deputies' pension funds.
Slick Willy Backs Golden Gordon
Former US president Bill Clinton says Gordon Brown will make a good PM - and former international development secretary Clare Short says she's stepping down as an MP because she's "ashamed" - though not for the reasons you'd expect.
Kinky Boots
Richard Friedman is probably the most funny man in America. Under his pen-name, "Kinky", he is currently number two in the race to become governor of Texas.
Sink Estate
Ireland's countryside is beautiful - certainly among the most scenic areas of Europe. Problem: Not only the Irish think so - 200,000 holiday homes, built mainly by Dutch, German, French and American owners, dot the landscape and threaten to "spoil the look of the place", as they might say on the Emerald Isle. As cheap flights draw more seasonal settlers and the Irish - among Europe's richest people - get richer themselves, parts of the stunning west coast could be ruined by development.
The BBC's Sin Of Omission
It's ironic that in a news story characterised by ignorant hatemongering, lies and misinformation the BBC should be caught telling half-truths. New blog Drinking From Home spotted a story on the continuing fallout from the cartoons of Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper.
Sarkozy's Euro Vision
France's centre-right presidential frontrunner Nicolas Sarkozy is no stranger to controversy. However, his Friday speech outlining his ideas for breaking the European Union's constitutional logjam has something to irritate pretty much every other head of state in the EU.
Chirac's Final Fiddle
You have to admire his gall. While Tony Blair is trying to salvage his legacy by bringing peace to the Middle East, France's Jacques Chirac has his eye on a worldlier goal. He's trying to appoint a close ally to the job of Paris' chief prosecutor, ensuring that he'll get an easy ride when his presidential immunity expires next year.
What War?
France's prime minister Dominique de Villepin distanced his country's stance - again - from that of the US when he rejected the idea of a "war on terror."
Belgian Neo-Nazi Terror Raid
More strange news from Belgium: Seventeen "Neo-Nazis", described as mostly serving soldiers, have been arrested under suspicion of planning terror attacks on the country's institutions.
Blogging For France
Charles Bremner has a good post in the times on how the blogging phenomenon has taken off in France. Apparently the country has more bloggers per capita, and more internet users who read blogs, than anywhere else in the world.
Shop A Smoker
The government plans a "Shop a Smoker" telephone hotline to ensure people in England are observing the smoking ban, which comes into force next summer.
An Exercise In Trust
French voters trust Socialist presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal to handle the economy better than any of her rivals - including three former finance ministers.
Italy's Phantom Hospitals
Over the past four decades, Italy has spent £5.5 billion on 126 hospitals which have never admitted patients.
The Farewell Waltz
With summer's "silly season" drawing to a close and the party conference season approaching, speculation about the timing of Tony Blair's retirement has reached fever pitch.
What A Carve Up!
Now here's a perfectly European solution for dealing with devolution: Carve up Britain into regions of an EU superstate.
Here Come The Belgians!
What is it with Belgium? For decades, it had a reputation for being Europe's most boring country. Perhaps we simply didn't know it: Recent stories emerging from the home of the EU's "capital" reveal that it's also one of the continent's creepiest and weirdest places.
They Don't Like It Up 'Em
Rod Liddle is on target once again in this week's Spectator, where he has a memoir of the magazine's late BBC-baiting radio critic Michael Vestey. Like Liddle, Vestey was a former BBC man himself. Unlike the columnist, however, Vestey was very much of the right, and thus it is fair to say his skills went rather under-appreciated at the "suffocating, moronic, politically-correct, anti-liberal (leftist) BBC."
Hogging The Headlines
There's a nice piece on No Pasaran on how news agencies give the impression that dozens of local news channels show up to every event. It's not exactly a revelation to anyone in the industry that content is created and repackaged for local markets, but it's fun to see a case full of microphone covers in an editor's tool kit.
