Europeans Who Sat Out the Iraq War Now Line Up for Its Business

“Old Europe” famously declined to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. But six years on, countries such as France and Germany are eager to get in on the cleanup process in Iraq — and the hundreds of billions of dollars in business that effort is expected to generate. The most recent European move to woo Iraq came this week when German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a surprise visit to Baghdad

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Behind the French Ruling on WWII Deportations of Jews

Following decades of debate over the nation’s wartime history, France’s highest judicial body has formally ruled that the French state bears moral and legal responsibility for the deportation of nearly 76,000 Jews during the nation’s WWII occupation. In doing so, the court officially recognized the willful participation of France’s collaborationist Vichy government in anti-Semitic persecution that had long been attributed to Nazi occupying powers. The ruling Monday, by the Conseil d’Etat, or State Council, was cheered by organizations representing French Jews and families of Jews who were deported during the war — a mere 3,000 of whom ultimately returned

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Amid Crisis, Cars Start to Drive Europe Apart

When carmakers outsource most of their components, assemble their products in different countries around the globe, are majority-owned by foreign shareholders and sell mainly overseas, does it still make sense to promote them as national champions? Nicolas Sarkozy thinks so, albeit with some controversial conditions. Just before unveiling an $8 billion loan for French carmakers Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen last week, the French President suggested the aid should be conditional on them packing up their plants elsewhere in the E.U.

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Are top female tennis players overpaid?

The polite hush that descends on the crowd seconds before service is nowhere to be heard when it comes to the issue of equal prize money in women’s tennis. It may be two years since Wimbledon and the French Open joined the other major tournaments in offering women the same cash prize as men, but for some tennis fans the issue is far from resolved. “Admit it sisters,” screamed one recent headline on Australian Web site AdelaideNow, “this is not equal.” The author went on: “Political correctness, sexual equality and feminism all prevent many commentators from stating the bleeding obvious …

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Winds continue to spread Australia’s wildfires

Winds whipping across southeastern Australia’s countryside continued to fan deadly brushfires Wednesday, spreading flames through rural towns and ravaging scores of homes. “The temperatures are much cooler, but the concern is there’s still this wind which sort of fans the flames and keeps them spreading,” said CNN Correspondent John Vause from Whittlesea, where tent cities have sprung up just north of Melbourne. Relief agencies pitched camps for those forced out of their homes.

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Frustration for survivors as Australian bushfires smolder

As fires smoldered and sometimes raged across sections of the scarred landscape Tuesday, rescue officials in Victoria attempted to offer solace to hundreds burned out of their homes and frustrated at being unable to return. Tent cities sprung up around Whittlesea, just north of Melbourne, as relief agencies pitched camps for those forced out of their homes

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France’s Sarkozy in Iraq to rebuild ties

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a surprise visit to Baghdad Tuesday on a trip seen as aimed at raising his country’s stake in Iraqi reconstruction and easing frictions with Washington over the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. Sarkozy, the first French president to visit the country, met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during the brief trip ahead of a tour of Gulf states. The French leader described his visit as a vanguard of French economic involvement in rebuilding Iraq and an attempt to strengthen European ties

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French toxic ship ends global odyssey

A ship laden with toxic substances is due to arrive in northeast England for recycling Sunday, ending an odyssey that has seen it turned away from at least three other countries. The French Navy spent years looking for a site that would decommission the former aircraft carrier Clemenceau, now known simply as the Q790

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