Europe

EU leaders fail to agree on 2050 climate goal

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders failed Thursday to back a plan to make the bloc’s economy carbon neutral by 2050 in spite of promises to protesters across the continent to fight harder against climate change.

Ahead of a U.N. meeting in the fall, the proposal was relegated to a non-binding footnote in the final statement of Thursday’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

“For a large majority of Member States, climate neutrality must be achieved by 2050,” the footnote read.

EU leaders rule out reopening Brexit deal

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are underlining that their divorce agreement with Britain cannot be renegotiated regardless of who becomes the next prime minister there.

At a summit of EU leaders Friday, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said the current Brexit agreement “is the best possible deal.”

With Boris Johnson favorite to become next prime minister, Bettel says it makes no difference who takes office.

He says “it’s not possible (that) because you change the leader in the U.K. that we need to postpone decisions.”

Who will choose the next UK leader? Mostly older white men

LONDON (AP) — There’s an election underway to choose Britain’s next prime minister, but only one in 400 people gets a vote. And most of those are well-off older white men.

The country’s next leader will be chosen by about 160,000 members of the governing Conservative Party in a runoff between two candidates: former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt . They were winnowed down from a field of 10 contenders in a series of votes by Conservative party lawmakers.

EU members split over top job appointments

21 June 2019; DW: Leaders of the European Union's member states on Thursday struggled to break the deadlock over the bloc's key leadership positions.

Heads of government were gathered to decide on five top jobs — most notably who should succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission, the EU's executive branch.

But despite talks extending into the early hours of Friday, the leaders deferred any decision on the posts until June 30.

Austria closes country roads to German travelers

21 June 2019; DW: Austria's Tyrol province announced on Thursday that it would restrict access to country roads for vehicles seeking to avoid its highways. The move has drawn the ire of officials in the state of Bavaria, which borders the western Austrian province, as the ban would affect southern Germany's summer cross country travelers.

France's Sarkozy to go on trial after final appeal fails

19 June 2019; AFP: France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy is to go on trial facing charges of corruption and influence peddling after losing his final bid to avert appearing in the dock, sources close to the case said Wednesday.

The Court of Cassation, which rules on questions of law, said Tuesday that a trial was justified for Sarkozy as well as his lawyer Thierry Herzog and former judge Gilbert Azibert.

UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia declared unlawful by court of appeal

20 June 2019; DW: A court of appeal in London on Thursday declared the sale of weapons by the UK to Saudi Arabia unlawful because of the Yemen conflict.

The court accepted the challenge brought by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) that accused the UK government of licensing the arms sale when there is a clear risk that the weapons use could breach international humanitarian law.

Germany: Death threats sent to pro-refugee politicians

20 June 2019; DW: A death threat was sent to Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker, police confirmed on Wednesday, just weeks after a German politician was murdered in what authorities believe was a "right-wing extremist" attack.

Police in the western German city told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper that the threatening note is believed to have been sent by someone active in the right-wing extremist scene.

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