"Bail-out 2.0" for Greece: Emergency EU Meeting Has New Ideas (7/20)

Ahead of an emergency eurozone meeting on a second Greek bail-out on July 21 in Brussels, a mix of new options has emerged in an effort to shift part of the costs to creditor banks – without triggering a default call by international ratings agencies.

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French Feminism Appears Re-Energized by DSK Affair of Alleged Rape (7/18)

The “DSK affair” of alleged rape seems to have triggered a feminist awakening in France. Women’s organizations that had fallen out of view suddenly are getting renewed attention in the political sphere and the media. Suddenly, issues like rape, incest and sexual harassment have become worthy of public debate, according to the New York Times' Elaine Sciolino, author of a new book about France entitled "La Seduction."

More quietly, militancy about women’s rights already had been regaining ground in France in recent years, but the focus then was mostly on the poorer Arab-dominated “banlieues” where women’s basic rights have often been suppressed. Forty feminist organizations met at a conference in the Paris suburb of Évry and pledged to make the war against rape their main cause in the coming year.

-- European Affairs

 

“South Sudan” – Succesful Secession Backed by EU and U.S. (7/13)

The world’s newest country, South Sudan, acquired statehood on July 9 as a result of a partition of Sudan that was strongly encouraged by the U.S. (over many years) and ultimately by the EU as a last resort for ending civil war between the largely-Arab north and the sub-Saharan south.

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U.S. Space Shuttle Termination May Lead to Joint Project with EU's ESA (7/13)

The space shuttle Atlantis – an iconic vehicle in the history of U.S. aerospace activity – lifted off on its last trip to the International Space Station (ISS), on July 8, closing an era of manned space flight for NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

 

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