10 Spots to Vacation in Style

Europeans grapple with worst winter in years

(NEWSER) - While much of the US basks in unseasonably warmish weather, Europe continues to be locked in a deep freeze that's getting even colder. More than 100 people have died in Ukraine, Italy is suffering its coldest winter in 27 years, and conditions are so severe in Serbia that thousands have been stranded in -22 degree cold along with six feet of snow, reports the BBC . Food and medicines are being airlifted in, and helicopters are attempting to move the most fragile Serbians to safety. Authorities are also scrambling to get help to people in Greece, Spain, and Italy. Nearly 600 passengers were stranded this week for seven hours in an Italian mountain train when the brakes and electrical cables froze. Temperatures have plunged as low at -40 degrees in Russia—which is -52 with the wind chill factored in. More»

Obama, Jay-Z, Steve Jobs help win crown

(NEWSER) - When it comes to foreign policy, perhaps Americans aren’t the world’s favorite nationality. But the US has clearly cornered the market on coolness. Just ask the 30,000 people from 15 different countries polled by social networking site Badoo.com. When asked to choose the coolest country, America came first, Reuters reports. “We hear a lot in the media about anti-Americanism,” says a rep for the site. “But we sometimes forget how many people across the world consider Americans seriously cool.” More»

Brazil, meanwhile, lands with Portugal in Group of Death

(NEWSER) - The US team was among the squads getting a favorable draw for next year’s soccer World Cup in South Africa, landing in a four-team group where it and England are the top sides. The top two teams advance from each of eight groups; while the Americans will be expected to advance, five-time champ Brazil isn’t as fortunate, finding itself in the so-called “Group of Death” with powerful Ivory Coast and Portugal. More»

(NEWSER) - Europeans may have longer lives and longer vacations, but red-blooded Americans don't want their socialist ways on this side of the ocean, right wing media mouths are eager to remind everyone, MIchael Freedman writes in Newsweek. Underlying much of the opposition to health care reform is the fear that it's part of an anti-American conspiracy to transform the US into a "European social welfare state," according to Rush Limbaugh. More»

Europeans weigh themselves on a sliding scale

(NEWSER) - Most French women feel fat, despite being among the thinnest women in Europe, a study finds. By contrast, much larger women in Britain, Spain, and Portugal consider themselves skinny, AFP reports. Researchers say women in France have a lower ideal weight compared to other European countries. In fact, more than 5% of French women are clinically underweight. More»