Obama Keeps Snubbing Sarko

(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»

French president could be be key to European constitution

(NEWSER) - Hours after Nicolas Sarkozy became president of France, both Germany and Britain began wooing him—Germany to win his support for a European constitution, Britain to secure his opposition to it. Sarkozy immediately huddled with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who has been lobbying hold-outs with one-on-one talks, the London Times reports. More»

Belgian division to be nationalized; Belgium, France offer guarantees

(NEWSER) - Leading Franco-Belgian bank Dexia has agreed to a government rescue plan—making it "the biggest euro zone bank failure in quite some time," one analyst tells the New York Times . The plan will nationalize Dexia's Belgian banking division in a $5.4 billion government buyout; meanwhile, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg are providing the bank with $121 billion in guarantees, Reuters reports. Belgium will cover 60.5% of the guarantees, with France providing 36.5% and Luxembourg the rest. More»

Sarkozy's hopes dashed amid other leaders' opposition

(NEWSER) - Leaders of Europe’s four biggest economies did not settle on a unified plan for tackling the financial crisis, the Washington Post reports. Instead, each country will deal with banking problems as they crop up. While France’s Nicolas Sarkozy hoped for a Europe-wide plan, British and German leaders were opposed to a single safety-net fund. More»

A week after ripping US for crisis, dismissing need for own plan, Brown et al. retool

(NEWSER) - European leaders are eating their words a week after criticizing the US for allowing its banks to run dry and engineering a system-wide bailout for financial firms, Bloomberg reports. Governments across Europe, including Germany, the UK, Belgium and France bailed out banks across the continent and pledged support for others as Europe faces its own financial meltdown. More»