28/08 – Today’s headlines from across the EU

EUROPEAN HEADLINES

FT – Google digs in for battle with Brussels over search results. Tech group spurns ranking proposal. EU hoped case would set precedent.

WSJE – Garbage piles up and Lebanese lash out. Anger grows as system based on patronage fails to deliver basic services.

INYT – Google calls EU charges misguided. Google Inc. on Thursday rebuffed the European Union’s demand that it changes the way it ranks online comparison-shopping services in its search results, setting up a potentially drawn-out legal battle between the search giant and a regulator empowered to levy billions of euros in fines.

BALTIC STATES

Baltic Times – PM Roivas: Port of Tallinn corruption case “serious security risk”.”Of course it’s extremely regrettable these very serious suspicions have arisen,” Roivas told reporters. “If they are confirmed, this is not only about immense greed, but it is also a serious security risk.”

FRANCE

Le Monde – Syriza members greatly disappointed. The radical left wing party has lost a third of its members since its leader, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, has taken a U-turn.

Les Echos – Growth: good news coming from America. US GDP increases to 3.7% during second semester. Business investment and household consumption are both very dynamic.

GERMANY

Frankfurter Allgemeine – “Appalling news” about the death of many refugees overshadows Vienna Summit. Bodies were found in a truck on the highway; Merkel calls for a joint action in accordance with European solidarity spirit.

Suedeutsche Zeitung – Refugees die in a truck. Austrian authorities found a truck full of corpses on the highway near Vienna. Official count is of up to 50 dead. EU wants to support Balkan states in the fight against smuggling.

ITALY

La Repubblica – Austria: 50 dead in abandoned lorry. The lastest migrant drama. 50 refugees have suffocated in the back of a lorry in Austria, on a highway near the Hungarian border. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is overwhelmed and urges Europe to take measures.

Il Sole 24 Ore – US GDP increases to 3.7% as stock markets rally worldwide. Markets were back up as it was revealed that the USA’s GDP increased by 3.7% in the second quarter. Milano closed at +3.29%, Wall street at +2.43%, Shanghai at +5.34%.

NETHERLANDS

De Volkskrant – Minister urges mayors to find homes for new refugees. The Dutch cabinet has allocated an extra €58.5m to take care of refugees outside Europe and is urging councils to find more beds and houses to accommodate those who make it to the Netherlands,

POLAND

Gazeta Wyborcza – Europe divided by borders? The inflow of immigrants and international terrorism undermine the Schengen zone. Does this mean that the European Union needs to restore internal border controls?

SPAIN

El Pais – Replacements in Spanish regions claim debts impossible to pay. Governments, which changed parties after the election, criticise the fiscal legacy the PP left them.

Expansion – Santander manages to refloat Metrovacesa. The real estate company will make profits for the first time in seven years.

The Times – High-tech plan to save ancient sites from Isis. Oxford and Harvard “monuments men” launch fight back against jihadists.

The Guardian – Benefit deaths fuel alarm over welfare regime. Calls for overhaul as 2,380 die within 14 days of being declared fit for work.