Territorial talks

Territorial talks
An international summit
convened in Moscow to discuss
competing territorial
claims to the Arctic Ocean.
Russia, Canada, Denmark,
Norway and the United States
have all made claims in the
resource-rich region, which
some believe could hold up to
a quarter of the world’s oil and
gas reserves.
Sweden’s four-party centreright
alliance was returned in a
general election, but provisional
results suggested it was
short of an overall majority.
The far-right Sweden Democrats
entered parliament for
the rst time, winning 20 seats.
Ireland raised 1.5 billion ($2
billion) through a bond issue,
slightly easing fears that it may
be forced to tap EU bail-out
funds. The auction was good
news for Brian Cowen, the
prime minister, whose leadership
is under scrutiny after a
recent allegedly drunken radio
interview.
France raised its terror alert
after receiving a tip-o from a
foreign intelligence service
about an imminent threat of
attack by a female suicidebomber
on the public transport
system. The alert came a
week after the Senate, the
upper house, voted to ban full
Islamic veils.
In Germany’s biggest antinuclear
demonstrations for
decades, tens of thousands
took to the streets of Berlin to
protest against the government’s
plans to extend the
lifespan of Germany’s nuclear
reactors. More