News Headlines - 24 March 2014
▽Far-Right makes makes electoral come-back across France - Telegraph
France on Monday woke up to a “new political age” that appears to have sounded the death knell of two-party politics in the country when the far-Right party Front National (FN) made surprising gains in municipal elections.
Surpassing even the most upbeat forecasts by Marine Le Pen, the FN leader, the anti-EU and anti-immigration party gained at least 10 per cent of the vote in 229 towns across France, qualifying them to run in the second round of elections on March 30.
▽Euro Zone Economy Expanded Further in March, With Unexpected Gains in France - NYTimes.com
The economy of the euro zone continues to expand, with a surprisingly strong improvement in France and signs of recovery in the region’s depressed labor market, according to a private sector survey released on Monday.
The euro zone is enjoying “its strongest spell of growth since the first half of 2011,” said Markit Economics, the data analysis company that conducts the monthly survey.
Asked which of the two biggest parties is most likely to keep the economy growing, 47 per cent name the Tories and 36 per cent Labour. The Tory lead has risen from nine to 11 points on this question since last September.
▽US 'Shocked' by Egypt Death Sentences
The United States said it is "shocked" and "deeply concerned" by the death sentences handed down to 529 members of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
In some ways 2013 was a typical year for the global weather. Heatwaves, cold snaps, violent storms, droughts and floods all played their part in shaping 2013 – as they do every year – but there is growing evidence that human activities are making weather extremes more frequent or extreme, the World Meteorological Authority has concluded.
