WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The surging campaign to stop Tony Blair from becoming the first real president of the European Union is the best thing that could happen for the EU, for Britain and for Blair.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A new set of institutional rules governing the European Union could be in place by Dec. 1, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after a summit.

BERLIN, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Angela Merkel begins her second term as German chancellor as criticism over her policies is mounting.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A new entrant has emerged as lobbying for and against ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the European Union's first full-time president intensified.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Ministers will consider who should be the first European Union president as well as debate the breadth of that person's authority in November, officials said.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Thousands of international dignitaries arrived in Jerusalem to attend the Facing Tomorrow global conference hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

PARIS, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy may be backing away from his support of Tony Blair to be the first president of the European Council, observers say.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- British defense giant BAE Systems, locked in a legal battle with Britain's Serious Fraud Office over arms sales to Africa, has won a contract with Saudi Arabia to service 72 Typhoon strike jets it is buying from Eurofighter.

LONDON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said at a memorial service Friday that British officials failed to anticipate the true cost of the war in Iraq.