From the Guardian:
Standoff deepens after claims Angela Merkel will not allow UK 'to get away' with refusal to back financial transactions taxThe Daily Mail's headline:
Tensions between Germany and Britain over how to handle the crisis in the eurozone deepened after allies of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, claimed she would not allow the UK to "get away" with its refusal to back a European financial transactions tax.
Speaking before a meeting between Merkel and David Cameron on Friday, the parliamentary leader of her Christian Democratic Union said: "Britain had a responsibility to make Europe a success."
Volker Kauder, at the CDU conference in Leipzig, said: "I can understand that the British don't want that [a transactions tax] when they generate almost 30% of their gross domestic product from financial-market business in the City of London. Only going after their own benefit and refusing to contribute is not the message we're letting the British get away with."
The transactions tax on shares and other City exchanges – otherwise known as the Tobin tax or Robin Hood tax – has been supported by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and leading UK charities. But Britain has resisted its implementation without it being copied by the US and other leading economies.
Asked about Kauder's remarks, the prime minister's spokesman said: "There is clearly going to be a debate about Europe and the shape of Europe over the coming weeks, months and years. What we would say is that the crisis means that we should focus on the economics....MORE
Europe speaks German now! Controversial claim from Merkel ally that EU countries all follow Berlin's lead - and Britain should fall into line
And from US News & World Report:
Hitler's Treaty Signing Desk Set To Be Auctioned
With the public's desire for World War II artifacts already hot, a new find that symbolizes the world's appeasement of Adolf Hitler is about to explode on to the historical auction market.
Our friends at Alexander Historical Auctions reveal today that they plan to auction off Hitler's solid cast brass desk set, prominently adorned with his "AH" initials, used to sign the Munich Pact. The desk set, designed by Hitler and never before offered for sale, is expected to fetch $500,000-$750,000 at the auction December 8-9. . [Read: The Left's Limited Outrage at Hitler Comparisons.]
"This is a museum-grade relic of great historical importance," says Bill Panagopulos, president of Alexander Historical Auctions and Alexander Autographs. The firm is based in Connecticut and conducts its auctions live and simultaneously online.
The Munich Pact was signed in 1938 by Hitler, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Italy's Benito Mussolini and French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier. It gave Hitler control of part of Czechoslovakia in return for his promise not to push further in any war. What's more, Chamberlain used the occasion to also get a peace pact with Hitler, which the Brit called "Peace for our time."...MORE
