EU leaders renewed calls today for a new government in Egypt after President Hosni Mubarak vowed to remain in power despite massive pro-democracy protests.

THE Government has responded furiously to a claim that EU payments to farmers could be delayed, but the state itself could be left waiting for months for refunds of up to €1.2 billion from Brussels.

Talks on next year’s EU budget ended in deadlock early today after Britain led a group of countries refusing to offer MEPs a bigger say in future spending priorities.

Talks on next year's EU budget hit deadlock tonight after Europe's governments gave MEPs a "take it or leave it" ultimatum.

A child was among the handful of survivors from a Libyan airliner crash that killed more than 100 people today.

The European Parliament today strongly rejected a deal that would have allowed US authorities access to European bank transfers – a vote Washington said disrupted an important source of information for anti-terror investigators.

The European Parliament has voted down a deal allowing the US access to European bank transfers to track funds supporting terror groups.

THE US is throwing a hissy fit over MEPs threatening to dump an agreement that allows American authorities access to all data on international financial transfers carried out through European banking SWIFT service.

CZECH President Vaclav Klaus set out his terms yesterday for signing the EU’s Lisbon reform treaty, demanding an exemption to protect Prague from post-war property claims and safeguard the sovereignty of the judiciary.

The President of the Czech Republic today clarified what he wants before signing the Lisbon Treaty – a UK style “opt-out” from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

CZECH President Vaclav Klaus raised a new obstacle to the European Union’s Lisbon reform treaty yesterday, telling EU president Sweden he wants a footnote added to the document before signing it into force.

INSULTS flew around the normally sedate European Parliament yesterday as MEPs debated the outcome of the Irish referendum and the hold-up by Czech president Vaclav Klaus to sign the Lisbon Treaty.

The Lisbon Treaty is being “fast-tracked” through the Czech constitutional court to end the uncertainty over its future as soon as possible, the Czech prime minister said today.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso today hailed the Irish “yes” vote to the Lisbon treaty as “a great day for Ireland and for Europe”.

British Conservative Party leader David Cameron was urged today to stop “plotting” with the Czech Republic to block the Lisbon treaty in the wake of the apparent Irish 'Yes' referendum vote.

IRELAND will end up paying even more for its borrowings if there is a no vote to the Lisbon treaty, the business organisation IBEC has claimed.

A delegation from employers' organisation IBEC today met in Brussels with senior European Union officials to outline the view of Irish employers on the serious economic challenges facing both Ireland and the EU.

A FORMER Polish prime minister was elected President of the European Parliament, the highest position in the European Union so far for a politician from eastern and central Europe.

Frustrated Polish voters handed power to a reformed party of ex-communists in parliamentary elections and sent the once-mighty Solidarity bloc into political oblivion, exit polls showed.