The Weather

Guardian:

Southern Europe sizzled in record-breaking temperatures yesterday with the heatwave being blamed for deaths in Hungary and Romania, power cuts in Macedonia and forest fires from Serbia to Greece.

Up to 500 people have died in Hungary because of the heatwave with deaths attributed to heatstroke, cardiovascular problems and other illnesses aggravated by high temperatures which reached a record high of 41.9C (107F) in the southern city of Kiskunhalas.

Countries across the Balkan peninsula also laboured under temperatures that hit a historic 43C in Belgrade and 44C in Bulgaria. In an urgent announcement, Greece's weather service predicted temperatures of 45C (113F) and the government urged people to restrict their movements and stay indoors.

Associated Press:

Emergency workers rescued hundreds of trapped people Monday as water swallowed swaths of central England in the worst flooding to hit the country for 60 years. Officials said some rivers were still rising, with the western section of the rain-swollen River Thames on the verge of bursting its banks.

Roads and parking lots were submerged, trains suspended, buses canceled. Hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity or drinking water, and farmers saw their summer crops destroyed.

Torrential rains have plagued Britain over the past month — nearly 5 inches fell in some areas on Friday alone — and more downpours were predicted this week.

Not that the climate is changing, or anything.

A Hopeful Sign?

Spiegel Online:

Two moderate parties in Belgrade have announced a coalition deal that will shut out the far-right Radical Party. The announcement comes after months of talks -- on the very day that Serbia takes over the Council of Europe, amid protests from rights groups. At issue is the continuing freedom of two men accused of war crimes.

Serbia's acting Foreign Minister, Vuk Draskovic, takes a seat at the Council of Europe on Friday, amid protests from human-rights groups and last-minute government chaos at home.

Serb Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and pro-Western President Boris Tadic sealed a coalition deal just days before next Tuesday's deadline to forge a government or face fresh parliamentary elections.

International Court of Justice clears Serbia of Genocide

BBC:

But the International Court of Justice did rule that Belgrade had violated international law by failing to prevent the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica....

The case is the first of a state being charged with genocide. Individuals have been convicted of genocide in Bosnia....

In the ruling, the president of the court, Judge Rosalyn Higgins, said: "The court finds that the acts of genocide at Srebrenica cannot be attributed to the respondent's (Serbia) state organs."

In this case, the definition of genocide fails on the difference between crimes of omission and commission. It's an interesting dividing line. If those who fail to stop genocide are deemed guilty of it, much of the world could be held responsible for Darfur. On a legal level, it makes sense; on a moral level, it doesn't.