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By Paul Taylor and Marcin Grajewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed a long-term budget on Saturday after Britain trimmed its cherished EU rebate to help boost overall spending in the 25-nation bloc, EU president Britain said. The deal came after Britain agreed to cut its rebate by 10.5 billion euros (7.1 billion pounds) over seven years and proposed a 2007-2013 budget of 862.3 billion euros, or 1.045 percent of EU output, up from 1.03 percent in an earlier proposal. "We hav ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed a long-term budget for the bloc on Saturday after EU president Britain trimmed its cherished rebate from Brussels to help boost overall spending in the 25-nation bloc, Britain said. "It's done," a British presidency official said. The deal came after Britain agreed to cut its rebate by 10.5 billion euros (7.1 billion pounds) over seven years and proposed a budget for the 2007-2013 period of 862.3 billion euros, or 1.045 percent of EU output, u ...

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- The Air Force Reserve plans to discharge a lieutenant colonel accused of defacing cars that had pro-Bush bumper stickers, the military said Friday. Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau, a pilot with 500 combat hours in the first Persian Gulf war and the Balkans, is charged with criminal mischief for allegedly using paint stripper to write a profanity about President Bush in 18-inch-h ...

By Paul Taylor and Marie-Louise Moller BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU president Britain offered to trim its rebate further and boost overall spending on Saturday in a bid to clinch a deal on the European Union's long-term budget at a marathon summit in Brussels. According to a copy of the proposal obtained by Reuters, Britain offered to cut 10.5 billion euros (7.1 billion pounds) off its annual refund from Brussels over the 2007-2013 period. It earlier offered 8 billion euros off the rebate. Accordi ...

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (AP) -- Widespread damage from a deadly ice storm left more than half a million customers still in the dark Friday night, and utility officials said the electricity might not be fully restored in parts of the Carolinas until Tuesday. The storm blew through Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia on Thursday and was blamed for hundreds of traffic accidents and at least four deaths. Ice built up on tree limbs, causing them to snap and pull down power lines. Duke Power, the  ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU president Britain offered to trim its rebate further and boost overall spending on Saturday in a bid to clinch a deal on the European Union's long-term budget at a two-day summit. In a copy of the proposal obtained by Reuters, Britain offered to cut its rebate by 10.5 billion euros to help fund the development of the bloc's 10 new members during 2007-2013, up from a reduction of 8 billion euros in an earlier proposal. According to the new offer, the total EU budget over ...

By Paul Taylor and David Clarke BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders wrangled into the early hours of Saturday in search of an elusive deal for the bloc's future budget, with Britain seeking to rally support for what it labelled a final offer to shave its rebate. After two days of tough summit bargaining, Prime Minister Tony Blair said the offer would ensure London paid a fair share towards the cost of enlargement to the ex-communist countries and open the way to an eventual reform of a ...