William Underhill

The U.S.-led financial crisis was supposed to give the euro a new leg up. But it wasn't meant to be.

President Obama is the greatest example of immigrant success that one could find anywhere, and that's a tribute to America.

Brussels is going to miss the French. During France's six-month stint at the helm of the European Union, President Nicolas Sarkozy managed to shift global perception of the EU from that of a slow bureaucracy to a major player on the world stage.

At the Euro's birth back in 1998, doomsaying economists were quick to forecast its demise. They predicted a crisis would test Europe's single currency, and that rifts would emerge as member states fought to regain control over their own economies and escape the European Central Bank's authority.But as the latest crisis deepens, the euro is looking ever more attractive to EU countries that opted out of the 15-nation euro zone.

The coming G8 summit on the collapsing global financial system will bring together a surprising number of recovering leaders. Hard times have been particularly good to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was widely expected to lose his job only two months ago, but whose sober demeanor and astute bailout plan for Britain's banks—emulated in Europe and America—has helped him back into favor with the public and his own party.

Give me your tired, your poor, your … ballet dancers? How Britain is rethinking immigration.

The U.K. financial industry soared thanks to complex products and lax rules. Now it's payback time.

Can Britain still be Britain without its pubs?

Hailed as a potential prime minister, David Miliband is making his mark on foreign policy.

Britain's best-loved celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, recently opened his first restaurant outside London. The champion of high-quality cooking for all drew acclaim from the critics and lengthy queues of would-be diners.

We used to talk 15 years ago about returning to full employment; people would laugh. We have made huge strides.

What a court's decision on the motor-sport chief could mean for sex reporting in Britain.

As oil prices rise, businesses and consumers alike are ditching planes and cars for more-efficient rail.

As Anglicans gather, conservatives from former colonies could stage a schism.

Tony Blair dispatched the British military to the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East. But now defense spending is down, and the generals are speaking out.

While Blair befriended tycoons, Brown is turning back to union support—perhaps to Labour's peril.

The Welsh coal-mining industry was all but dead, until booming global demand sparked a revival.

A rebranding campaign and a struggling British Labour Party are helping to revive the touchy-feely new Conservatives.

Gordon Brown knows plenty about jockeying for power. As chancellor under Tony Blair, he made little secret of scheming to succeed his boss. Now as prime minister, it's Brown's turn to feel the heat.

The food-price shock is now trickling up to wealthy nations where consumers have been shielded so far.

Oxford may be home to a 700-year-old university, but it can offer much more than musty scholarship and antiquity. Eat at the Cherwell Boathouse, a restaurant almost as well known for its British cuisine as its location beside the River Cherwell.

London has become so prosperous, so quickly, it is now virtually unlivable.

Caution helped a few Continental banks avoid subprime turmoil.

A 27-kilometer underground loop of magnets will soon go to work on the universe's deepest mysteries.

It may be France's second city, but Lyon runs a close second to Paris for culture as well as gastronomy. A galaxy of classy restaurants, boasting some 60 Michelin stars among them, can be found around the city's picturesque central district, rated a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

The EU has a plan to lure talented foreigners to its shores, setting up a new global race—for brains.

Forget any ideas of this city as the dour capital of the European Union or a kitsch stopover on the tourist trail. It has a character as diverse as its beers and as rich as its chocolate.

Countries will do anything to get into the European Union. But once they're in, it's a whole other story.

Indian investors have pulled a post-colonial table turn, snapping up some of Britain's best brands.

Fifteen years of record growth is finally changing what it means to be middle class in Britain.