The world at a glance . . . Europe

Wiltshire, U.K.

Sisters can’t inherit: Two British sisters who have lived together all their lives have lost their battle to avoid paying inheritance tax when one of them dies. Joyce and Sybil Burden, ages 90 and 82, had asked the European Court to give them the same tax rights as married or gay couples. They own their home jointly, and when one dies, the other will be unable to pay the inheritance tax and will have to move out. But the court this week turned down the final appeal. “We are struggling to understand why two single sisters in their old age, whose only crime was to choose to stay single and look after their parents and aunts, should find themselves in such a position in the U.K. in the 21st century,” the Burdens said in a statement.

Rome

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Ex-fascist is mayor: Rome this week elected its first far-right mayor since World War II. Gianni Alemanno, 50, is currently a member of the right-wing People of Freedom party, but in his youth he was part of the Italian Social Movement, a neo-fascist party formed by Mussolini supporters after the war. Alemanno ran on an anti-immigrant, law-and-order platform. He surged in popularity just before the vote, after a woman was raped in the capital, allegedly by an immigrant. In his victory speech, Alemanno said he would call a meeting of security officials “to bring order to our territory” and move Rome “out of its urban blight.”