FIFA-BLATTER

ZURICH — FIFA President Sepp Blatter has chaired an emergency meeting with continental soccer bodies Thursday while staying out of public view himself as world soccer is rocked by a U.S. racketeering case. Blatter is resisting calls from UEFA, the European soccer body, to postpone Friday's FIFA presidential election by six months.

FIFA-SPONSORS

LONDON — Worried that their reputations will be tarnished by their links to FIFA, major sponsors are demanding that soccer's global governing body clean up its act, with Visa even warning it is prepared to jump ship. Coca-Cola also made it clear it is unhappy with the scandals rocking the organization it and others support with millions of dollars a year. On Wednesday, seven officials were arrested in a dawn raid at a luxury hotel in Zurich while Swiss prosecutors opened criminal proceedings into FIFA's awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar. 

BRITAIN-WOMEN JIHADIS

LONDON — The notion that young women are traveling to Syria solely to become "jihadi brides" is simplistic and hinders efforts to prevent other girls from being radicalized, new research suggests. Young women are joining the so-called Islamic State group for many reasons, including anger over the perceived persecution of Muslims and the wish to belong to a sisterhood with similar beliefs, according to a report released Thursday by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London. 

FRANCE-MOVING MIGRANTS

PARIS — In the shadow of the famed Sacre Coeur basilica, hundreds of migrants have poured into a makeshift tent camp on a bridge over Eurostar train tracks to Britain — the country that many see as a cherished final destination. After many agonizing journeys, the mostly East African migrants find themselves in limbo. Local leaders, fed up with the sordid eyesore looming over Gare du Nord train station, are calling for the migrants to be moved as early as next month to more decent shelter. But trapped between French bureaucracy and politics, the bridge-dwellers simply have nowhere else to go. 

CROATIA-OIL VS TOURISM

MEDULIN, Croatia — Peter Fries has been coming to Croatia for years after falling in love with its pristine coastline, fresh seafood, mellow wine and friendly hosts. With Croatia announcing it will allow oil drilling in the Adriatic sea, the 60-year-old German businessman is having second thoughts about his loyalty to this Mediterranean tourist haven known for glorious sunsets over sparkling seas and white pebble beaches shadowed by thick pine forests. 

EUROPE-INVESTMENT

BRUSSELS — European Union nations and legislators have reached a deal in principle to create a fund that could generate up to 315 billion euros ($345 billion) in private- and public-sector investment to upgrade infrastructure, stimulate the EU's sluggish economies and ignite job growth. After all-night negotiations that ended early Thursday, both sides reached the deal, which aims to use 21 billion euros ($23 billion) from EU institutions as seed money to attract funds from private investors. 

FRANCE-ISLAMIC STATE

PARIS — France's foreign minister wants European countries to do more to fight the Islamic State group, and is seeking support from Russia in international talks about defeating the group. France, which joined U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq, is hosting a conference Tuesday on the international efforts against IS. 

NORWAY-COAL

STOCKHOLM — Norway's parliamentary parties have agreed that the country's $900 billion sovereign wealth fund should stop investing in coal companies because of their impact on climate change. Under new rules to be presented by Parliament's finance committee on Thursday, the fund — also known as the oil fund — would exclude companies that get at least 30 percent of their revenue from mining coal or burning it. By Karl Ritter. SENT: 190 words.

BRITAIN-EU

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron has set off on a whirlwind visit to four European capitals, pressing his case that Britain needs to renegotiate its relationship with the 27 other members of the bloc. It will be a tough sell. France's foreign minister signaled resistance to any major concessions on Britain's push for less centralized EU control.