FIRST OFF . . .

Europeans may be getting their first continent-wide news channel. Publicly funded stations belonging to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced plans for the channel Thursday and said it would be called Euronews. No specific details were immediately available. The EBU network chiefs, meeting in Brussels, also called for more government money to produce new films and programs. The European Broadcasting Union is based in Geneva and has 38 active members, mainly in east and west Europe. Its also has privately funded members, but they will not take part in the Euronews project. EBU has 465 million viewers across the continent.