Europe

Police confirm NZealand girl not Madeleine McCann
DNA tests have confirmed a New Zealand girl is not missing British youngster Madeleine McCann, police said Wednesday. Members of the public have twice ...
And they're off: Papal campaigning gets under way
It's a political campaign like no other, with no declared candidates or front-runners and a strict taboo against openly gunning for the job. But the ...
Vatican sends message: Pope's retirement for real
The papal ring will be destroyed, along with other powerful emblems of authority, just as they are after a pope's death. The retiring Pope Benedict ...
Feminists cheer pope's farewell in Paris protest
Topless women activists pounded a huge church bell in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to "celebrate" the pope's resignation. The nine women from ...
Greek prosecutors bring charges over DePuy deals
Greek prosecutors have brought criminal corruption charges related to state hospital purchases from DePuy, a subsidiary of U.S. healthcare giant ...
Spain, France hold 23 suspected Kurd rebel backers
Spanish and French authorities on Tuesday arrested 23 alleged members of the Kurdistan Workers Party on suspicion they engaged in extortion to finance ...
2 French aid workers convicted of fraud
Two French aid workers were convicted of fraud on Tuesday and sentenced to 2 years in prison for trying to bring 103 children from central Africa to ...
Bulgaria tells Europol names of 2 bombing suspects
Bulgaria has given Europol the names of two of the people suspected in a bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists last year, with hopes that the ...
Court rules that ex Romanian ex-PM can be released
A court has ruled that a former Romanian prime minister who shot himself in the neck as police came to pick him up to serve a two-year prison sentence ...
Germany charges Turkish man with PKK membership
German prosecutors say they have charged a 46-year-old Turkish man with membership in a terrorist organization on allegations he led the European ...
Pope avoids predecessor's show of suffering
The closest of confidants, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger watched from the front row as Pope John Paul II, once a strapping athlete, steadily deteriorated ...
Putin bans officials from owning foreign accounts
President Vladimir Putin has submitted a bill that would ban Russian Cabinet members and other senior officials from having foreign bank accounts and ...
Vatican acknowledges that pope had pacemaker
The Vatican is acknowledging for the first time that Pope Benedict XVI has had a pacemaker for years and that its battery was replaced a few months ...
BP names 4th staff member killed in Algeria siege
BP has named Stephen Green as the fourth member of its staff who was killed during a terrorist assault on an Algerian gas plant last month.
Kyrgyzstan ex-leader sentenced to 24 years in jail
Kyrgyzstan's deposed president has been sentenced in absentia to 24 years in jail for offenses committed during the repressive years of his rule.
Papal resignation opens door to many contenders
Pope Benedict XVI's resignation opens the door to an array of possible successors, from the conservative cardinal of Milan to a contender from Ghana ...
Papal resignation sparks global disbelief, grief
From the parishes of Poland to the churches of Chile, Roman Catholics around the world were stunned Monday at the first papal resignation in six ...
Ex-chief of Russia's Gazprom Vyakhirev dies at 78
Rem Vyakhirev, the man who helped create Russia's state-run Gazprom natural gas giant and led it for nearly a decade, has died at 78. Gazprom said ...
Syrian rebels capture country's largest dam
Syrian rebels scored one of their biggest strategic victories Monday since the country's crisis began two years ago, capturing the nation's largest ...
French, Malian troops control Gao; seek out rebels
Malian soldiers scoured the city of Gao on Monday for remnants of the radical Islamic fighters who invaded the town and engaged in an hours-long fight ...
Pope to resign Feb. 28, says he's too infirm
Declaring that he lacks the strength to do his job, Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday he will resign Feb. 28 — becoming the first pontiff to step ...
Pope's resignation stuns native Germany
Many in Germany haven't always had an easy relationship with the conservative-minded Pope Benedict XVI, but most on Monday praised their countryman's ...
Key events in the life of Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI says he is stepping down at the end of the month, lacking the strength to fulfill his duties at the head of the Catholic Church.
Electing a pope: conclave, oath, chimney smoke
Pope Benedict XVI's resignation sets in motion a complex sequence of events to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The laws governing ...
Former jailed student Amanda Knox talking to ABC
Amanda Knox, the college junior who spent four years in an Italian prison after being accused of murdering her British roommate, is telling her story ...