Europe

Pope enjoys swansong; influence still a question
New questions arose about how much influence Pope Benedict XVI will exert over his successor Thursday after the Vatican confirmed that Benedict's ...
Avalanche kills 2 people in Scottish Highlands
Police say an avalanche in the Scottish Highlands has killed two people and left a third in critical condition. Emergency services responded to ...
12 police, rebels killed in Russia's Dagestan
Russian security forces tracked down and killed six rebels suspected of involvement in Thursday's suicide bombing that left four policemen dead in the ...
Russia charges Georgian deputy with plotting riots
Russia's top investigative agency on Thursday charged a lawmaker from the former Soviet republic of Georgia with plotting anti-government riots.
Man sets self on fire at Rome airport
An asylum seeker from Ivory Coast set himself on fire Thursday at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, alarming bystanders until police doused the flames ...
Crashed Ukrainian plane hit weather station
A plane that crashed at a Ukrainian airport, killing five people, hit the airport's weather station while landing in thick fog, officials said ...
Magnitude 6.7 Siberian quake causes no damage
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry says that a magnitude 6.7 earthquake has hit a sparsely populated area in Eastern Siberia. There were no ...
Police arrest former MontePaschi finance chief
Italian police have arrested the former head of finance at embattled bank Monte dei Paschi di Sienna for his alleged role in concealed derivative ...
German education chief replaced after plagiarism
Germany has sworn in a new education minister after her predecessor stepped down over claims that she plagiarized parts of her doctoral thesis decades ...
Rwandan in Norway given 21 years in genocide case
A Norwegian court on Thursday convicted a Rwandan man living in Norway for participating in the 1994 genocide in his home country and sentenced him ...
Ukraine: 5 dead in crash-landing
A passenger plane carrying soccer fans headed for a match skidded past the landing strip and overturned in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on ...
Tears, applause for pope at last public Mass
With a humble "Grazie" as bishops doffed their mitres and applause echoed through St. Peter's Basilica, a frail Pope Benedict XVI began his long ...
Pope celebrates last public Mass as pontiff
Beginning a long farewell to his flock, a weary Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his final public Mass as pontiff, presiding over Ash Wednesday services ...
Small bomb targets Greek far-right party office
A small bomb has exploded outside the local offices of a Greek extreme right-wing party in Piraeus, the port of Athens, causing no injury and minor ...
Spain busts 'ransomware' cybercrime gang
Spanish authorities on Wednesday announced the breakup of a cybercrime gang that used a "ransomware" virus to lock computers throughout Europe, ...
Norwegian police arrest man for Parliament threat
Police in Norway say they have arrested a man after a bomb threat against Parliament put officers on high alert and shut down streets in central Oslo ...
UK man in SAfrica honeymoon killing hospitalized
A British man accused of hiring a hit man to kill his wife on their South African honeymoon has been hospitalized with severe chest pains.
Puerto trial plaintiff Jesus Manzano testifies
One of the plaintiffs in the Operation Puerto trial told the court of complex doping in cycling while under cross-examination on Wednesday.
New head of Vatican bank expected within week
The Vatican says a new president of its embattled bank is expected to be announced within days. The Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, has been ...
Germany: 2 investigated over deadly workshop fire
German prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation against the current and former heads head of a workshop for disabled people where an ...
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 ...