Europe

Austrian woman says urn with dad's ashes stolen
The woman had just returned home in Vienna, carrying the cremated ashes of her father. As she unlocked the front door, her phone began ringing inside.
Gergiev to be chief conductor of Munich Phil
Valery Gergiev has been appointed principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic starting with the 2015-16 season. Gergiev agreed to a contract ...
Report: Man released in Turkey missing woman case
A man questioned over the disappearance of a New York City woman in Istanbul has been released from police custody but may be called again to help ...
Iraq's Chaldeans elect patriarch to replace Delly
Pope Benedict XVI on Friday approved the election of Monsignor Louis Sako as patriarch of Iraq's Chaldean Catholic Church, the Vatican said. Sako, 64, ...
Cyprus offers assault rifles to help Mali fight
A spokeswoman for Cyprus' Defense Ministry says the country is offering 2,364 assault rifles to an African-led military force to fight Islamic ...
Puerto defendant Saiz let cyclists see Fuentes
A former cycling team director told a Spanish court Friday that he had allowed four-time Spanish Vuelta winner Roberto Heras and other riders to ...
Sweden orders retrial for convicted serial killer
Once considered Sweden's worst serial killer, Sture Bergwall confessed to more than 30 murders over three decades, and was convicted of eight of them.
Milan court convicts 3 Americans in CIA kidnapping
A Milan appeals court on Friday vacated acquittals for a former CIA station chief and two other Americans, and instead convicted them in the 2003 ...
UN says 210K kids need help in Syria's Homs
The U.N. children's agency says 420,000 people — half of them children — need immediate help in Syria's western governorate of Homs.
German customs stops Iranian with $70M check
An Iranian man faces a hefty fine after trying to enter Germany with a check worth about $70 million in his hand luggage. Customs officials at ...
Vatican dismisses Iranian link to pope shooting
The Vatican is dismissing Mehmet Ali Agca's latest claim about who ordered him to assassinate Pope John Paul II. The Turkish gunman, who has changed ...
French leader to visit Mali, talk of troop levels
President Francois Hollande says he'll suggest when France will reduce troop levels in Mali during a trip there Saturday, nearly four weeks after a ...
Russian judge fired after falling asleep in court
A Russian judge has been fired after he caught 40 winks in court and then sentenced an outraged defendant to five years in prison. Judge Yevgeny ...
Bungling hit men convicted of schoolboy's murder
Two bungling British hit men who went to the wrong address and stabbed a teenager to death instead of their intended victim were convicted of murder ...
Teenage hacker sentenced in UK for cyber-attacks
A British court has sentenced a teenage hacker to youth rehabilitation after he and other members of the Anonymous movement carried out cyber-attacks ...
Denmark school sentenced for fatal boat accident
A Danish boarding school has been fined 250,000 kroner ($45,500) and its principal given a suspended 60-day prison sentence for a tragic rowing trip ...
Imprisoned Pussy Riot member hospitalized
A jailed member of the Pussy Riot feminist punk band has been hospitalized for a full medical check-up after complaining of headaches and suffering ...
John Paul II's gunman says Iran behind '81 attempt
The Turkish gunman who shot Pope John Paul II has changed his story once again, saying in a new autobiography that Iran's late leader Ayatollah ...
Attacked Algeria gas plant to partly resume work
The Algerian gas plant that was the scene of a hostage crisis that left dozens of foreigners and militants dead will soon be partially operational, ...
UN official concerned at Greek prison conditions
A United Nations fact-finding mission has voiced concern at conditions in Greek prisons and detention facilities, lamenting overcrowding and harsh ...
New bells en route for Paris' Notre Dame cathedral
Nine enormous bronze bells have made their way on flatbed trucks from a Normandy foundry to what is hoped will be their home for centuries to come, ...
Convicted UK grandmother loses legal funding case
A court has ruled that the U.K. government didn't act unlawfully when it refused to fund a British woman's appeal against a death sentence in ...
Stalingrad gets name back on days marking battle
The southern Russian city where the Red Army decisively turned back Nazi forces in a key World War II battle will once again be known as Stalingrad, ...
Turkish police examine video for missing American
A special Turkish police task force looking for a missing New York City woman was sifting through "thousands of hours" of video recovered from about ...
86 camels die in fire in Germany
Police say a fire has destroyed a camel farm in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany, killing 86 animals and causing up to €2 million (US$ ...