Western Europe news and stories by mail.com

Western Europe

BAE signs $4.1 billion aircraft deal with Oman
British Prime Minister David Cameron hinted that more U.K. troops could be stationed in the Gulf as he welcomed news Friday that BAE Systems has won ...
UK High Court blocks drone intelligence challenge
Britain's High Court on Friday blocked a legal bid for an inquiry into the possible role of the country's spy agencies in aiding covert CIA drone ...
GE to buy aviation unit of Italy's Avio for $4.3B
Industrial conglomerate General Electric plans to buy the aviation business of Italian manufacturer Avio for $4.3 billion to grow its jet propulsion ...
UK insurer Aviva sells US unit to Athene Holding
British insurer Aviva PLC is selling its U.S.
UK banking review urges 'electrified' ring-fence
The U.K. government needs to get tougher in its proposals to reform the banking industry by splitting high-street activities from riskier investment ...
UK downgrades Q3 GDP growth to 0.9 percent
The growth in Britain's economy for the third quarter has been revised down from 1 percent to 0.9 percent, the U.K's official statisticians say.
US crime author has dark take on Finnish society
In the doorway of a Helsinki bar on a snowy December afternoon, American author James Thompson is being offered a pair of Russian army night vision ...
French leader: Al-Qaida link to Nigeria kidnapping
President Francois Hollande says a French engineer kidnapped in northern Nigeria was "without a doubt" seized by a group linked to al-Qaida's north ...
UN OKs military action to oust al-Qaida in Mali
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday authorized military action to wrest northern Mali from the control of al-Qaida-linked extremists but demanded ...
Iraq finance minister says staff members kidnapped
Iraq's finance minister on Thursday accused a "militia force" of kidnapping members of his staff and said he holds the prime minister personally ...
French engineer kidnapped in north Nigeria
More than 30 assailants stormed a house in northern Nigeria, killing two people and kidnapping a French engineer, in the latest abduction to hit the ...
Wounded presage health crisis for postwar Syria
A baby boy joined the ranks of Syria's tens of thousands of war wounded when a missile fired by Bashar Assad's air force slammed into his family home ...
15 years for German doctor in stepdaughter's death
A French court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a retired German doctor in the death of his teenage stepdaughter, capping a decades-long ...
Lost Jewish tombstones found in Greece
In a find that local Jewish groups have described as highly significant, Greek police said Thursday that hundreds of marble headstones and other ...
Column: Messi & Co. will win without coach
Even if Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammates had no coach to guide them, you would think long and hard about betting against perhaps the greatest ...
Siemens to cut 1,100 jobs in energy sector
Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG says it will cut about 1,100 jobs in its energy division in Germany over the next two years amid a wider ...
Study: Solo stars at higher death risk than bands
Rock 'n' roll will never die — but it's a hazardous occupation. An academic study published Thursday confirms that rock and pop musicians are more ...
Fiat announces $1.3 BN investment for new SUVs
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne will invest €1 billion ($1.32 billion) in the auto company's southern Italian factory to produce two SUV new models for ...
Portugal postpones state airline privatization
The Portuguese government announced Thursday it has postponed the privatization of national airline TAP Air Portugal after the sole bidder failed to ...
Spain fines top 3 telecoms companies $159 million
Spain's National Competition Commission has fined top telecommunications operators Telefonica, Vodafone and Orange a total of €120 million ($159 ...
Nations worry US trade could turn protectionist
The United States' trade partners are worried that any fiscal belt-tightening could make the country more likely to introduce protectionist measures, ...
Former IMF boss in Spain court over alleged fraud
Former IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato has appeared before Spain's National Court to answer questions over his stewardship of Bankia, a major bank ...
Barcelona coach Vilanova has 2nd throat operation
Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova had throat surgery again Thursday after a tumor on a saliva gland reappeared. The 44-year-old coach is to have ...
Rebels in Central African Republic take 7th town
Rebels in Central African Republic seized another town in their rapid offensive Thursday, residents said, moving to within about 400 kilometers (250 ...
N.Ireland police open Bloody Sunday criminal probe
Northern Ireland police say they have opened a criminal probe into the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, when British soldiers shot to death 13 unarmed ...