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Europe

Vatican austerity means donated nativity scene
The Vatican has happily accepted a donated Nativity scene for St. Peter's Square this Christmas after a previous setup costing €550,000 ($717,000) was ...
Protesters slam Turkish coup plot trial
Turkish police on Thursday used pepper spray and water cannons to push back hundreds of protesters trying to enter a courthouse where prosecutors were ...
AirAsia orders 100 more A320s from Airbus
Airbus says AirAsia, southeast Asia's top budget carrier, is ordering 100 additional A320 single-aisle jets in a deal that greatly increases the ...
Russia's Putin calls US trade bill 'unfriendly'
Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Thursday lambasted a U.S. bill imposing sanctions on Russian officials accused of human rights violations, saying ...
Italy raises cash easily as Berlusconi vacillates
Silvio Berlusconi's vacillations over whether or not to run for Prime Minister of Italy failed to dent investor demand for the country's debt, leaving ...
Russia acknowledges Assad losing control
Syria's most powerful ally, Russia, said for the first time Thursday that President Bashar Assad is losing control of his country and the rebels might ...
Spanish botched fresco artist sells work on eBay
The 80-year-old Spanish artist who became famous because of her botched restoration of a Christ fresco in a small-town church is auctioning one of her ...
Pennies over patriotism? Stars move to tax havens
France's Socialist government is introducing a 75-percent income tax on those earning over €1 million ($1.3 million), leading some of the country's ...
UK gov't gives approval to resume fracking
Britain's government has given the go-ahead to resume fracking — the controversial practice of drilling for gas trapped in shale — in the U.K..
French mobile operators hit with antitrust fines
France's competition watchdog has slapped €183 million ($239 million) in fines on the country's two top mobile operators for anti-competitive pricing ...
Review: Meyerbeer's rare 'Robert' staged in London
Degas painted it. Chopin wrote variations on it. Balzac and Dumas mentioned it in their fiction. The Paris Opera performed it 100 times in just three ...
Spain sees cost of borrowing fall in auctions
Spain has seen the interest rate it has to pay to get investors to buy its benchmark bond fall in an auction that signals rising confidence in the ...
Google, Belgian papers reach accord on copyright
Google says it has reached an agreement over copyright issues with a group of French-language Belgian newspapers, ending a six-year dispute. In a ...
A pick 6 of football flippin', floppin', flyin'
There's been a whole lot of flipping, flopping and flying in football recently, from the Carolinas to the frozen tundra and, appropriately, just off ...
Autopsy results on nurse in hoax due out Thursday
The result of an autopsy on the nurse involved in a prank call for information about the former Kate Middleton's hospital stay will be revealed ...
Mali gets new prime minister after forced ouster
Mali's interim president has named a replacement prime minister after soldiers behind a coup earlier this year forced out his predecessor and placed ...
UN Security Council condemns NKorea rocket launch
The U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea's successful rocket launch on Wednesday and said it will urgently consider "an appropriate response.
Hands off our heritage: Some wary of China's reach
Life in this French village revolves around wine. The backyards of its tidy houses nurture the grapes that have made Burgundy famous the world over.
Column: Only 1 athlete of the year in 2012, Messi
'Tis the season for making merry and for choosing our top sports men and women of the year, two distinctly separate annual rituals that in fact ...
UK police: Jimmy Savile is suspect in 199 crimes
The late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile is a suspect in 199 crimes recorded so far, including dozens of cases of rape, British police said Wednesday.
New UN, international efforts to engage Iran
International officials pursued a two-pronged effort Wednesday to engage Iran over concerns the country may have worked on nuclear weapons, with a U.N
Notre Dame Cathedral kicks off 850th birthday
Dignitaries, tourists and Parisians gathered in the thousands Wednesday for a ceremony and Mass marking the beginning of year-long commemoration of ...
Prince William graces 'Hobbit' green carpet in UK
Prince William is joining stars such as Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett on the green carpet in London for the U.K. premiere of "The Hobbit," the first ...
Cheese first made at least 7,500 years ago
Little Miss Muffet could have been separating her curds and whey 7,500 years ago, according to a new study that finds the earliest solid evidence of ...
Blast at Syrian regime building in capital kills 5
Three bombs collapsed walls in the Syrian Interior Ministry building Wednesday in Damascus, killing at least five people, as rebels fighting to ...