Europe News Headlines

By Clare Hutchison LONDON (Reuters) - Western government sanctions against Iran suffered a big setback on Wednesday when Britain's top court ruled that the government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on the biggest Iranian private bank over alleged links to Tehran's nuclear programme. The Bank Mellat case and more than …

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's governing coalition parties met for a second time in three days to try and end a political crisis triggered by the closure of state broadcaster ERT.

LONDON (Reuters) - British electricity prices may be almost double those in Germany within three years due largely to the impact of a new tax aimed at supporting renewable power generation, a report by bank Credit Suisse showed on Wednesday. Rises in retail prices have become a popular bugbear in Britain at a time when …

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Supreme Court has quashed sanctions against an Iranian bank penalized over its alleged links to Iran's nuclear weapons program.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulator will on Thursday say capital holes at Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays account for more than 90 percent of a 25 billion-pound ($39 billion) shortfall, the Financial Times said. The shortfall was based on estimates at the end of 2012, and the Bank …

BERLIN (AP) — Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Gyula Horn, a former Hungarian prime minister who played a key role in opening the Iron Curtain, has died at the age of 80.

BERLIN (AP) — Appealing for a new citizen activism in the free world, President Barack Obama renewed his call Wednesday to reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles and to confront climate change, a danger he called "the global threat of our time."

By Neil Maidment LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Mail workers backed union opposition to plans to privatise the state-owned postal group on Wednesday, a stark reminder for potential investors that there will be no warm welcome if and when the company changes hands. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) sent consultative ballot …

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's deputy prime minister gave a nod of approval on Wednesday to a new form of peaceful resistance that is spreading through Turkey.

MILAN (AP) — A Milan court on Wednesday convicted the designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of tax evasion.

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's lower house of parliament has for the second time rejected a government proposal on relaxing Swiss banking secrecy laws, a move that would have helped the country's banks avoid facing U.S. criminal charges for shielding tax cheats.

LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Unmanned aircraft have helped rescue stranded hikers, worked to contain wildfires and gathered data at nuclear accidents. One helped a Russian tanker find its way through Arctic ice to bring oil to a stranded Alaskan community.

ROME (AP) — Italy's first black Cabinet minister is facing Internet death threats before a visit to a region known for its anti-immigrant political base.

LOURDES, France (AP) — Heavy floods in southwest France have left two dead and forced the closure of the Catholic pilgrimage site in Lourdes and the evacuation of pilgrims from nearby hotels.

By Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) - BT Chief Executive Ian Livingston said on Wednesday he was stepping down to take up a government job promoting British business, knocking shares in a telecom company he has helped reposition on the path to growth. Livingston, in charge since 2008, has taken BT to the verge of a return to …

PARIS (AP) — A French diplomat says officials from the United States and other countries will meet in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday to decide how to respond to requests for help from the Free Syrian Army.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, will give birth to the future heir to the British throne in the same hospital where the late Princess Diana gave birth to Princes William and Harry, royal sources said on Wednesday. The new royal baby, who will become third in line to the throne behind grandfather …

LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Airbus raked in orders Wednesday for its new A350, announcing 59 sales of the wide-body jet that flew for the first time last week.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A WikiLeaks spokesman who claims to represent Edward Snowden has reached out to government officials in Iceland about the potential of the NSA leaker applying for asylum in the Nordic country, officials there said Wednesday.

BERLIN (AP) — Five years and 50 years. As President Barack Obama revisits Berlin, he can't escape those anniversaries and the inevitable comparisons to history and personal achievement.

By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - A British watchdog has banned accountants from asking customers' internal auditors directly for help in checking the books in a bid to bolster their independence. The Financial Reporting Council, which polices accountants and auditors, said on Wednesday the ban creates a clearer division …

GROZNY, Russia (AP) — The father of a Russian man killed while being questioned about ties to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects says he has brought the body to Russia for burial.