Europe News

LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown suffered another serious blow to his leadership Friday after his governing Labour Party lost one of its safest seats in a by-election in his native Scotland.

LONDON (AFP) - Former world record holder Asafa Powell grabbed a second pre-Olympics 100m win in three days on Friday when he cruised to victory at the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.

NICOSIA, Cyprus - Rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders said Friday they will start historic reunification talks on Sept. 3, ending years of deadlock and sparking hope that the island's 34-year division could finally end.

WARSAW, Poland - Like a religious relic, the heart of composer Frederic Chopin rests in a Warsaw church, untouched since it was preserved in alcohol after his death in 1849 at age 39. And that's how the Polish government wants to keep it.

BELGRADE, Serbia - A prosecutor interviewed war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic on Friday about the details of his arrest, his lawyer said, amid efforts by the ex-Bosnian Serb warlord to fight his extradition to the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

MADRID (AFP) - King Juan Carlos and President Hugo Chavez patched up their differences Friday in their first meeting since the Spanish monarch told the Venezuelan president to "shut up" at a summit last year.

MADRID (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Spain's King Juan Carlos shook hands and made up on Friday in their first meeting since the monarch told the president to "shut up" at a summit in November.

PARIS (AFP) - The Basque separatist group ETA suffered a new blow Friday with the arrest in France of two of its members, including one described by the French interior minister as a senior military commander.

MADRID (AFP) - OPEC member Venezuela agreed Friday to sell Spain 10,000 barrels of oil per day at 100 dollars a barrel in exchange for medicine and other goods, a Spanish government source told AFP.

PARIS - Democrat Barack Obama said Friday that Iran should promptly accept an international call to freeze its uranium enrichment program, which some nations see as a potential step toward obtaining nuclear weapons, and not wait for the next U.S. president.

VATICAN CITY - More than 50 dissident Catholic groups from around the world have written an open letter asking Pope Benedict XVI to lift the church's ban on birth control.

ATHENS, Greece - Raging forest fires sent smoke billowing into hotels on the island of Rhodes, prompting the evacuation of more than 2,000 tourists, the Fire Service and municipal officials said.

KIEV, Ukraine - A former friend and ally of the Ukrainian president on Friday denied involvement in his nearly lethal poisoning four years ago and said that the leader's accusations were retribution for criticism.

MADRID, Spain - Hugo Chavez laughed and smiled his way through a hug-and-make-up visit to Spain on Friday, his first since a now-infamous exchange in which Spain's normally reserved monarch told the voluble Venezuelan leader to "shut up" at a summit in Chile last year.

GLASGOW, Scotland - Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced new political embarrassment Friday after his party lost a Scottish seat it had held for more than 50 years and both the opposition and some of his own Labour Party members urged him to step down.

OSLO, Norway - A group of men wielding knives, machetes and iron bars stormed into a center for asylum-seekers in a nighttime attack that left more than 20 people hurt, police said Friday.

BERLIN - Motor racing boss Max Mosley has sued the publisher of Germany's largest newspaper, contending that his sex play with several prostitutes did not have a Nazi theme.

BERLIN - Barack Obama's speech to a huge Berlin crowd sent a "positive signal" to Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Friday, praising the presidential candidate's focus on working with America's partners.

MOSCOW - Investors piled out of Russian stocks Friday after the abrupt departure from the country of a foreign oil boss and the prime minister's unexpected severe criticism of a large steel firm.

ATHENS, Greece - An explosion and ensuing fire on a ship undergoing repairs at a dockyard near Athens has killed eight people and injured four more, Greek authorities said Friday.

FRANKFURT, Germany - Germany's biggest airline faced a major strike by its ground and cabin crews next week after union members voted overwhelmingly to support a massive walkout.

VIENNA, Austria - An Austrian newspaper is reporting that captured war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic worked in Vienna as "miracle healer" during his years under cover.

LONDON - Barack Obama's campaign has received roughly 10 times more money from declared U.S. donors living in Germany, France and Britain than his Republican rival, reflecting his popularity in Europe as he makes his first tour of the continent as the presumed Democratic nominee.

UNITED NATIONS - A Swiss-led, five-nation panel proposed Thursday that the United Nations assert itself as leader of a global fight against terrorism and establish a new agency or program to coordinate that effort.

ZAGREB, Croatia - A man who served 32 years in a U.S. prison for hijacking a plane and planting a bomb that killed a policeman returned home to Croatia on Thursday after being paroled.

BERLIN - The warm welcome that washed over Barack Obama during his Berlin appearance Thursday made it abundantly clear that Europeans have a strong desire to heal the trans-Atlantic rift and the Democratic president candidate is a good choice for the job.

PARIS - France's military will slash its ranks by 54,000 personnel and close dozens of air, army and other bases in an overhaul meant to slim forces at home while making it easier and faster to deploy troops abroad, the prime minister announced Thursday.

MILAN, Italy - A Dutch woman watched her husband and three children fall to their deaths Thursday while climbing near Mont Blanc, Europe's highest peak, Italian rescuers said.

MOSCOW - The Russian Defense Ministry has denied a newspaper report that Russia was considering basing nuclear-capable bombers in Cuba, Russian news agencies reported Thursday.