Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander becomes Europe's youngest monarch on Tuesday when his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicates and his country hails the avowedly 21st-century king with a massive, orange-hued party.
An attack by French Socialists on Angela Merkel's drive for belt-tightening coincides with concessions by the German chancellor on austerity, but five months from elections she is loathe to trumpet her flexibility.
A powerful gas blast ripped through a four-storey building in Prague's historic centre on Monday, injuring 43 people including foreigners, and causing panic in the Czech capital.
Italy's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta was set to unveil his coalition government's programme on Monday, under the watchful gaze of international markets and European partners.
Senior French ministers warned Monday against picking a fight with Germany after the ruling Socialists accused Chancellor Angela Merkel of being "selfish" in her drive for eurozone austerity.
The British government minister pushing through strongly criticised reforms of the welfare state urged rich pensioners on Sunday to give back any handouts they don't need.
Italy's new coalition government was sworn in on Sunday, but a ceremony symbolising a fresh start for the recession-wracked country was overshadowed by a shooting outside government headquarters.
The Greek parliament voted late Sunday to adopt a law that provides for the dismissal of 15,000 civil servants as part of austerity measures imposed by the country's international creditors.
The stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" on Sunday claimed seven prizes at Britain's prestigious Laurence Olivier Awards.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby accepted in an interview aired Saturday that he had probably ruffled the British government's feathers with his comments on the bleak state of the economy.
Spain forecast Friday it would climb out of its bitter recession in 2014 but needed two extra years to meet the European Union's target for reining in its public deficit.
British actress Parminder Nagra, who shot to fame in 2002's "Bend it like Beckham," has settled a palimony lawsuit after her ex-husband claimed a share of her earnings.
Maxima, the Argentine-born future queen of the Netherlands, has worked hard to win over Dutch hearts and is immensely popular despite her father's murky role in his country's military junta.
Spain's government, seeking to cut its deficit amidst a double-dip recession, is to unveil new measures Friday aimed at reviving the economy, a day after registering record unemployment.
An Italian leftist politician, Enrico Letta, was nominated to be the new prime minister on Wednesday, bringing to an end a bitter two-month deadlock on forming a new government.