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.
China and Romania were by far the largest sources of confirmed hacking attempts last year, with China's mostly from state-controlled sources aimed at data theft.
Iceland's centre-right opposition is seen likely to win general elections Saturday after a leftist coalition failed to meet voters' expectations in the aftermath of a financial crisis that threatened to capsize the country.
A consortium of Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and France's Areva are on track to win a deal to build a $20 billion nuclear power station in Turkey.
French lawmakers on Tuesday defied months of angry protests to approve a bill that is to make France the 14th country worldwide to legalise same-sex marriages.
French President Francois Hollande, accompanied by a high-powered business delegation, starts a two-day visit to China Thursday, with trade rather than geopolitics at the top of the agenda.
A car bomb hit the France embassy in Libya, wounding two French guards and causing extensive damage in the first attack on a foreign mission since militants stormed the US consulate in Benghazi in September.
The world's biggest watch fair is set to open this week in Basel amid growing uncertainty over whether the industry can keep up its momentum and rake in another year of record sales in China.