Czechs vote Friday and Saturday in their country's first direct presidential election, with recession, austerity and graft weighing heavily on the nation as it turns the page on a decade under ardent eurosceptic Vaclav Klaus.
Passions and tensions are rising in France ahead of an expected giant weekend rally against the government's plan to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption that has angered influential Catholic and Muslim groups.
A year on from the Costa Concordia tragedy in which 32 people lost their lives, the giant cruise ship still lies keeled over on an Italian island and its captain Francesco Schettino has become a global figure of mockery.
Police officers in Northern Ireland fired plastic bullets and used water cannon after coming under attack from rioters for a fifth consecutive night on Monday.
A new inquest into the death of troubled British singer Amy Winehouse, which was ordered when it emerged that the original coroner was not qualified for the job.
Fidel Castro, Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope Benedict XVI -- Italian Tommasso Debenedetti has killed them all in fake tweets aimed at exposing shoddy journalism that have earned him global notoriety.
The Church of England has dropped its opposition to gay clergymen in civil partnerships becoming bishops, provided the men concerned promise to remain celibate.
Last year was one of the deadliest on record for journalists, with 141 killed in 29 different countries and Syria the most dangerous place on earth for reporters.
Researchers have disproved a long-held theory about how some bacteria survive antibiotics and opened the door to new treatments to fight drug-resistant bugs.
Twenty years after his death, Rudolf Nureyev's legacy still lights up the world of ballet as brilliantly as the flamboyant performances which once illuminated the greatest stages.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday granted fast-track citizenship to France's Gerard Depardieu after the movie star complained about the French Socialist government's proposed 75 percent tax on the rich.