France Chirac won't appeal corruption conviction France’s former president Jacques Chirac says he won’t appeal his corruption conviction. Still maintaining his innocence, the 79-year-old issued a 15/12/2011
India Toxic alcohol kills more than 140 people in India More than 140 people have died in India after drinking cheap, contaminated alcohol. A number of arrests have been made over the locally-brewed 15/12/2011
Germany Power cut knocks out Berlin's S-Bahn trains Berlin’s urban fast train network was brought to a halt on Thursday by a power cut at a control centre. Thousand of passengers were affected by 15/12/2011
Germany German president tells of regrets amid loan scandal Germany’s beleaguered President Christian Wulff has broken his silence amid a property scandal that could cost him his job. He has expressed 15/12/2011
Military support to back up security at London 2012 Protecting London 2012 will be the biggest security challenge which Britain has faced in decades. That is the view of the defence secretary who has 15/12/2011
Italy Vote called on Italian austerity package Italy’s government has called a confidence vote in parliament to speed up the approval of a 33-billion euro austerity package. Italian Prime 15/12/2011
Medvedev promises euro aid but rebuffs election concerns Russian President Dmitri Medvedev made it clear that a visit to Brussels was for him to talk about the future of the euro and visa-free travel, not 15/12/2011
West Bank Abbas tells euronews about Fatah-Hamas common ground Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas may be getting closer to striking a unity deal, with Mahmoud Abbas telling euronews that common ground has been 15/12/2011
Carlos the Jackal's revolution by terrorism After years behind bars, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez is still defiant. The Venezuelan was hauled out of his French prison cell in November to answer for 15/12/2011
Russia Putin 'welcomes' protests while dismissing them In Vladimir Putin’s latest four-and-a-half hour television marathon the Russian prime minister dismissed the recent protests against his United 15/12/2011
Smooth Spanish bond sale, but euro zone still besieged For once there was some good news from the eurozone debt crisis as Spain was able to sell many more government bonds than it expected at its latest 15/12/2011
China Chinese troops surround protesting village The standoff in Wukan village in Guangdong province in China continues. It is the latest expression of rural discontent in the rapidly- transforming 15/12/2011
France Carlos the Jackal found guilty Venezuelan born Ilich Ramírez Sánchez also known as Carlos the Jackal has been found guilty for crimes that claimed the lives of 11 people almost 30 15/12/2011
West Bank Abbas tells euronews about Fatah-Hamas common ground Wishing Hamas happy birthday, tens of thousands of supporters rallied in Gaza to celebrate the Palestinian group’s 24th annniversary. But while the 15/12/2011
Greek pensioners protest austerity cuts More than one thousand pensioners, some walking with canes, confronted police outside the Greek parliament during a protest march on Thursday 15/12/2011
Unreported Europe Occupy Wall street takes its case to Main Street It has been almost three months since demonstrators first came to America’s financial heart to ‘occupy’ Wall Street. But today the tents have been 15/12/2011
Belgium Liege shooting death toll rises to six A fifth victim has died of the injuries she received in Tuesday’s Liege shootings in Belgium. In total 160 people have needed treatment for injuries 15/12/2011
space Small is beautiful They are only the size of a domestic washing machine but ESA’s mini-satellites are getting some big results. The Proba series is busy observing the 15/12/2011
Alvin and the Chipmunks are back Singing chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore are back. Along with their long-suffering adoptive father-cum-manager Dave Seville – played by Jason Lee 15/12/2011
Greece sinks deeper into job hell Greek unemployment hit a record high this summer despite a rise in tourism. Job centres filled up as construction companies, manufacturers 15/12/2011
USSR display reforms, reveals and revolutionises What do Miss Charm, Chernobyl and Mikhail Gorbachev have in common? Not a great deal you may think, but they all appear in the exhibition “USSR: End 15/12/2011
Chirac guilty of embezzlement, but avoids jail Guilty of embezzlement — the verdict making Jacques Chirac the first former French head of state to be convicted of a crime since the end of World 15/12/2011
Medvedev rebuffs EU concern over Russian polls He did not quite say “it is none of your business”, but President Dmitry Medvedev’s message was clear as EU leaders raised the thorny topic of 15/12/2011
Dramatic car chase in Australia A man and a woman allegedly armed with a handgun car-jacked a vehicle in the New South Wales town of Beresfield, local media reported. Police chased 15/12/2011
USA Back in the Day: the Boston Tea Party December 16, 1773 Dozens of men in the then-British colony of Boston, Massachusetts break into a British merchant ship and throw 342 chests of tea 15/12/2011
TAM + LAN = LATAM Latin America’s biggest airline is ready for take off. The merger of TAM, the leader in the Brazilian aviation market, with Chile’s main carrier 15/12/2011
Finland slashes growth forecast The Bank of Finland has cut its economic growth forecast for the next two years and said the government must make “substantial” spending cuts and 15/12/2011
Eurozone decline eases, recession still looms New business surveys show the pace of decline in the euro zone’s private sector unexpectedly easing in December. Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ 15/12/2011
Iraq America closes its Iraq war chapter The US military has officially ended its war in Iraq. Nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, the war has cost the 15/12/2011
Spain Spanish fishermen slam pact end with Morocco Spanish fishermen have condemned the European Union’s rejection of an extension of a fishing agreement with Morocco. EU lawmakers dismissed a fresh 15/12/2011
