French energy giant Total said Wednesday it had plugged a gas leak under a North Sea platform that cost the firm hundreds of millions of dollars and threatened to trigger a major explosion. More »Energy giant Total says North Sea gas leak plugged
Italy posted on Wednesday a strong turnaround in its March trade balance, as the recession-hit eurozone member cut imports while it boosted exports. More »Recession-hit Italy posts March trade surplus
Moody's is set to 'significantly' downgrade 21 Spanish banks within a week, following a cut of credit ratings on Italian banks, the Spanish economic daily Expansion said on Wednesday. More »Moody's to downgrade 21 Spanish banks: report
India's rupee hit a record low against the dollar on Wednesday, dragged down by escalating fears over the eurozone debt crisis and weak domestic indicators, traders said. More »India's rupee hits record low against dollar
The trial of wartime Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic opened before a UN court Wednesday, where he faces charges for some of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since World War II. More »Bosnia war crimes trial of Mladic opens
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble stressed on Wednesday that it was not possible to re-negotiate an international aid plan for Greece. More »German minister rules out new talks on Greek aid
A group of Communist Party elders has issued a daring open letter calling for the removal of China's top security official, amid political upheaval ahead of a once-a-decade leadership transition. More »Communist elders urge removal of China police czar
Moscow police detained 23 people on Wednesday breaking up an eight-day occupy protest that sprung up on a scenic square following strongman Vladimir Putin's swearing in for a third Kremlin term. More »Moscow police detain 23 breaking up protest
A convoy of UN truce observers came under bomb attack in a Syrian town during a funeral procession in which a monitoring group said regime forces "massacred" 20 people. More »UN convoy attacked in Syria
A woman has died a day after armed men opened fire and threw explosives into a restaurant in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, police said Wednesday. More »One dead in Kenya restaurant grenade attack: police
Organisers Wednesday vowed to fight for a Lady Gaga concert to go ahead in Indonesia, despite police refusing a permit and Islamic hardliners threatening "chaos" if she comes to the Muslim-majority nation. More »Indonesian organisers fight for Lady Gaga gig
Pakistan's cabinet is expected Wednesday to agree to the president attending talks on Afghanistan in Chicago and approve the lifting of a blockade on overland NATO supplies to its war-torn neighbour. More »Pakistan clears way for NATO summit, supply routes
Indonesian investigators have expressed hope that the recently recovered cockpit voice recorder from a Russian airliner that crashed into a mountain last week would help explain why the disaster occurred. More »Russian plane crash probe focuses on black box
The head of France's Total says the energy giant wants to expand in Australia's booming resources sector, but warns that a lack of manpower and lively competition could contain its ambitions. More »Total eyes more projects in booming Australia
General Motors has confirmed that it is pulling its advertising from Facebook after determining that paid ads had little impact on consumers. More »GM to pull ads from Facebook
At least two people were killed and 39 wounded in Colombia's capital when a bomb exploded in what President Juan Manuel Santos said was an assassination attempt against a former interior minister. More »Deadly bomb blast targets Colombian ex-minister
Debt-stricken Greece must prepare for its second elections in less than two months after failing to form a government, exacerbating the eurozone crisis which France and Germany vowed to resolve. More »Debt-stricken Greece forced to hold second election
Internet security researchers warned that foreign policy and human rights websites are being booby-trapped by hackers in what appears to be cyber espionage. More »Hackers booby-trap foreign policy group websites
Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she would not oppose a freeze on US sanctions but urged caution, warning that her country could backtrack after dramatic reforms. More »Suu Kyi in cautious nod to US sanctions freeze
A dissident at the center of a standoff between Beijing and Washington accused Chinese authorities of a pattern of abuse against his family as he again took his case to US lawmakers. More »China dissident tells US of abuse of family
South Korea's unemployment rate declined in April due mainly to more positions in the service sector, official figures showed Wednesday. More »S. Korea jobless rate falls due to service jobs
Deadly sectarian clashes linked to the unrest in Syria may have ended for now in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, but residents warn that violence is bound to boil over again. More »Syria-linked clashes end in Lebanon but anger remains
A dissident at the center of a standoff between Beijing and Washington on Tuesday accused Chinese authorities of a pattern of abuse against his family as he again took his case to US lawmakers. More »China dissident tells US of abuse of family
US media giant News Corp. has taken a 19.9 percent stake in Bona Film Group, which calls itself the largest privately owned film distributor in China, the firms said. More »News Corp takes stake in private China film group
Germany's T-Mobile, the fourth-largest wireless telecommunications company in the United States, said Tuesday it would cut 900 jobs as part of a company-wide restructuring. More »Germany's T-Mobile to cut 900 US jobs