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Ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded two of the euro zone's most troubled member states, citing fears that the pair may have to restructure their debt after 2013.

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, his popularity plummeting as he faces a string of legal cases, appeared in court for the first time in eight years on Monday.

Stress tests on Ireland's four main lenders will reveal a capital hole of around 20 billion euros ($28.2 billion), The Sunday Business Post reported, without citing any sources.

More than 250,000 people took to London's streets to protest the toughest spending cuts since World War II - one of the largest demonstrations since the Iraq war - as riot police clashed with a small groups. More than 200 people were arrested.

The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused France of seeing Libya as a source of 'oil, gold mines and underground treasures'.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned Wednesday and warned of grave consequences for the country after parliament rejected his government's latest austerity measures aimed at avoiding a bailout.

Paris' Eiffel Tower was evacuated Wednesday after a suspicious package was found at the base of one of the world's most visited tourist sites, the monument's operating company said.

Germany stands alone among the world's leading industrialized nations in its determination to abandon nuclear energy for good because of the technology's inherent risks.

France's online privacy watchdog has fined Google €100,000 for unfair data collection from wireless networks through the company's Street View mapping service and localization program Latitude.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was hospitalized today in Rome, Italian news agencies said. CNN reports that Pelosi is resting at her hotel after undergoing tests.