Europe, Britain | featured news

The British government warned the BBC on Wednesday that a growing sex abuse scandal was raising "very real concerns" about public trust in the broadcaster. The BBC has been thrown into disarray by accusations that it helped cover up sexual abuse by one of its former presenters, Jimmy Savile, and has struggled to explain why one of its own programs dropped an investigation into Savile last year.

Protesters are expected to march through London on Saturday to voice their opposition to austerity measures imposed by the UK government, union leaders said.

Britain's government has written to European soccer authorities demanding "tough sanctions" against Serbia after racist chants - including monkey noises - were heard at an international match with England on Tuesday night.

Britain will have to keep cutting public spending to reduce the budget deficit, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday, underlining the government's tough task of pulling the country out of recession while winning back waning public support.

A German court has dismissed Apple Inc.'s claim that Samsung Electronics and Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility infringed patents used in touch-screen devices. The Mannheim state court's ruling Friday follows similar decisions in Britain and the Netherlands.

In a victory for Britain's royal family, a French court Tuesday ordered that published photos of Kate Middleton sunbathing topless be handed over to her and her husband, Prince William, within 24 hours.

Prince William's office says it is reviewing "all proportionate responses" to the planned publication by an Italian gossip magazine of topless photos of William's wife Kate....

The royal family is dealing with yet another nude photo controversy, but one of a very different sort. Closer, a French gossip magazine, has published topless photos of Kate Middleton , formally Duchess Catherine of Cambridge, sunbathing on the terrace of a private home in the south of France where she and husband Prince William, formally the Duke of Cambridge, vacationed.

The trial of a former trader accused of causing the largest unauthorised loss in British history - £1.4bn at UBS - will start later.

Britain said on Sunday it remained committed to reaching a diplomatic solution to the presence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Ecuador's London embassy, after both countries took steps to defuse a row over his action in taking refuge there.