Police officers have carried out a number of raids in Paris – on the villa Nicolas Sarkozy shares with his wife Carla Bruni, on the law offices of the former president’s attorneys and on the apartment provided to him by the government. Judge Jean-Michele Gentil and financial police searched the Sarkozys’ villa Montmorency, located in the French capital’s most luxurious district,... 

Divers from St Andrews University, find remains of Doggerland, the underwater country dubbed ‘Britain’s Atlantis’ ‘Britain’s Atlantis’ – a hidden underwater world swallowed by the North Sea – has been discovered by divers working with science teams from the University of St Andrews. Doggerland, a huge area of dry land that stretched from Scotland to Denmark... 

People wait in line at a government employment office at Santa Eugenia’s Madrid suburb on January 27, 2012. New data released by the European Union show that the unemployment rate in the eurozone hit a record high of 11.1 percent in May. According to EU’s statistics office Eurostat, more than 17.5 million Europeans were without a job in the single currency area in May. The figures indicated... 

The German parliament has voted in favor of the EU’s permanent bailout scheme and more lenient budget rules. Chancellor Merkel has been criticized with making a U turn in policy, easing borrowing costs on flagging banks without additional austerity. “Today Germany, with the approval of the fiscal pact and the ESM [European Stability Mechanism] by all parties in both houses of parliament, will... 

Spain have thrashed Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final in Kiev to retain their title, becoming the first European team in history to win three major international tournaments in a row. It took Vicente del Bosque’s charges just 14 minutes to put their noses in front. David Silva scored with an accurate header, guiding a crisp Cesc Fabregas cross from the byline into the net after Italian goalkeeper... 

Subway project reveals ancient thousand-year-old road in Greece. Archaeologists discovered a road built from marble by Romans there 2 thousand years ago. Archeologists have found, in the second largest city of Greece, 70 meters of part of an ancient road built by the Romans, which was the main access road into the city for 2000 years. The road was discovered during excavations for the new metro system... 

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt Following an agreement by Iran and six major world powers (P5+1) to hold expert-level meetings, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has stressed the importance of settling Tehran’s nuclear energy issue through political channels. Bildt urged diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear energy program in a Saturday telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar... 

Irish fans cheering before the Euro 2012 football championships match Ireland vs Croatia. European football’s governing body is to give a special award to fans of the Republic of Ireland for their behaviour in Euro 2012 co-host Poland Everybody loves the Irish and UEFA is no exception. The European football governing body has named Irish fans the best at the Euro 2012, citing their exemplary... 

The famous self-portrait of Da Vinci. Researchers say a self-portrait by the legendary Italian painter and architect, Leonardo da Vinci, kept in a vault in the city of Turin, is in poor condition and probably beyond repair. The invaluable drawing which depicts the Italian Renaissance artist in his 60s was exposed to sunlight after being framed for an exhibition in 1929. The exposure has caused the... 

Coca-Cola and Pepsi contain minute traces of alcohol, scientific research published in France has revealed. The revelation will cause concern among those who chose the carbonated soft drink for religious, health or safety reasons. According to tests carried out by the Paris-based National Institute of Consumption (INC) more than half of leading colas contain the traces of alcohol. These include the... 

Most EU members are in favor of issuing eurobonds, but Germany opposes mutual debt obligations. Don Coxe, an investor and chairman of Coxe Advisors LLP, says Berlin cannot afford to hand out more bailouts when confidence in EU banks is crumbling. ­The talks are taking place in Brussels, where EU leaders are meeting for two days to agree on new growth measures for the union. RT: In a recent blog article... 

Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has officially announced that it was closing all of its flagship stores in Russia. The most effective sales channels for the company now are the Internet and a network of major retailers and service providers. According to Nokia’s representative in Russia, Lyudmila Semushina, the last single-brand shop will close in late July. The Finns will be developing... 

The Cypriot government has issued a statement confirming that it has officially made an EU bailout bid, citing heavy exposure to debt-stricken Greece. This makes it the fifth state within the currency union to ask for help. The request comes just days before a deadline to recapitalize one of the country’s largest banks. “The purpose of the required assistance is to contain the risks to the Cypriot... 

Officials from the United Nations and the European Union have launched a program in order to prevent future biological and nuclear disasters, Press TV reports. A press statement on Friday said that the Centers for Excellence (CoE) Initiative is designed to alleviate the risks of crimes related to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear disasters (CBRN) by “promoting cooperation, coordination,... 

Saying that Finland will surrender its right to act independently in the event it joins the western military alliance, Putin added that Moscow will respond to deployment of any NATO attack missiles based in the Nordic country. “The involvement of any country in a military bloc deprives it of a certain degree of sovereignty, and some decisions are made at a different level,” the Russian...