msnbc.com: Europe

Iraq inquiry: Early U.S. push on Saddam

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:44:50 GMT

An inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war kicks off with top government advisers testifying that some Bush administration officials called for Saddam Hussein's ouster as early as 2001.

Saddam Hussein - Iraq - Iraq War - United States - Middle East

Prostitute linked to Berlusconi tells her story

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:23:28 GMT

The prostitute at the center of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal has written a book, saying she feels betrayed by him and has been frightened by threats.

Silvio Berlusconi - Prostitution - Italy - Sexuality - Advice

Italy finds proposed lunch ban hard to digest

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:34:20 GMT

Food-loving Italy responded with indignation to a government official’s comments that lunch breaks are bad for waistlines and the economy, and should be skipped.

Government - Politics - Society and Culture - Hunting Bills - 2003

Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ fetches $172,000

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:50:50 GMT

A rare first edition of "Origin of Species" that had languished for years on a toilet bookshelf sold Tuesday at auction for 103,250 pounds, or $172,000. On the same day, British authorities made an appeal for a stolen leather-bound notebook of Charles Darwin's.

Charles Darwin - Origin of Species - History - Biology - People

Walesa takes Poland's president to court

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:49:53 GMT

A Warsaw court on Tuesday began hearing a lawsuit filed by Lech Walesa in which the Solidarity founder is demanding damages from Polish President Lech Kaczynski for having called Walesa a communist-era agent.

Poland - Warsaw - Lech Wałęsa - Solidarity - Society and Culture

Man says emergence from ‘coma’ like rebirth

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:03:28 GMT

A Belgian man wrongly diagnosed as vegetative for 23 years told The Associated Press Tuesday that the discovery he was fully conscious brought him a feeling of rebirth.

Coma - United States - Belgium - Steven Laureys - Persistent vegetative state

U.K. cops arrest people ‘just for the DNA’

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:24:06 GMT

Britain has built the world's biggest DNA database without proper political debate and police routinely arrest people just to get their DNA profiles onto the system, a watchdog said.

DNA - Police - Forensic science - Science in Society - United States

Beheaded bodies found in Russia's Caucasus

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:48:17 GMT

The beheaded bodies of a police officer and a bailiff have been found in a volatile province in Russia's North Caucasus, officials said Tuesday.

Russia - North Caucasus - Police - Ingushetia - Law