23 May 2013 Last updated at 07:28 GMT Christine Lagarde smiled for the media as she entered the courtIMF chief Christine Lagarde has arrived at a court in Paris for questioning over a payout to a controversial tycoon during her  [ ... ]

23 May 2013 Last updated at 07:25 GMT A man killed in a suspected terrorist attack in south-east London was a member of the armed forces, senior Whitehall sources have confirmed.Two men spent the night under arrest in hospital a [ ... ]

22 May 2013 Last updated at 23:26 GMT A majority of people polled on all continents said Germany had a positive influence on the worldGermany is the most positively viewed nation in the world in this year's annual Country Rating [ ... ]

22 May 2013 Last updated at 17:32 GMT By Laurence PeterBBC NewsAustria's chancellor (centre) has joined the EU chorus against tax fraudEU leaders say they are committed to tackling tax evasion and will push for global action to  [ ... ]

22 May 2013 Last updated at 14:59 GMT Capt Schettino could face 20 years in jail if convictedThe captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship which ran aground off Italy with the loss of 32 lives is to be tried on 9 July.Capt Fran [ ... ]

HUNGARY and Germany are usually the best of friends. So the current diplomatic spat between Budapest and Berlin is raising eyebrows across central Europe.It all started on May 16th, when Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, told an annual meeting of [ ... ]

NOT even Georgia’s bitter election campaign last year saw this level of animosity. To mark the International Day against Homophobia on May 17th, a small number of gay rights activists planned a rally in central Tbilisi. In response, several thousan [ ... ]

BEARER shares, an archaic financial instrument in which the only proof of ownership is the physical possession of the shares on paper, will finally be outlawed in the Czech Republic. It is high time. The opaque ownership of companies with such bearer [ ... ]

THE arrest of Naser Kelmendi (pictured above), one of the most notorious gangsters in the Balkans, has unleashed a stream of speculation in the region’s press about who is connected to whom in the seamy underworld of Balkan crime and politics. Repu [ ... ]

THREE months after the resignation of the government of Boyko Borisov (pictured above) on the back of the biggest demonstrations in 16 years, Bulgarians went to the polls on May 12th. The result of the election will do little to give Bulgaria the cle [ ... ]

13 May 2013 Last updated at 09:16 GMT Protesters took to the streets to oppose any Gerb-led governmentPartial results from Bulgaria's parliamentary election show a narrow lead for the centre-right Gerb party over its socialist r [ ... ]

13 May 2013 Last updated at 07:37 GMT Mr Cameron's visit means he will miss a possible vote in the Commons on the EU referendum plansThe prime minister has arrived in Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama as a deba [ ... ]