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Continent is united in silence for victims of the great wave
06 January 2005
Europe was briefly united in silence yesterday. Tens of millions of people interrupted their busy daily lives, from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterannean, to reflect for three minutes on the tens of thousands killed and millions made homeless by the Asian tsunami.

Spy chief linked to Kohl scandal faces trial
06 January 2005
Germany was preparing for new revelations yesterday about corruption in the government of its former conservative Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, after France disclosed it was ready to extradite a former German secret service chief charged in a political bribery scandal.

Real claim victory over Eta in Spain's shortest contest
06 January 2005
Spanish footballers, whose match was spectacularly disrupted three weeks ago by a terrorist bomb scare, concluded their final seven minutes of play yesterday in a dramatic demonstration of how Spaniards mould their life around recurring threats of terror.

Whistling while they work: how shepherds invented a new language in the Canaries
06 January 2005
Spanish-speaking shepherds in the Canary Islands have effectively invented a new language in which they communicate through whistling rather than the spoken word, scientists have discovered.

Pride and propaganda
06 January 2005
He's a controversial figure in the West, but the Russian leader is a fashion icon at home. Clare Rudebeck finds out why Moscow's elite keep Putin close to their chests

Europe falls silent for three minutes in memory of the 150,000 dead
05 January 2005
From the trading floors of the London Stock Exchange to the metro stations of Rome, there was silence.

Tide of loss overwhelms Sweden's sense of paradise
05 January 2005
The great wave, which wreaked disaster around the Indian Ocean 10 days ago, brought its first cargo of death to the northern shores of Europe last night.

Spanish football fans will get copy of EU constitution
05 January 2005
The Spanish government has kicked off an advertising blitz to publicise the EU's proposed constitution with a flamboyant gesture aimed at the heart of the nation - a free copy for every fan who attends Madrid's football derby at the weekend.

Cuba and Europe drink toast to end of the 'cocktail wars'
05 January 2005
Cuba moved to end a bizarre diplomatic rift with the EU yesterday after European ambassadors offered to strike dissidents from a list of those invited to drink rum punches at embassy receptions.

A whale of a problem on Basque coastline
05 January 2005
A 50-ton whale that washed up on a rocky beach near the Basque fishing port of Bermeo at the weekend was first a curiosity, but has become a huge headache as the authorities yesterday reckoned it would cost €12,000 (£8,500) to clear its body away.

Turks happy to lose millions from their bank accounts
05 January 2005
Businessmen, bankers and families across Turkey have been watching millions vanish from their savings this week - and they are all delighted to see them go.

Swedish family fears 12-year-old boy was kidnapped after sightings at Thai hospital
04 January 2005
A Swedish father fears that his 12-year-old son may have been kidnapped by a European man from a hospital in Thailand in the aftermath of the tsunami last week.

Police seize gang targeting Italy's finest wines
04 January 2005
Police in the city of Potenza, in Italy's deep south, yesterday announced that they had smashed a gang of thieves they dubbed the "Banda del Brunello", the "Brunello gang", for their dedication to stealing some of Italy's most expensive wines.

Spanish PM dismisses call for Basque secession talks
04 January 2005
Spain's Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has angrily dismissed a proposal by the Basque parliament to negotiate the independence of the region from Spain, condemning the plan as secessionist and unconstitutional.

Crotian president forced into run-off by conservative rival
03 January 2005
Croatia's liberal President, Stjepan Mesic, narrowly failed to win re-election on Sunday, paving the way for a second round run-off against the candidate of the ruling conservative government.

French youths honour a New Year's Eve tradition by torching 333 cars
03 January 2005
A huge mobilisation by police failed to prevent the annual outbreak of car burning by disaffected youths in poor French suburbs on New Year's Eve.

Back home, the Swedish woman who ran towards the tsunami
03 January 2005
A Swedish policewoman who ran towards the oncoming tsunami in an effort to save her family is back home with her children and husband, who also survived.

Moscow Stories: Beer and prawns in the bath house - Russia's new elite let it all hang out
02 January 2005
"Elitny Moscow" - the city's elite - is a sight to behold. Going out to one of the many exclusive restaurants is usually an eye-opener. The forecourts overflow with the flashiest cars and 4x4s, while inside, appearances count for everything.

Sweden in trauma as it fears death toll could reach 1,000
01 January 2005
Sweden has confirmed that 59 of its people have been killed by the tsunami, but with 3,500 still missing, Prime Minister Goran Persson said that the toll could rise to more than 1,000.

Yanukovych may give up presidential ambitions
01 January 2005
A peaceful transition to a new president and government in the Ukraine looked assured last night. The outgoing head of state told the nation that everyone must accept its democratic choice and the Prime Minister, who had rejected the result of the rerun presidential vote, resigned his post and hinted he was about to abandon his legal challenges against the result.

Tito's Blue Train revives a rose-tinted view of the dictator's Communist rule
01 January 2005
For a quarter of a century, it was kept in an engine shed in Belgrade, gathering dust. Since the death of its celebrated former owner in 1980, "Marshal" Josip Broz Tito, the Blue Train, with its oak-panelled interiors, velvet carpets and sumptuous leather armchairs, has been redundant.

Basques set up battle with Madrid for independence
31 December 2004
The Basque parliament approved a plan for negotiated independence from Spain last night, thanks to three surprise votes from MPs belonging to a banned separatist party sympathetic to Eta.

Rien ne va plus: casinos face jackpot night strike by croupiers
31 December 2004
Croupiers and other workers in France's booming casino industry are threatening to go on strike tonight - traditionally a jackpot night - unless their wages and working conditions are improved.

MPs' aides accused of putting French hostages in danger
30 December 2004
Two self-appointed negotiators who led a bizarre, independent attempt to free the two French journalists held hostage in Iraq were accused yesterday of "communicating with a foreign power" and damaging the "fundamental interests" of France.

The fortune, the death of an Italian countess and claims of foul play
30 December 2004
As the night rain fell on the veranda of the luxury villa, the Italian countess, clad only in a white robe to hide her faded beauty, stepped on to the wall guarding the cliff's edge.