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Russian law forces foreign groups to halt work
Scores of foreign private organizations have been forced to cease their operations in Russia while the government here considered whether to register them under a new law that has received sharp international criticism.

The buzz on German private equity
Nearly 18 months after Franz M?fering then the chairman of the governing Social Democratic Party branded private equity investors as "locusts" seeking to devour the stolid heart of German industry private equity in Germany has surged ahead.

Next delay for A380: A decade before break even
Airbus is unlikely to break even on the A380 superjumbo jet for at least another decade because of massive cost overruns linked to the delay of the plane.

Pope links Christian traditions to dialogue
Pope Benedict XVI urged Italians to remain faithful to their Christian traditions saying they can be examples to the world and enable dialogue with other cultures that are religious.

Briefly: Congressional staffer named as source of leak
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Representative Peter Hoekstra Republican of Michigan has banned a Democratic staff member from access to classified information because he said he suspected the staff member may have leaked a national intel

Assassination of politician underlines Russian chaos
By any standards Dmitry Fotyanov faced a tight race for mayor of his mining town in far eastern Russia. But in an increasingly violent political situation across the country tight meant lethal.

Germany fights to reform higher education
Last week a German government committee anointed three institutions as elite universities - a sort of Teutonic Ivy League.

Scotland smoking ban bolstered by new research
Scotland banned smoking indoors in public places last March and created a new class of outcasts outside bars and restaurants.

Kazakhstan asks British comedian to pay visit
A top Kazakh official has an invitation for the British comedian whose depiction of a homophobic misogynistic English-mangling Kazakh journalist has outraged the Central Asian nation.

Briefly: Muslim educator wins lawsuit over veil
INTERNATIONAL

Russia digs in its heels before EU meeting
The Russian ambassador to the European Union sent a strong signal that European leaders looking for more cooperation over oil and natural gas supplies would face resistance from President Vladimir Putin.

NATO air assault kills civilians in Taliban hunt
The assault by NATO helicopters hunting Taliban fighters ripped through three dried mud homes in a poor southern Afghanistan village as people slept. At least nine civilians were killed including women and children residents and the provincial governor sa

European Union plans wider postal services
Regulators for the European Union told governments across the region that they must scrap their monopoly on delivering letters by 2009 a move that would open up a far wider variety of ways for people to send things.

Royal rises to the occasion in debate
S?l? Royal was generally considered to have kept her status as the front-runner after the debate with two former finance ministers Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Laurent Fabius although some said Strauss-Kahn had performed best of the three in the debate itse

In EU mail must get through (but how?)
European Union regulators told governments across the region Wednesday that they must scrap their monopoly on delivering letters by 2009 a move that would open up a far wider variety of ways for people to send things.

Briefly: Israelis say they found new tunnels in Gaza
INTERNATIONAL

EU scolds Italy on mergers
The European Union said that Italy broke the law by seeking to block the takeover of a domestic highway company by a Spanish rival the second time in a month that the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi has come under attack for protectionist measur

DaimlerChrysler making up for slow start on hybrid
Volkswagen and its German competitors are toiling away on alternatives to the hybrid convinced like never before that they have to find new ways to make vehicles move or lose out on a growing market.

French senators get lessons in the realities of business
French senators are venturing out of their Paris sanctuary to factories and offices in search of what Finance Minister Thierry Breton calls an "economic education."

Cityscape: Illegal but tolerated in a parallel existence
Bearded wry Ioan Bojani sits on the steps of the M?o beneath the sparkling tiled Op? Bastille. With him are a white bunny in a wire cage and a shopping cart - his life. Not so long ago Bojani had 70 employees at a company in Romania.