Europe

South Korean Christians pray in 2009 during a service denouncing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's dictatorship and alleged human rights violations.

Globe Trot: Little concern over latest religious freedom report

International | The State Department on Tuesday released its 2012 International Religious Freedom Report. In particular, the report highlights “undue and inappropriate restrictions” on religious groups and abuse of adherents in…

A participant in a Margaret Thatcher

Thatcher haters celebrate her death

Politics |  BELFAST, Northern Ireland—The death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has prompted reactions from Britain’s far left that takes bad taste…

Traders enjoy a light moment on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

Dollars and Sense: January was sunny, but ominous clouds loom on the horizon

Money |  January ends. The first month of the year is behind us, and from the stock market’s perspective it was a good month. The Dow was up 5.8 percent for the…

Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday.

Dollars and Sense: Stocks, housing, and manufacturing stronger, but Europe still jittery

Money |  Editor's Note: Introducing a new roundup of the week's financial news, which will be posted each Friday. Stocks strong. We’re now well into earnings season on…

Spanairds line up at the unemployment office in Madrid Thursday.

Signs and Wonders: Jobless Spaniards, defunding Scouts, Dollar settlement, Henry’s 100th

Newsworthy |  Drain in Spain. The economic news in the United States has been pretty good lately. The Dow and the S&P 500 are at five-year highs. This week, the number…

A snowboarder near the Sacre Coeur Basilica in Paris Sunday.

Globe Trot: Snow in Europe, French fashion, standoff in Algeria, Mali, ethnic cleansing in Sudan

International |  In Washington it’s Inauguration Day. In Paris and other European capitals, it’s a snow day. Big headaches for European travelers but a fond view for those…

Signs and Wonders: Airbrushing Jesus out of Christmas, Chinese doomsdayers detained …

Signs and Wonders: Airbrushing Jesus out of Christmas, Chinese doomsdayers detained …

Newsworthy |  Airbrushing Jesus. The Telegraph in London reports that a team of “mystery shoppers from Nielsen brand auditors visited the card aisles in branches of…

Several thousand abortion rights protesters march through central Dublin, Saturday, Nov. 17.

Reporter of Savita story said facts may be 'muddled'

Abortion |  After Irish pro-abortion advocates used Savita Halappanavar's death to urge changes to the country’s pro-life laws, the reporter who broke the story now…

A page from the Toys R Us catalog in Sweden

A truck for Trisha and a dolly for Donald

Culture |  Christmas shopping for the kids just got a whole lot more complicated for parents in Sweden, where Top-Toy Group, a licensee of the Toys R Us brand, decided…

A J-15 fighter jet takes off from China's first aircraft carrier, the <em>Liaoning</em>

Globe Trot 11.28

International |  Operation World is a great resource—loaded with demographic information about religious and ethnic groups around the world—but it’s also a daily prayer…

Voters in Barcelona wait in line to cast their ballots on Sunday.

Viva Catalonia?

Europe |  While secession petitions gain signatures in Texas, the separatist movement that might be successful is in Catalonia, the part of northeast Spain that boasts…

Bank employees protest outside the Greek parliament.

Globe Trot 10.24

International |  The euro is falling, this time over unexpectedly bad numbers from Germany—Europe’s economic powerhouse—that show the eurozone crisis oozing into the…

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