A dozen previously unknown shipwrecks, some of them believed to be up to 1,000 years old, were discovered in the Baltic Sea, Swedish National Heritage Board said. Many of the ships are from the 17th and 18th centuries and some could even be from the Middle Ages, said Peter Norman, a senior advisor with Sweden's National Heritage Board. The shipwrecks were discovered during a probe of the sea bed by the Russian-led Nord Stream consortium, which is building a 750-mile pipeline in the Baltic Sea.

Austrian scientist Claudia von Werlhof, right, has accused the USA of being behind the Haitian earthquake in January. Her boss slams the theory of the Innsbruck-based professor.

Europe’s aeronautic defense giant EADS has withdrawn its bid for the US Air Force’s 25-billion euro tanker program. The decision by its American partner Northrop Grumman Corp leaves Boeing as the only bidder for the contract.The Pentagon re-issued bid requests last month for the third time in nine years to replace its fleet of KC-135 refueling tankers. EADS had complained that the draft proposal appeared to favor a smaller plane offered by its Chicago-based rival.

The European Commission and the EU's biggest economy, Germany, are planning to create a "European IMF" that could rescue debt-ridden countries like Greece, officials said on Monday. "The (European) Commission is ready to propose a European instrument like this that would have the support of eurozone members," the EU's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told the Financial Times Deutschland.
Rehn emphasized the financial aid would be linked to "strict conditions."

Europe needs a leader, but the only person capable of steering Europe out of the current crisis doesn't want the job - Angela Merkel, the "Slow-Motion" German Chancellor, as the US news magazine Newsweek calls her in a cover story.

The 53-year-old said he was "shocked" when Penelope Cruz spoke out his name for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 82nd Academy Awards – despite the fact bookmakers regarded him as clear favorite to snatch the prize.
It was the 18th award for the Vienna-born actor’s performance as fictional SS colonel Hans Landa in the World War II satire.

Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a referendum that would have seen lawyers assigned to defend animals in court proceedings. 70 percent said 'no' to the poll.

Austrian actor Christoph Waltz won the first Oscar of the night, as he picked up the supporting actor Academy Award for his performance in World War II drama Inglourious Basterds. Waltz, 53, was odds-on favorite after winning nearly 30 awards for his performance, including best actor at the Cannes Film Festival as well as a Golden Globe Award earlier this year. Presented with his golden statuette by actress Penelope Cruz, Waltz was clearly pleased.
"An Oscar and Penelope, that's an über bingo," he said.

Not too many are aware of the important role German-Americans played in the Civil War. For example, when I first saw Ken Burns’ PBS film on the Civil War I was surprised that no mention was made of German-Americans in the Union Army, especially the many German regiments that they had formed. Photo: Carl Schurz statue in New York

A tabloid told visiting Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou he was in a country where, unlike his own, people "get up early and work."

Germany is set for a record deficit of €80.2 billion after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right coalition agreed on its first budget early on Friday morning. The parliamentary budgetary committee debated the final plan for 14 hours, finally deciding on new debt for 2010 that was €5.6 billion less than that proposed by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

With publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, the hunt was on for the “missing link.” Fame and fortune aiwated the scientist who found the link proving Darwin right: that man evolved from a monkey. In 1912, success! In a gravel pit near Piltdown in East Sussex, there was found the cranium of a man with the jaw of an ape.

“Darwin Theory Proved True,” ran the banner headline.
Evolution skeptics were pilloried, and three English scientists were knighted for validating Piltdown Man.

Raabe's slightly reedy, highly modulated voice belongs to an old gramophone record. The dozen backup players are a cross between big band and salon orchestra. Photo: The goup poses in Toronto.

The European Union's new Energy Commissioner, former Baden-Württenberg governor Günther Oettinger said Thursday financing the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project would significantly reduce Europe’s energy dependence on one supplier.

Greece must sell islands to cut its debts, two right-wing German politicians said in an interview that is bound to exacerbate tensions between Athens and Berlin.