• Swedish palace: crown princess about to give birth (AP)
    AP - The Swedish Royal Court says Crown Princess Victoria has been admitted to a hospital for the birth of her first child, who would be a future heir to the throne.
  • Polished London Fashion Week sheds its quirky image (Reuters)
    Reuters - London Fashion Week shook off its traditional image as a mere playground for quirky emerging talent with a display of grown-up elegance for the autumn/winter 2012 season that had leaders of the global fashion pack singing the British capital's praises.
  • Russia warns against 'hasty conclusions' over Iran (AP)

    Herman Nackaerts (R), head of a delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrives from Iran next to delegates Raphael Grossi (L) and Laura Rockwook at the airport in Vienna February 22, 2012. The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday it had failed to secure an agreement with Iran during talks over disputed atomic activities and that the Islamic Republic had rejected a request to visit a military site. The team from the IAEA had hoped to inspect a site at Parchin, southeast of the capital Tehran, where the agency believes there is a containment chamber to test explosives, suggesting possible weapon development. Iran has denied the charge that it is developing nuclear weapons. REUTERS/Herwig PrammerAP - Russia said Wednesday the world should not draw "hasty conclusions" over Iran's most recent rebuff of U.N. attempts to investigate allegations the Islamic Republic hid secret work on atomic arms, but the U.S. and its allies accused Tehran of nuclear defiance.


  • Treasury says Europe needs solid debt firewall (Reuters)
    Reuters - It is "critical" that Europe put up a convincing firewall against the risk of financial contagion from its debt crisis before more aid from the International Monetary Fund is discussed, a top Treasury Department official said on Wednesday.
  • Putin praises Cold War moles for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets (Reuters)
    Reuters - Vladimir Putin praised Cold War-era scientists on Thursday for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets so that United States would not be the world's sole atomic power, in comments reflecting his vision of Russia as a counterweight to U.S. power.
  • U.S., European security officials discount Iran-Al Qaeda links (Reuters)
    Reuters - U.S. and European officials are downplaying allegations that Iran and al Qaeda have recently stepped up cooperation in preparation for possible attacks on U.S. and other Western targets.
  • Banks sink on European economic worry (Reuters)

    Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange February 21, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidReuters - Banks led stocks lower on Wednesday as the S&P 500 stalled near a 10-month-high after signs of weak European business activity rekindled concerns about a recession overseas.


  • Lithuanian archive releases KGB collaborator names (AP)
    AP - Lithuania's government has released the names of 238 citizens who were reservists for the KGB when their country was ruled by the Soviet Union, and said Wednesday it plans to identify scores of people who have refused to disclose their relations with the security agency.
  • As austerity bites hard, a once pliant Spain revolts (The Christian Science Monitor)
    The Christian Science Monitor - After four days of daily protests, some violently dispersed, Spain is bracing for a cycle of social unrest against the harshest austerity measures in decades. At stake is not only Spain’s economic recovery, but that of the European Union.
  • Pope marks Ash Wednesday (AP)
    AP - Pope Benedict XVI rode on a motorized cart in an Ash Wednesday procession, forsaking the traditional short walk between two Rome churches as the 84-year-old pontiff tries to conserve his energy.
  • American war reporter Marie Colvin killed in Syria (AP)
    AP - She was instantly recognizable for the eye patch that hid a shrapnel injury — a testament to Marie Colvin's courage, which took her behind the front lines of the world's deadliest conflicts to write about the suffering of individuals trapped in war.
  • Strauss-Kahn freed after French police questioning (AP)

    FILE In this Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008 file photo International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn speaks during a news conference in Washington. Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be questioned Tuesday Feb. 21, 2012 by French police investigating a suspected hotel prostitution ring. Police have questioned prostitutes who said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn during 2010 and 2011 at a luxury hotel in Paris, a restaurant in the French capital and also in Washington DC. Strauss-Kahn lived in the U.S. capital while he was head of the International Monetary Fund before resigning his IMF position in May. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)AP - French police released former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Wednesday after nearly 30 hours in custody for questioning about a suspected hotel prostitution ring.


  • Italian winter fashion opts for dark (AP)
    AP - After several weeks of snow and subfreezing temperatures in Italy, the chill is out of the air — at least weather-wise — and Italian designers are looking at the bright side of things as they begin the latest round of preview showings for fall-winter 2012-2013.
  • Estonians held on allegations of spying for Russia (AP)
    AP - A longtime security official and his wife have been detained in Estonia on suspicion of passing classified information and state secrets to Russia, prosecutors said Wednesday in a case likely to add to long-standing tensions between the two countries.
  • Moammar Gadhafi's daughter seeks death certificate (AP)

    FILE - This July 25, 2007 file photo shows Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy standing while national anthems are being played, at the Bab Azizia Palace in Tripoli, Libya. French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Wednesday that he will seek a second term despite years of low popularity ratings, pledging to boost its lagging economy and protect France's way of life. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)AP - Lawyers for the daughter of Moammar Gadhafi have filed a formal petition at the International Criminal Court seeking an authorized copy of the former Libyan leader's death certificate.


  • Final interview: Colvin describes deaths in Syria (AP)
    AP - This is the text of American war reporter Marie Colvin's final interview, given to BBC television from the Syrian city of Homs the night before she was killed Wednesday. She was staying in a house in the neighborhood of Baba Amr. Reprinted with the permission of the BBC.
  • List of dead, missing from Concordia cruise ship (AP)
    AP - A list of those dead or missing in the grounding of the cruise ship Costa Concordia off Italy. Italian officials released a list of the missing. Those not listed as crew are passengers.
  • Syrian opposition urges Russia to back aid plan (AP)

    In this Feb. 18, 2012 citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012, anti-Syrian regime mourners carry the coffins of two protesters according to Syrian activists that were killed by the Syrian security forces during a demonstration, at Mazzeh district in Damascus, Syria. Syrian security forces fired live rounds and tear gas Saturday at thousands of people marching in a funeral procession that turned into one of the largest protests in Damascus since the 11-month uprising against President Bashar Assad began. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTOAP - Syria's main opposition group said Wednesday that foreign military intervention may be the only way to ensure emergency aid can reach those trapped by fighting if talks fail to ensure safe passage for humanitarian workers to reach embattled parts of the country.


  • French photographer, 28, killed in Syria (AP)
    AP - Remi Ochlik didn't waste any time celebrating after he won one of photojournalism's most prestigious prizes two weeks ago. Hours later, he was on a plane headed back to work in Middle East danger zones, a friend recalled.
  • Leaders meet in UK over fragile Somalia's future (AP)

    Seen through the ruins of a building damaged during a previous conflict, Kenyan army soldiers patrol in Tabda, inside Somalia, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012. Kenya's military crossed the border into Somalia in an offensive against Somali militant group al-Shabab in October after Somali gunmen carried out several kidnappings in Kenya, and al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri announced a merger between al-Shabab with al-Qaida in early February. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)AP - Somalia's fragile leadership, its neighbors and international allies are meeting in London in the hope of speeding the troubled east African nation's progress toward a stable government and containing the threat from Islamic militants who some fear could export terrorism to Europe and the United States.