A strange pair of stars is much closer to Earth than scientists ever thought, a discovery that finally helps explain a puzzling mystery behind the stellar twins, scientists say.

LONDON (Reuters) - A middle-aged cub scout mistress who gave two bloodied knifemen a stern talking to as a British soldier lay dead on the street was hailed as a hero for embodying the "spirit of London". And as some in the capital complained about immigrants after a killing blamed on British Muslim converts with Nigerian …

By Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock markets around the world fell on Thursday, extending the previous day's steep decline on concerns over the pace of global economic growth and when the U.S. ...

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European regulators have dropped a bid to make pension funds subject to the same capital rules as banks and insurers, which could have cost European businesses billions of pounds ...

TORONTO - Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan has long drawn musical inspiration from his troubled homeland. Now he says he's ready to make a film about his war-torn roots.

PARIS (Reuters) - The number of jobless will continue to rise in France through 2014, the country's unemployment benefit fund said on Thursday, contradicting President Francois Hollande's pledge to stem job losses by year-end. The UNEDIC fund projects the rising number of jobless means it will finish this year 4.8 billion …

By Annika Breidthardt BERLIN (Reuters) - German alarm that their country is blamed for austerity measures compounding the problems in the euro zone helps explain Berlin's bilateral efforts to tackle youth unemployment in some of the countries worst affected. That image problem needs addressing in part because Germany needs …

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's DIHK Chambers of Commerce cut their growth forecast for this year on Thursday as the country's private sector cut jobs, suggesting Europe's biggest economy may recover more ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is pledging 5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) to boost research on semiconductors and other electronics items used in everything from smartphones to cars, in a bid to boost the sector which is lagging U.S. and Asian rivals. Europe's micro- and nano-electronics industry has grown 5 percent …

By Poornima Gupta and Padraic Halpin SAN FRANCISCO/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest countries, former company executives and Irish officials have said. Chief Executive Tim Cook faced criticism …

By Andy Bruce and Steven C. Johnson LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese factory activity declined in May for the first time in seven months and U.S. manufacturing grew at its slowest pace since October, suggesting it may take a while before the global economy starts to pick up steam. Thursday's downbeat business surveys …

(Corrects 12th para to say third place would send St Etienne into third preliminary round of Champions League, clarifies third para) PARIS, May 23 (Reuters) - Ten-times French champions St Etienne go into their final Ligue 1 match of the season still clinging to an outside hope of qualifying for the Champions League for …

PARIS - International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is facing questions at a special Paris court Thursday over her role in the 400 million euro ($520 million) pay-off to a controversial businessman when she was France's finance minister.