The ghost of the late Muammar Gaddafi continued to haunt the French election campaign yesterday as a poll showed President Sarkozy gaining some ground on the Socialist frontrunner, François Hollande.

Ukraine faces an embarrassing boycott of next month's Euro 2012 football tournament by European leaders, in protest at the treatment in jail of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

The battered Spanish economy has officially slumped back into recession, as figures yesterday showed that the eurozone laggard shrank by 0.3 per cent over the first three months of the year.

WILMINGTON - Google is maandag aangeklaagd door aandeelhouder Brockton Retirement Board die de voorgenomen aandelensplitsing van de internetgigant wil voorkomen.

AMSTERDAM - LONDEN - Een Britse rechter heeft internetproviders in Groot-Brittannië opgedragen de populaire torrentsite The Pirate Bay te blokkeren. 

The pound hit a 22-month high against the euro today as fears grew about the strength of Spain's economy.

AMSTERDAM – De Finse mobieltjesmaker verkoopt het Britse onderdeel Vertu aan een investeringsmaatschappij. Nokia, dat vorige week de kredietstatus zag afgewaardeerd worden naar ‘junk’, krijgt voor het onderdeel 200 miljoen euro.

The Vatican is facing a deepening controversy over the burial 22 years ago of a notorious crime boss, with reports emerging that the church accepted a one billion lire (£407,000) payment from the mobster's widow to allow his interment in a basilica.

An unpleasant election campaign turned even nastier and more confusing yesterday. After days of making baseless accusations of his own, President Nicolas Sarkozy claimed that he was the "victim" of a smear plot by the Socialist front-runner, François Hollande.

Outside our village hall, the 10 metal election boards stand empty. The faces of the politicians have been torn off by the wind. A few metres away is a rough, communal field which turns one weekend each July into a joyous festival of sausage grilling and pony jumping. Beyond is a breathtaking panorama of the forests and hills of the Suisse Normande – "Norman Switzerland".

The family of Meredith Kercher have called on her killer to reveal what happened on the night of her death, as they release previously unpublished photographs of the murdered student.

AMSTERDAM - Google was zich ervan bewust dat een van zijn werknemers een omstreden functie in Street View had ontwikkeld waardoor er zonder toestemming gegevens van internetgebruikers werden verzameld.

The eurozone is facing a "perfect political storm" as millions of Europeans are given an opportunity to vote on the austerity policies that have helped plunge the single currency back into recession.

The stormtroopers had hung a placard around the neck of the terrified Jewish woman that proclaimed: "I am a Jewish sow". The mob standing near by on the streets of Nazi-annexed Vienna laughed and cheered with glee. But somehow a tall man with a moustache and receding hairline managed to push his way to the front and save her.

AMSTERDAM - De handelspraktijken van internetbedrijf Google worden ook in Argentinië en Zuid-Korea onderzocht. De VS en EU waren eerder al een onderzoek gestart naar mogelijk misbruik van Google's machtspositie.

Former Fianna Fail TD Ned O'Keeffe was released without charge after being questioned by gardai over suspected fraud offences.

AMSTERDAM - Yahoo heeft twee patenten toegevoegd aan de rechtszaak tegen het sociale netwerk Facebook. De website beschuldigt Facebook ervan patenten te kopen om wraak te nemen in de rechtszaal.

Investigators have intercepted a hand-written letter sent to a jailed mobster that has shed new light on the secret language that allows mafia bosses to stay in contact with clan members from behind bars.

Four bombs tore through the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk yesterday, just six weeks before the country is due to co-host the Euro 2012 football championships.

The world-famous conductor Kurt Masur is recovering in hospital in Paris after he fell off a podium during a concert.