Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is due in court on Wednesday to face charges in the worst mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, a crime that could bring the death penalty. The 19-year-old ethnic Chechen was charged late last month with killing three people by setting off homemade pressure-cooker bombs, assembled by him

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday bowed to pressure for an early election after his junior coalition partner blamed him for failing to curb abuses of power by the secret service. "I will convene the government tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) and will go to the Palace to suggest snap elections to

Hungary will raise wages for 150,000 teachers from September by an average 34 percent and give further hikes every year until 2017, a government minister said on Wednesday. The measure could help Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party to cement its comfortable opinion poll lead in the run-up to a national election expected next April

Silvio Berlusconi's party boycotted a summit of Italy's fragile coalition government and blocked parliamentary activity on Wednesday in protest against a supreme court decision to fast track a ruling that could ban him from public office. Almost all activity in both chambers of parliament was suspended for a day because of the protest by Berlusconi's

France needs to beef up its methods for fighting tax evasion, according to a parliamentary report on a tax probe into HSBC that revealed $5 billion of undeclared assets across thousands of accounts. The report, published on Wednesday, looked at why it took French authorities more than four years to begin an investigation into HSBC

Italian Serie A clubs Lazio and Genoa, lower league side Lecce and eight players have been referred to a disciplinary tribunal over allegations of match-fixing in the 2010/11 season, the Italian football federation (FIGC) said on Wednesday. Lazio midfielder Stefano Mauri was among the eight players who were accused of "sporting fraud" by FIGC after

Greek workers will walk off the job in a 24-hour general strike next week, unions said on Wednesday, in the first major protest against the government's latest plan to cut thousands of public sector jobs to please international lenders. The July 16 strike could coincide with a parliamentary vote expected next week on the policies

Egypt's new interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said he would start work on forming his new cabinet on Wednesday, first meeting liberal leaders Mohamed ElBaradei and Ziad Bahaa-Eldin. Beblawi told Reuters he accepted that it would be difficult to win the unanimous support of Egyptians for his new government. "Of course we respect the public

British luxury brand Burberry maintained its full-year guidance as it posted an 18 percent rise in first quarter underlying retail revenue, driven by robust demand for spring/summer fashion. The 157-year-old seller of raincoats and leather goods, known for its camel, red and black check pattern, said on Wednesday it made 339 million pounds ($503 million)

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's final appeal against a prison term and a ban for tax fraud is expected to be heard in court on July 30, much earlier than expected, his lawyers said on Tuesday. The speeded-up timetable heightened the pressures on Prime Minister Enrico Letta's fragile coalition government, which depends on the