Citing an improving economy as well as the strategic importance of the brand, General Motors Board of Directors has voted to keep its Opel unit. It had been considering selling a majority stake to Magna International Inc. and partner OAO Sberbank.

A report compiled by the Council of Europe warns that the killings of women by family members to protect their so-called honor is far more extensive in Europe than previously believed. The report was published by the council's gender equality committee at a meeting in Istanbul.

As expected the European Commission fined Intel a record 1.06 billion euros (or about $1.45B) on Wednesday for antitrust violations. The European Commission, for those who don't know, is the Executive Branch of the European Union.

Freezing temperatures, combined with snow over the past few days, have caused travel problems throughout Europe and been responsible for the death of 10 people. On Monday, a strong winter storm moved across Europe, covering parts of Europe with several inches of snow in France and the United Kingdom.

Ukraine's Naftogaz said Wednesday it could start confiscating Russian natural gas meant for European consumers after January 1 if no new contract is agreed for 2009.

A prognosis by the European statistics agency Eurostat concludes that Europe is an aging continent. It says that by 2060 almost a third of the population of the present EU countries will be aged over 65.

U.S. President George Bush is on his way to Europe for talks with European Union leaders in Slovenia, and discussions in Germany, Italy, the Vatican, France and the United Kingdom. VOA White House Correspondent Paula Wolfson reports it is likely to be his last official visit to the region, before leaving office.

The BMJ Group’s mission to improve access to evidence based medicine for doctors around the world comes a step closer as a result of new agreements in Germany and New Zealand.

The Earth's crust is, on global average around 40 kilometres deep. In relation to the total diameter of the Earth with approx. 12800 kilometres this appears to be rather shallow, but precisely these upper kilometres of the crust, the human habitat, is of special interest for us. Europe's crust shows an astonishing diversity: for example the crust under Finland is as deep as one only expects for crust under a mountain range such as the Alps.

Company Recognize as One of the 100 “Most Promising” Companies Driving the Future of Technology

New regional development center in Germany is part of $75 million global investment by Windows Embedded Business.

Transport Ministers from 19 European and Asian countries have agreed to continue work on developing transport links they say will act as an economic boon to the whole region. The UN Economic Commission for Europe, which hosted the meeting, says the unprecedented economic growth of Euro-Asian region is at risk if the current transport situation is not addressed. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.