Europe

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that 1,500 people have been killed in South Ossetia since the start of Georgia's attack on the breakaway republic.

The European Union imposed new trade sanctions against Iran Friday, as Tehran continues to hold out against international demands that it freeze its nuclear enrichment program.

The Georgian military attacked the capital of breakaway South Ossetia on Friday with tanks and infantry and bombed a village, despite a ceasefire declared by Georgia, the separatist government said.

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin says he believes that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should be consigned to history.

Fighting between Georgian forces and separatists broke out Thursday just hours after Georgia's President Saakashvili called for an immediate cease-fire.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warns Georgia and Ukraine of serious consequences if they continue with plans to join NATO.

Italy has deployed thousands of troops across the country in an effort to combat crime. While many Italians appear to be in favor of the move, some have criticized the move as a government attempt to improve its image.

Video footage shown by Russian state-controlled TV channel Rossiya of the Russian submarines (MIR 1 and 2) planting a flag on the sea bed at the North pole were faked, and included shots from the James Cameron film Titanic, according to a Finnish newspaper.

Italy's culture minister is calling an accord reached with the J. Paul Getty Museum for the return of 40 ancient artifacts "historic" and a victory for artistic ethics. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome that Francesco Rutelli also says it is a blow to looters and art traffickers worldwide.

Researchers aboard two small Russian submarines have planted the country's flag nearly 4,300 meters below the North Pole. The mission was aimed at laying claim to vast mineral riches below the polar ice cap.

In several weeks there will be a Presidential election in France which will end the 12 year reign of Jacques Chirac. It looks to be a close and interesting race, and the first round of voting is on April 22. Here is a brief look at the top four candidates in the polls.

The British Coast Guard is keeping close watch on a crippled freighter leaking oil into the English Channel off southwest England.

A Russian general says placing elements of a U.S. anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic would be a "clear threat" to Moscow.

Veteran Stephane Peterhansel won his ninth rally title, his third win in an automobile, a Mitsubishi. He has won the motorcycle crown six times. This year that title went to his countryman Cyril Despres.

An unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft has docked at the International Space Station after a journey from Earth.