The Kremlin said Mr Putin had informed President Obama of the disaster after learning of it just before a scheduled phone call between the two.

The German economy is set to benefit as the country's football victory draws shoppers to the "Made in Germany" brand, says a research firm.

Travel back in time from the war cemeteries of Gallipoli to the ancient wonders of Istanbul.

Ellen Creager soaks up some natural wonders and architecture under Reykjavik's midnight sun.

Ewan McDonald stays at the Malmaison, a former "house of negotiable affection" in Edinburgh.

It was the Everest of its time, and some 25,000 people try to scale it every year. But the issue of climbing Europe's tallest mountain has come to an ugly head.

Even bloodthirsty Count Dracula likes a sundowner now and then, learns Kevin Pilley.

The good folk of Tuscany are offering lessons in manners to wealthy Russian tourists.

Over a dozen NZ women have told Maggie Barry they were also indecently assaulted by Rolf Harris - and one is considering an official complaint to police after years of silence.

To fund big deals, buyers are using stock to fuel the best quarter for global takeovers since 2007.

A waiter, whose adoptive parents are peasants, claims to be the son of former Spanish king Juan Carlos and has launched a paternity suit.

The online abuse aimed at the Harry Potter author JK Rowling after she donated £1 million to the Better Together campaign may have actually been the work of British spies, a senior Scottish politician has claimed.

From igloos to heli lodges in the Canadian wilderness, Jennifer Ennion looks at three of the Northern Hemisphere's top snow hotels.

One of Greenpeace's most senior executives commutes 400km each way to work by plane, the environmental group has admitted.

Heads of the European Union gather in Brussels this week for a meeting that may point to Britain's prospects of staying in the EU or heading for the exit.

The EU has to rely on antitrust and privacy rules to curb Google's search-engine dominance and can't just break up the company, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said.

Rolf Harris' lawyer has told a court in the closing arguments of his sex trial that his client has been punished for his infidelity by public humiliation.

Detlef Berg discovers an historic gem of a city with a Unesco-listed monument at its heart.

World Cup fever has officially kicked off as the first game of the competition got under way this morning.

Tax breaks for Apple, Starbucks and Fiat are under investigation in a clampdown on special treatment for companies.

A friend of a New Zealander killed by a falling tree branch at the world-famous Kew Gardens in England has recounted the horrifying ordeal at an inquest.

The Irish government is launching a full-scale investigation into controversial Catholic homes for unmarried mothers, following revelations that up to 800 infants died in one such institution over a 35-year period.

"Sea," said King Canute, the 11th-century Danish King of England, "I command you to come no further!"

A spectacular fail by the Environmental Protection Authority raises serious questions about its reliability as a guardian of the environment, writes Simon Terry.

The European Central Bank is all but certain to cut interest rates today to try to boost ultra-low inflation and strengthen the wobbly recovery in the 18 countries that use the euro

One baby has died and 14 others are fighting for their lives after being poisoned in NHS neonatal care units in the UK.

In Dublin, Ewan McDonald settles into the front-parlour of Irish folk music.