Europe

Munich's Mayor Dieter Reiter uses a wooden hammer to pound a tap into the first Oktoberfest beer barrel. "It is not most important mayoral job, but it is the most watched," says Christoph Deumling.

World News

Munich Mayor Survives Key Political Test: Tapping The First Keg

1:13am September 28, 2014

by Tom Dreisbach

Every year at Oktoberfest, the mayor of Munich, Germany, faces a public challenge — driving a tap into the ceremonial first beer barrel. Expectations were especially high for new mayor Dieter Reiter.

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President of Catalonia's regional government Artur Mas acknowledges cheers Saturday after signing a law setting a Nov. 9 vote on independence. At left is the president of the Catalan Parliament, Nuria de Gispert.

World News

Catalonia Defies Spain As Leader Signs Decree For Breakaway Vote

12:49pm September 27, 2014

by Bill Chappell

Catalonia's leader has set a November date for a vote on whether the northeast region of Spain should become independent. Spain's central government has said it will block the vote.

This grocery store packet of porcini mushrooms contained a surprise: three species of fungi never before named or described.

Before You Take A Bite Of That Mushroom, Consider This

6:03pm September 26, 2014

by Alison Bruzek

Guess what scientists found lurking inside a common-looking packet of supermarket porcini? Three entirely new species of fungi. That's what happens when you sequence the DNA of your dinner.

British Parliament Approves Airstrikes Against ISIS

5:51pm September 26, 2014

by Ari Shapiro

The British Parliament voted Friday to join U.S.-led airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq. It's an important political marker for the Obama administration's efforts to build a worldwide alliance.

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An engineer oversees the gas distribution system of Hungary's gas pipeline operator FGSZ in Kiskundorozsma, in August. The distributor announced that it would cut off gas supplies to Ukraine.

World News

Hungary Shuts Off Re-Export Of Natural Gas To Ukraine

4:29pm September 26, 2014

by Scott Neuman

Hungary's national gas operator says the "indefinite" cutoff is over domestic supply concerns, but the move comes just days after the CEO of Russia's Gazprom monopoly visited Budapest.

Belgium Likes Underground Beer. No, Literally

3:52pm September 26, 2014

by Alison Bruzek

The historic city of Bruges is getting a 2-mile-long underground beer pipeline. Too bad it's from brewery to factory, not brewery to your door.

British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses the Houses of Parliament on Friday. He urged MPs to authorize the U.K.'s participation in anti-ISIS airstrikes.

U.K. Approves Joining Anti-ISIS Airstrikes In Iraq

3:23pm September 26, 2014

by Scott Neuman

The parliamentary vote comes after Prime Minister David Cameron urged MPs to authorize participation, saying the self-declared Islamic State poses a "clear and proven" danger to his country.

Sweet or salty? Historically among Eastern European Jews, how they liked their gefilte fish depended on where they lived. This divide created a strictly Jewish geography known as "the gefilte fish line."

The Gefilte Fish Line: A Sweet And Salty History Of Jewish Identity

1:41pm September 26, 2014

by Deena Prichep

Gefilte fish can be a hard sell even in its standard savory form. But some European Jews like it sweet, a preference that, surprisingly, overlaps exactly with a geographic and linguistic divide.

Sister Teresa Forcades prays over the graves of fellow nuns in a cemetery at her Sant Benet Monastery in Montserrat, Spain.

The Outspoken Spanish Nun Who's Made Herself A Political Force

11:12am September 26, 2014

by Lauren Frayer

From her convent on a sacred mountain, Benedictine nun Teresa Forcades — a feminist medical doctor with a Ph.D. in public health — is a prominent leftist and leading advocate of Catalan independence.

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Vatican Arrests One Of Its Own On Child Sex Abuse Charges

11:12am September 26, 2014

by Sylvia Poggioli

For the first time, the Vatican has put one of its own under house arrest for alleged sex abuse of minors. Josef Wesolowski is the Vatican's former ambassador to the Dominican Republic and was defrocked in June.

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