Europe

Royal Baby News Or No? Guardian Lets Web Visitors Decide

9:02pm July 22, 2013

The Guardian's U.S. editor in chief, Janine Gibson, discusses how the news organization came up with the idea to let visitors to its website see news about the royal baby or not. You can click on "Royalist" or "Republican." (In the U.S., the choice is "Royalist" or "Not a royalist.") We muse on what this means.

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World News

U.K. Cracking Down On Porn, Blocking It Unless Users Opt In

9:02pm July 22, 2013

The British prime minister says a plan to outlaw "violent" porn and block certain search terms is designed to protect children. Will a crackdown result in less child abuse?

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A Muslim woman walks in a Paris suburb where protesters clashed with police over the weekend. The demonstrators oppose the way the police have enforced a ban on Islamic face veils. Five people were injured and six detained in the unrest.

World News

'Burqa Ban' Sparks Another Round Of Clashes In France

9:02pm July 22, 2013

by Eleanor Beardsley

Police enforcement of a ban on women wearing full-face veils in public places sparked unrest in a Paris suburb over the weekend. The law was approved two years ago, but remains a sensitive issue.

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Tour De France Racers Want To Leave Shadow Of Doping Behind

6:00am July 19, 2013

by Eleanor Beardsley

The Tour de France reaches its conclusion on Sunday. This year, angry competitors said they were sick of riding under the cloud of dopers from the 1990s and 2000s. The current race appears to be dope-free, but one can't be sure about that yet.

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World News

Russian Opposition Leader Convicted Amid Controversy

6:00am July 19, 2013

by Corey Flintoff

A Russian court has convicted one of the country's most prominent opposition leaders of embezzlement. Alexei Navalny faces a sentence of five years in prison in a controversial case that he says was trumped up to derail his political career. Navalny was instrumental in organizing mass protests against the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Shashlik cooks on a hot grill. Kakheti, the easternmost province in the Republic of Georgia, is known for meats grilled over grapevines, which burn quickly, leaving a heap of finger-sized coals.

The Secret To Georgian Grilled Meats? Grapevines And Lots Of Wine

3:27pm July 16, 2013

by Corey Flintoff

The Republic of Georgia is renowned for its cuisine, one of the highlights of which is shashlik, or grilled meat. The secret to seal in the juices, some say, is an ancient technique of grilling over burning grapevines to create intense, fragrant heat.

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A massive cruise ships towers over Venice. Some 650 cruise ships now visit the Italian city annually, and critics say they threaten the city's fragile architecture.

World News

In Venice, Huge Cruise Ships Bring Tourists And Complaints

6:13pm July 15, 2013

by Sylvia Poggioli

The Italian city welcomes tourists, but there's been a backlash to the 650 cruise ships that sail down the canals and tower over the city. The city government and the Venice Port Authority have agreed to search for solutions.

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Royal well-wisher Terry Hutt poses for a picture as he waits outside the Lindo Wing of Saint Mary's Hospital in London on Friday.

World News

Brits On Royal Baby Watch As Rumored Due Date Arrives

11:15pm July 13, 2013

by Scott Neuman

A Daily Mail reporter says the betting public in Britain favors Elizabeth III or George VII for the name of the much-anticipated royal addition.

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After WikiLeaks Drama, Kremlin Goes Old School

7:00am July 12, 2013

The Kremlin's security agency has bought $15,000 worth of electric typewriters. A source told a Russian newspaper that after WikiLeaks and the Edward Snowden scandal, the Kremlin decided to "expand the practice of creating paper documents."

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Environmentalists Warn Olympic Games Will Harm Sochi

6:19am July 12, 2013

by Corey Flintoff

Russia is preparing for the 2014 Winter Games — turning a sleepy valley in the Northern Caucasus Mountains into an Olympic village, with brand-new facilities for every Alpine sport. Officials say it will be a world-class destination for winter-sports enthusiasts long after the Games are over. Environmentalists say it's an ecological disaster in the making.

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