EXTRA: Niinisto leads as polls close in Finland presidential vote

2ND LEAD: Britain hails new lease of life for

London (dpa) - The decision by US carmaker General Motors (GM) to have a new model of the popular Astra car built at its Vauxhall subsidiary in Britain was hailed as a major breakthrough by politicians and trade union leaders Thursday.The deal, which

Politics

Monti shows support for Italy's tax collectors

Rome (dpa) - Italy‘s Prime Minister Mario Monti on Thursday visited the headquarters of one of the country‘s two tax collection agencies, in a show of solidarity following a spate of recent attacks on their offices.His visit came on a day

Air controllers' strike prompts cancellations,

Lisbon (dpa) - A strike by Portuguese air traffic controllers on Thursday led to more than 20 flights being cancelled and more than 100 flights suffering delays, the airport authority ANA said.Some flights registered delays of more than two hours.

Politics

Israeli shelling wounds seven east of Gaza City

Gaza City (dpa) - Israeli tanks shelled a group of Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip Thursday, wounding seven people, the head of the emergency services in Gaza said.An Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv said that tanks stationed on the

LEAD: Vauxhall plant in Britain gets all clear in

London (dpa) - Workers at the Vauxhall car company, the British subsidiary of US firm General Motors (GM), voted overwhelmingly Thursday to accept a new deal on pay and conditions, saving the plant from the threat of closure.The vote will pave the

Berlin delays airport opening until 2013 after

Berlin (dpa) - German authorities on Thursday postponed the opening of Berlin‘s new airport until March 17, 2013, nine months over schedule, after embarrassing planning bungles at one of Europe‘s biggest infrastructure projects.They had

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Facts

EU budget increase for 2012 limited to 1.86 per

Brussels (dpa) - The European Union‘s budget is to increase by 1.86 per cent next year, the European Parliament agreed Thursday, giving the final seal of approval to the bloc‘s 2012 spending plans, a day after EU finance ministers gave

Facts

Tehran police prevent Western media from visiting

Tehran (dpa) - Tehran police on Thursday prevented Western media from visiting the British residential compound which was invaded by students two days earlier.The Tehran embassy of Poland - which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union -

Facts

Kazan

1000 years ago, at the end of the 10th or early 11th century, a well fortified frontier fortress emerged on the northern edge of the Volga Boulgaria. It was built on a high cape on the left bank of the Kazanka River, near its confluence to the Volga.