Hungary's prime minister has rejected criticism from the European Union over changes to the country's constitution. The EU is among those who fear the changes threaten Hungary's democracy.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban responded to a reporter's question in Brussels on Thursday by denying that the constitutional amendments were anti-democratic or contrary to EU regulations.

"Who is able to present even one single point of evidence, facts, may I say, which could be the basis for any argument that what we are doing is against democracy?" the conservative politician said. "Without facts there is no sense of any general political discussion," he added.

The number of right-wing extremists in Germany who have gone underground is higher than previously known. Forty-nine of them are convicted violent criminals. Yet a nationwide manhunt, the police say, is unfeasible.

"A ticking time-bomb" is how Ulla Helpke, the domestic policy spokesperson for the Left Party in Germany's lower parliament, describes some of the German neo-Nazis who have gone underground. "There are at least five from the NPD [far-right German nationalist party] and another nine from their militant groups," the spokesperson said. "You have to keep an eye on those people and put pressure on the authorities here, so they make sure they get arrested."

BRUSSELS - Rising unemployment, bleak economic prospects and continued austerity is making people question the benefits of the EU, Europe's top trade unionist has said.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's (14 March) EU summit, Bernadette Segol, head of the European Trade Union Confederation, said the current policies "have failed."

"We are in a double dip recession. Unemployment is up, up and up. When is growth going to come?"

David Cameron has accused Labour and the Liberal Democrats of posturing after the collapse of cross-party talks on proposed reforms to press regulation.

The prime minister announced plans to put Conservative proposals for a royal charter to introduce a new press regulator to a vote in the House of Commons on Monday. He said that the talks with other party leaders had been halted because the gap between them was too great.

European leaders meeting in Brussels were met with protests against austerity as they try to work out a way to tackle the debt crisis crippling the Eurozone. Some of the protestors were arrested by police.

Thousands of protestors in Brussels were also demanding that EU leaders bring austerity measures to a close and focus on boosting growth and reducing unemployment.

The protests were led by the European Trade Union Association, and the direct action groups For A European Spring and Bloccupy.

European Court of Justice says Spanish eviction practices contravened European law; says Spanish judges should be able to grant a stay of eviction while a legal case is resolved; also criticised that Spanish law offers less consumer protection than EU law; court specifically considers it as disproportionate that a lender can recall a mortgage if a borrower misses a single payment; ruling raises concerns about the Spanish banking system, which may now face a much slower resolution of its bad mortgage assets;  Spanish mortgage association plays down impact of the ruling; opposition Socialists are calling for an immediate stay of all evictions; Spain's retail sales dropped 9% in the last year; poverty rates among those in employment in Spain are rising fast; Matteo Renzi says he is ready to lead Italy, but only after a new round of elections; Pier Luigi Bersani lambasts Beppe Grillo for being irresponsible in his comments that Italy was already out of the eurozone; Italy's new parliament convenes today - with no signs of a government; the US ambassador to Italy applauds Grillo's use of the social media, and gives the impression that he supported the movement; over the last year, Italians have cut their spending on food by 10%; the Italian property market continues to slump; Grillo Senate whip is endorsing "happy de-growth"; the Bank of Italy imposes a ban on bonuses, and discourages tricks to circumvent the ban; the Greek government is ready to dismiss 5000 civil servants; the Greek approval rate for the euro is falling from 70% to 59%; the Portuguese government is to announce review agreement with the troika; eurozone employment hits seven year low; the French social partners have agreed on suspension of indexation for private pensions; Slovenia's incoming prime minister forms four-party coalition; Romano Prodi says austerity went too far and euro exchange rate too high; Ireland's has a successful bond auction thanks only to a single fund; the ECB plans to hire about 800 staff to get ready for the single supervisory mechanism by July 2014; the ECB says excessive debt ratios may be the reason for the low growth in some countries; the eurozone's cross-border repo market seized up last year, giving rise to increased fragmentation; the SPD is making no headway in the German polls; Olaf Storbeck, meanwhile, says wage moderation was the cause of Germany's improved competitiveness, not Gerhard Schroder's reforms.

Germany's biggest airline, Lufthansa, has announced it's aiming to steadily increase its operating profit this year and beyond. The carrier has been struggling with fierce competition from low-budget airlines.

Lufthansa reported Thursday it would aim to slightly raise its operating profit throughout 2013, after booking 524 million euros ($678.6 million) in the previous year.

The company added that operating earnings would build up steadily over the next couple of years to reach 2.3 billion euros in 2015. CEO Christoph Franz admitted, though, that 2013 bottom-line profit would not match that of last year when the sale of its stake in travel booking firm Amadeus helped it to net earnings totaling 990 million euros.

EU leaders have gathered in Brussels to discuss budget policies, with some seeking room for maneuver on austerity to allow a greater emphasis on growth. Protesters outside the venue also urged a change in strategy.

There were signs ahead of the summit that the possibility of greater "wiggle room" on austerity - to allow for more emphasis on growth and creating employment - would be up for discussion. The summit opened at 5.30 p.m. local time.

While the European Union's (EU) strongest economy, Germany, has long taken a hard line on austerity, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on her arrival that youth unemployment should be the focus of the two-day summmit.

International lenders visiting Greece have said the southern European nation has made progress in reforms it needs to implement to secure more loans. But some issues were reported to be outstanding.

Representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank said Thursday Greece was doing well with reforms it needed to implement in order to receive the next tranche of emergency loans.

German car maker Volkswagen has said it is expecting a difficult business environment this year which will result in stagnating operating profit. But the company said sales and revenues would most likely rise.

Germany's Volkswagen group, comprising 12 brands, confirmed Thursday that its bottom-line profit last year amounted to some 22 billion euros ($28.5 billion), the highest annual net sum ever earned by a company listed in the country's blue-chip DAX index.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Germany (AmCham Germany) annually polls US investors on their views of the current situation and prospects with regard to Germany as a business location. The 58 firms that contributed to the "10th AmCham Business Barometer" generate revenues of some 95 billion euros ($123 billion) annually in Germany ad employ some 240,000 people.

US firms operating in Germany reported an optimistic outlook for the current year, after an average 2012. "The really positive thing about the barometer is that US investors do not only believe in a favorable development in Germany, but adapt their business plans and strategies accordingly," said AmCham Germany Vice-President Bernhard Mattes. "There's confidence that business operations can be expanded in Germany."

The international monetary system (IMS) is neither preventing currency volatility ... On paper, the IMS has to guarantee - with its institutions, policies and conventions - the orderly functioning of transnational financial flows and exchange-rate regimes. Over the past few years, however, most currencies' exchange-rates fluctuated at an unprecedented pace, hampering capital transfers and commercial activity. The US dollar (USD), the Euro (EUR) and the Japanese yen (JPY) witnessed policy-driven exchange-rate volatility (Box 1). Emerging market currencies appreciated rapidly as international capital chased economic performance, to abruptly depreciate when foreign money fled, driven by risk aversion. Over the next few years, currency markets' uncertainty and volatility is likely to remain high.

... nor fostering an efficient allocation of global capital. If able to trust currency markets, current-account-surplus countries would certainly lower their demand for foreign-exchange reserves - hence reducing the imbalances in the world's production and consumption. Over the past eight years, however, the demand for foreign-exchange reserves rose steadily - from USD1.3 trillion (5 percent of world GDP) in 1995 to USD10.7 trillion (15 percent) in 2012. Emerging economies holdings, at two-thirds of the total, de facto reduce global demand. Indeed, while they should invest in their local economy, developing countries end up lending cheaply to (wealthier) economies that need to save rather than spend. In other words, reserve accumulation increases global imbalances and - by pushing down long-term interest rates - sows the seeds of future financial instability.

...

Policy makers in emerging markets want neither [exchange policy extreme]. They are likely to keep opting for "intermediate regimes", by pegging their exchange-rates to the currencies of major trading partners (via basket pegs or crawling bands). Their goal is to maintain high domestic savings, and - as competitive exchange-rates increase demand for exports - enjoy current account surpluses. The resulting boost in import substitutes and aggregate demand accelerates investment and employment. China is the present-day example, but in recent years this was the case of high performing Asian economies (South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand). Unfortunately, this is a status-quo-scenario, in which the lessons of the 2008 crisis are not learned and global imbalances are to persist.

Pope Francis has called for the Catholic Church to undergo a spiritual renewal, saying it would otherwise crumble like a sandcastle. The new pontiff issued the warning in a sermon at a mass to close the papal conclave.

The pope made an appeal for reform and piety during the special mass on Thursday, his first as pontiff.

Francis said the church could not afford to stand still, but warned that the church risked becoming no more than a charitable organization if it lost its essence.

Bomb blasts that appear to have been coordinated have killed at least 18 people in Baghdad. An attack was also staged on the justice ministry.

The three explosions occurred in the Allawi neighborhood on Thursday and also wounded 30 people. Some sources put the toll higher, saying as many as 23 people had been killed and 50 wounded in the blasts that were just minutes apart.

Nepal's Supreme Court chief has been sworn in as interim prime minister, ending a 10-month deadlock. Four parties agreed to appoint Khilraj Regmi as a compromise figure. His task is to prepare elections in June.

Nepal is headed for elections on June 21 after being without a parliament for nearly a year, with the appointment of Khilraj Regmi, 63, as caretaker prime minister to replace the Maoist Baburam Bhattarai. Regmi is due to return to his regular role of chief justice after polling.

China's parliament has appointed Communist Party leader Xi Jinping the nation's president. Under rules on age and tenure, Hu Jintao, 70, stepped down in November from party leadership after a decade.

Xi, 59, who succeeded Hu as leader of the ruling Communist Party in November, was handed the largely ceremonial additional title of president with a vote of 99.7 percent by the 2,961 delegates to the National People's Congress.

BRUSSELS - EU countries could soon be competing with Iran and Russia to arm the opposing sides in Syria's civil war.

The prospect arose on Thursday (14 March), when German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle indicated that Berlin would not stand in the way of British and French plans to go ahead.

[...]was able to get pregnant using her husband's sperm, which was smuggled out from inside the jail.
[...]
the BBC has spoken to two fertility doctors in the West Bank who say there are now around 10 Palestinian women who have become pregnant using sperm smuggled out of Israeli jails.
[...]
The clinic is reluctant to give the treatment to women who already have a lot of children or whose husbands are serving only short sentences.

Before IVF can go ahead the doctor asks to see two members of both the husband and wife's families who can testify that the sperm is genuine.
[...]
The Israel Prison Service (IPS) has expressed scepticism about the smuggling claims.
[...]
there is no physical contact between security prisoners and their families, except for the last 10 minutes of the visit, during which the prisoner's children, if they are under the age of eight, are allowed access to their father.

This animation shows the dynamics of the ozone layer from January 1 to March 23 in both 2010 and 2011.

Recent observations from satellites and ground stations suggest that atmospheric ozone levels for March 2011 in the Arctic were approaching the lowest levels in the modern instrumental era.

Strasbourg - MEPs have voted to water down measures aimed at linking farm subsidies to environmental protection as part of reforms to the EU's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).

During a marathon, two-hour voting session in Strasbourg on Wednesday (13 March), deputies decided to allocate an initial 3 percent of farmland for wildlife.

Although this would rise to 5 percent in January 2016, it is a significant weakening of the 10 percent proposed by the European Commission. However, MEPs backed the commission's proposal to make at least 30 percent of subsidies dependent on environmental protection.

When I wrote A World Without Bees to investigate why honeybees were mysteriously disappearing across the US and parts of Europe, one of the conclusions I came to - having talked to beekeepers, scientists, farmers and pesticide manufacturers, and waded through piles of academic papers - was that we must suspend the use of some neonicotinoid pesticides until we had a better idea of what harm they may be causing our bees.

The European commission has an opportunity to do just that on Friday by voting for a Europe-wide suspension of three of these pesticides that have been linked to serious harm in bees. The manufacturers of these bee-toxic chemicals are currently not required to carry out tests on their potential sub-lethal impact on bees.

Environmental authorities in Rio de Janeiro have launched a huge clean-up operation after an estimated 65 tonnes of dead fish filled up the 2016 Olympic rowing lake.

The Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Rio became deoxygenated after storms washed "a large amount of organic matter" into the lake, leading to the deaths of thousands of shad, authorities told local media.

The number of people living in extreme poverty could increase by up to 3 billion by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to tackle environmental challenges, a major UN report warned on Thursday.

The 2013 Human Development Report hails better than expected progress on health, wealth and education in dozens of developing countries but says inaction on climate change, deforestation, and air and water pollution could end gains in the world's poorest countries and communities.

"Environmental threats are among the most grave impediments to lifting human development ... The longer action is delayed, the higher the cost will be," warns the report, which builds on the 2011 edition looking at sustainable development.

Quadriplegic Philippe di Borgo - made famous through the unforgettable film "The Intouchables" - says people need to take better care of each other. He may rely on a caregiver, but does everything he can to help others.

Philippe Pozzo di Borgo is surprisingly energetic. He's just gotten off the plane after a strenuous flight from Morocco to Cologne, but insists he's feeling "very well as always."

German policymakers are divided on how to protect Internet users as a Bundestag inquiry prepares to submit a report in April on how the Web is changing the country.

Australia is one of the sunniest countries in the world. But paradoxically the levels of Vitamin D deficiency are high. An estimated 30 percent of Australians are Vitamin D deficient at any one time.

The figure rises in winter when Vitamin D deficiency affects 35 percent of men and nearly 60 percent of women living in the south of Australia, where the days are shorter and darker than in the north.

Women make up more than half of the world's population, so what was the point in creating International Women's Day? The initiative came from Clara Zetkin, a German Socialist, who argued that a special day was necessary to unite the efforts of women around the world to enjoy the same rights as men. The first International Women's Day was observed in 1911. The United Nations in 1975 declared International Women's Day to be March 8.

Girls and women face barriers due to their gender whether they live in rich or poor countries. And they are fighting back across the world, working to improve their own lives and those of their mothers, sisters, daughters - and all of society.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) says the latest analysis of data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator indicates that scientists did find the elusive Higgs boson particle last year.

Last summer, scientists at CERN announced that they had potentially discovered the so-called `God particle' but waited for further analysis to be performed before making it official. The new particle found was confirmed by two separate experiments, both of which have just presented their latest preliminary results. The Higgs boson particle is considered to be the final building block missing from the Standard Model, which describes the structure of matter in the universe.

Colonel Chris Hadfield has made a series of videos that provide a glimpse into life aboard a spacecraft. The International Space Station astronaut can be seen playing guitar, having a haircut and making a sandwich in the films. The Canadian says he wants viewers to appreciate their habitat as 'one bubble of air that keeps us all alive, that we're responsible for'

Men who had seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan were 53% more likely to commit a violent offence than comrades given non-combat roles.

Those with multiple experiences of combat had a 70% to 80% greater risk of committing acts of violence.

...

Of around 3,000 military men under the age of 30, more than a fifth had a conviction for violent offences, compared with 6.7% of their civvie street peers.

Nerds, Rejoice! Today is National Pi Day, a day set aside to celebrate mathematics, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and, perhaps best of all, baked goods that prominently display the greek letter "π."

Every March 14, (or 3/14 ... get it?) math enthusiasts celebrate the never-ending number as well as Albert Einstein's birthday.

The framed photographs of family, ornaments on the mantelpiece and old fashioned flowery décor are typical of any grandmother's living room.

But these cosy surroundings do not belong to any old granny - this is the Queen's private sitting room at Balmoral.