UNITED KINGDOM

A storm packing hurricane-force winds hit Scotland and northern England on Thursday, closing roads and cancelling flights across the UK.

EasyJet successfully tested a new ash detector system called AVOID on Wednesday that could put an end to future travel chaos in the wake of volcanic eruptions.

No matter her audacity, the Material Girl is only as good as her material, and Madonna has only half a movie here.

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) reported a bigger-than-expected rise in November sales at established restaurants across the board, led by big gains in Japan, China and a strong showing in its top revenue market of Europe.

The details of the killing on Dec. 8, 1980 are sadly familiar to almost everyone who remembers that awful event.

Talk of Greece voluntarily leaving -- or being kicked out of -- the eurozone was once verboten. Now bank economists, investors, and even central bankers are talking about it as though it's a done deal. The divide between rhetoric is also growing. Those predicting the future Greek exit are calling it "manageable," while those saying it won't happen are labeling the possibility "catastrophic."

Japan offered a heartfelt apology for the systematic mistreatment of Canadian prisoners during World War Two, helping to heal ties between the two nations, Ottawa said on Thursday.

European Union leaders gathered on Thursday for a critical two-day summit focused on trying to find a solution to the euro zone debt crisis.

The European Banking Authority noted banks within the 27-nation European Union need to raise €114.69 billion ($152.8 billion) by June of next year in order to meet the authority's capital requirements. That amount is €8.24 billion, or 7.18 percent, more than the supranational regulator had noted on October 30. The balance sheet apparently worsened at certain banks, most notable in Germany, Belgium and Austria.

Verizon Wireless blamed technical problems for an outage on its recently launched high-speed, 4G network, which prevented some U.S. customers from accessing the Internet for about 24 hours.

McDonald's keeps beating the economy, unveiling strong identical-store November sales numbers in an earnings report Thursday.

The North American leg kicks off in April.

Verizon Wireless suffered outages across the U.S. on its recently launched high-speed 4G network that have prevented some customers from accessing any Internet data.

Gold prices fell Thursday as the European Central Bank head tapped down hopes of more government bond buying, hammering the euro and boosting the dollar.

McDonald's Corp reported a bigger-than-expected rise in November sales at established restaurants across the board, led by big gains in Japan, China and a strong showing in its top revenue market of Europe.

The painful economic climate following the recession may partially explain the rise in broken marriages.

Britpop band Blur will receive an Outstanding Contribution to Music award at next year's BRITs, Britain's answer to the Grammys.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has warned 102 fashion houses in Britain to avoid exploiting interns before the onset of the next London Fashion Week.

The European Central Bank doused on Thursday hopes it will aggressively ramp up its bond-buying program and allow the euro zone to lend money to IMF so it can help fight the Eurozone debt crisis.

The player has also attracted interest from German clubs Hamburg SV and VfL Wolfsburg.

Lindsay Lohan's Playboy cover photo has leaked on Twitter.