TURKEY-SYRIAN REFUGEES

ISTANBUL - With Turkey's government-run refugee camps operating at full capacity, Amnesty International says more than 1 million Syrian refugees who have flocked to Turkey to escape fighting at home are struggling to survive on their own. Turkey hosts half of the 3.2 million refugees who have fled Syria.

SPAIN-OBIT-DUCHESS OF ALBA

MADRID - The Duchess of Alba, one of Spain's wealthiest and most colorful aristocrats and recognized as the world's most titled noble, has died. She was 88. Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva was related to Winston Churchill and shared toys with the future Queen Elizabeth - they were born less than a month apart - while living in England as a girl. 

EUROPE-BANK BONUSES

BRUSSELS - A key adviser to the European Union's highest court is siding against Britain and wants the EU cap on bankers' bonuses to be maintained. Advocate General of the European Court of Justice Niilo Jaaskinen recommended Thursday that British attempts to derail the EU financial law "should be rejected," advising the court to dismiss the action. 

BRITAIN-RBS

LONDON - British regulators have fined Royal Bank of Scotland PLC 56 million pounds ($87 million) for computer problems that made it impossible for customers to get access to their accounts. The Financial Conduct Authority fined the state-owned bank for failing to put in place systems that could "withstand or minimize the risk of IT failures." The Bank of England's Prudential Regulatory Authority, also leveled a fine - its first since coming into existence in 2013.

UKRAINE

GENEVA - United Nations human rights investigators say the number of killings and people displaced by fighting in Ukraine continues to rise despite the Sept. 5 announcement of a cease-fire. A new report by the U.N. monitoring team in Ukraine says at least 4,317 people have been killed - up from 4,042 deaths reported in October - in eastern Ukraine from mid-April until Nov. 18. 

EUROPE-ECONOMY

LONDON - Like Japan, the 18-country eurozone faces the real prospect of sliding back into recession, a closely watched survey indicated Thursday, in an another downbeat development that's is likely to ratchet up the pressure on the European Central Bank to enact further stimulus. Financial information company Markit said its purchasing managers' index for the eurozone, a broad gauge of business activity, fell to a 16-month low of 51.4 points in November from 52.1 in October. Though anything above 50 indicates expansion, the survey suggests a recession isn't far away. 

CZECH-GOVERNMENT-SCANDAL

PRAGUE - The wife of former Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas went on trial in Prague on Thursday over a case that brought down his government. Jana Necasova, formerly Jana Nagyova, is charged with abuse of power along with two former heads of the military intelligence agency, Ondrej Palenik and Milan Kovanda and intelligence agent Jan Pohunek. 

GERMANY-ANTI-SURVEILLANCE-TOOL

BERLIN - Four human rights groups have released a tool that lets users check whether their computer has been infected with surveillance software. Amnesty International says the tool released Thursday, called Detekt, is designed for right activists and journalists but will be freely available to anybody who fears their computer is being used to monitor them.