DRONE BRAWL
TIRANA, Albania - Serbian officials have accused Albania of what they described was a carefully planned political provocation after a game between the two rival Balkan nations was abandoned when an Albanian nationalist banner was flown by a drone over the stadium in Belgrade, sparking violence between players and fans. The referee halted the scoreless European Championship qualifying match in the 41st minute when a Serbian player grabbed the banner - which carried a map of Albania enlarged to include chunks of its neighbors - and Albanian players tried to protect it. Serbian fans then ran onto the field and clashed with Albanian players.
UKRAINE TRASH TALKING
KIEV - In Ukraine, trashing a politician isn't a metaphor. It's literal: Find a suspected shady official, grab him and throw him into a dumpster. Online videos of several public figures receiving the treatment from gangs of rowdy activists have provoked both glee and revulsion. The fad is part of a broader coarsening of the political climate in Ukraine as anger simmers over the snail's pace of reforms and persisting corruption since the overthrow in February of former President Viktor Yanukovych.
RUSSIA-PUTIN
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a series of meetings with Western leaders focusing on Ukraine during his trip to Italy, the Kremlin said. Attending this week's Europe-Asia summit in Milan offers Putin the first chance to discuss the Ukrainian crisis with Western leaders since his trip to France in June to attend the D-Day anniversary.
IRAN-ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS
GENEVA - Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani says it's necessary to build more confidence with the West, something that would help both nuclear talks and efforts to fight the extremist Islamic State group. Larijani says there's no natural, direct link between discussions over Iran's nuclear infrastructure and the struggle against Islamic State fighters.
BRITAIN-SCOTLAND
LONDON - The Scottish National Party says Nicola Sturgeon will be its next leader, replacing Alex Salmond, who is stepping down after failing to secure independence in a referendum last month. The party said Wednesday that Sturgeon had been elected unopposed. Her leadership will be confirmed at a party conference next month. She will also become Scotland's first minister once the Scottish Parliament confirms the choice.
BUSINESS & FINANCE:
PORTUGAL-MORE AUSTERITY
LISBON, Portugal - Unlike fellow bailout country Ireland, Portugal's government is prolonging into 2015 the main features of its unpopular austerity program, resisting the temptation to sweeten its policies in what will be an election year.
GERMANY-TRANSPORT STRIKES
BERLIN - A union representing pilots at Lufthansa's short-haul Germanwings unit has called members out on a 12-hour strike Thursday, hard on the heels of a walkout by German train drivers in a separate dispute. The Vereinigung Cockpit union set the strike at Lufthansa's budget offshoot for noon to midnight (1000 to 2200 GMT).
GERMANY-ENERGY SWITCHOVER
BERLIN - The cost to Germans of subsidizing renewable energy is set to decline next year for the first time, though the impact on their electricity bills will be only slight. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has made a priority of stemming the costs of Germany's transition to renewable energy and improving its coordination. The country plans to switch off its remaining nuclear reactors by 2022.
BRITAIN-ECONOMY
LONDON - Britain's unemployment rate dropped to 6 percent for the June to August period, down from 6.4 percent in the three months before and the lowest rate since 2008. The Office of National Statistics said Wednesday there were 1.97 million unemployed people, 538,000 fewer than a year earlier. The agency says it was the largest annual fall in unemployment since records began in 1972.
NORWAY-STATOIL
STOCKHOLM - Helge Lund, the CEO of Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil, has resigned after 10 years in charge of the government-controlled company. Lund will become chief executive of British oil and gas company BG Group in March 2015.