EUROPE-ECONOMY

LONDON - Further evidence emerged Wednesday to suggest the 18-country eurozone is more likely to sink back into recession than stage a strong rebound, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to enact a further stimulus in the months ahead. However, with ECB policymakers gathering in Frankfurt for their monthly policy meeting, few economists think they will be inclined to announce further measures on Thursday, especially as the euro continues to fall against the dollar and oil prices have dropped sharply. A weaker currency can boost growth by lifting exports, while cheaper energy can cut consumers' fuel bills. 

BERLIN WALL-CHILDREN OF REVOLUTION

BERLIN - Kai Feller was 16 when his fellow students put him on trial. On that early autumn day in 1988, pupils stood up to denounce Feller and seven other troublemakers as "traitors" and "pacifists." Then the class voted to expel Feller from the official youth movement, membership of which was compulsory for anyone with ambition in communist East Germany. 

EUROPE-US-SELLING FREE TRADE

COIMBRA, Portugal - The American diplomat turns heads when he rides into rural Portuguese towns on a roaring Harley Davidson or behind the wheel of a vintage Ford Mustang, bringing what he says is an important message: the free trade deal being negotiated between the United States and the European Union is nothing to be afraid of. Robert Sherman, the U.S. Ambassador to Portugal, is using his showmanship and sense of humor on road trips to spread the word about the potential benefits of a project President Barack Obama wants to leave as his legacy in international commerce. The ambassador tells businesses here that doing away with tariffs and red tape will boost their exports to the U.S., create jobs and help propel listless European economies like Portugal's. 

EU-NORWAY-TERROR-THREAT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Norwegian intelligence authorities said Wednesday that the Nordic country "likely" will be threatened by or hit with an act of terror in the next 12 months. The Joint Counter Terror Center says extremists from the Islamic State group, among others, have called for terror acts against countries that are part of the U.S.-led alliance against the group. Norway has said it will send 120 soldiers to join the international campaign against Islamic militants in Iraq and help train local troops there. 

GEORGIA-POLITICS

TBILISI, Georgia - The foreign minister of the former Soviet republic of Georgia and three of her deputies have resigned, alleging that the firing of the defense minister a day earlier was politically motivated. The resignation of Foreign Minister Maya Panjikidze on Wednesday and the earlier firing of Defense Minister Irakli Alasania increases Georgia's political instability as it pursues closer ties with the West. 

UKRAINE

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's prime minister says the government will freeze budget subsidies for eastern territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists, a move that could precipitate already grievous economic conditions there. Arseniy Yatsenyuk said at a government meeting Wednesday that $2.6 billion in state support will be held back from rebel-held areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 

EBOLA-EUROPE

MADRID - A Spanish nursing assistant who recovered from Ebola is to be discharged from a Madrid hospital a month after she was admitted with the virus. Carlos III hospital chief Rafael Perez-Santamarina said Teresa Romero will be released later Wednesday and will make a statement to the media. 

EU-NETHERLANDS-EARNS-ING

AMSTERDAM - Six years after the onset of the financial crisis, ING Group NV says it is ready to repay the Dutch state the last of a 10 billion-euro ($13 billion) bailout. European Union authorities ordered the bank and insurer split to compensate for the competitive advantage of having a taxpayer-funded backstop in 2008. ING Group now comprises ING Bank NV, and its former insurance arm NN Group, which is held as a discontinued operation.