CORRUPTION

BERLIN - A leading anti-graft watchdog says its annual survey shows China, Turkey and Angola are perceived as increasingly corrupt, despite strong economic growth in recent years. Transparency International's 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index gave China 36 out of 100 points, with 0 indicating a country is perceived to be highly corrupt and 100 that it is perceived to be very clean. Denmark had the best ranking of all, while Ukraine was the lowest-rated European country. 

GERMANY-LUFTHANSA STRIKE

BERLIN - A union representing pilots at German airline Lufthansa says they will go on strike again Thursday in a dispute over retirement benefits. The Vereinigung Cockpit union says the strike will affect long-haul and cargo flights. Short- and medium-haul flights aren't affected.

EUROPE-ECONOMY

LONDON - A closely watched survey shows that the 18-country eurozone is not far from sliding back into recession. Financial information company Markit says Wednesday that its purchasing managers' index, a broad gauge of activity across the manufacturing and services sectors, slipped a full point to a 16-month low of 51.1 in November. The index is also down on the initial estimate of 51.4. 

With: BRITAIN-ECONOMY, FRANCE-DEFICIT

RUSSIA-RUBLE

MOSCOW - The Russian ruble has extended a week of decline, fueled by low oil prices and Western sanctions against Russia over its role in Ukraine's crisis. The ruble traded 1.7 percent lower at 54.8 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday morning, losing over 16 percent of its value in the past five trading days. 

GERMANY-STUDENT KILLED

WAECHTERSBACH, Germany - Thousands of mourners are expected at the funeral of a young woman who died after reportedly defending two teenage girls from male harassment. Tugce Albayrak had been in a coma since mid-November following an altercation at a restaurant in Offenbach near Frankfurt. She died Friday, her 23rd birthday, after her family gave doctors permission to switch off her life support. 

EUROPE-ERRANT SATELLITE

BERLIN - The European Space Agency says a navigation satellite that ended up in the wrong orbit has completed a corrective maneuver. The agency said Wednesday that the fifth Galileo satellite, launched Aug. 22, has risen 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) to gain a more circular orbit.

CYPRUS-PRESIDENT-HEALTH

NICOSIA, Cyprus - An official says Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades' surgery to repair a heart valve was successful and that he remains in stable condition. Cyprus government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides says Anastasiades will remain in intensive care for the next few days.

IRAN-NUCLEAR

VIENNA - The U.N. nuclear agency says it will convene a special session of its 35-nation board next week as it considers how to fund extended intensive monitoring of Iran's nuclear program. The Dec. 11 meeting was announced in an email late Monday from the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency. 

TURKMENISTAN-RAILWAY LINE

AK-YAYLA, Turkmenistan - A railway linking landlocked Central Asia with the Persian Gulf was officially inaugurated Wednesday in a ceremony at a remote train station on the border of Iran and Turkmenistan. The the presidents of Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan attended the official opening of the line in the Turkmen frontier village of Ak-Yayla. Children handed white gloves to the leaders, together bolted a final golden-colored segment of track into place. 

SWEDEN-GOVERNMENT CRISIS

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Sweden's lawmakers have started debating the budget proposals of the minority government which faces a vote of no confidence in Parliament after a far-right party said it would side with the opposition to force the left-leaning coalition to resign. After late-night talks with government partners and center-right opposition parties, Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he would wait until the debate to decide whether to step down. 

UKRAINE

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's energy minister says a technical fault at a nuclear power plant in the south of country has cut power production but insists it poses no danger. Volodymr Demchishin says the problem is in the transmission system, not in the reactor.

BOSNIA-STEAM-TRAINS-PHOTO-ESSAY

BANOVICI, Bosnia-Herzegovina - You can't board in London and get off at Hogwarts but the engine looks pretty much the same as in Harry Potter - and if you're a steam train enthusiast, the ride is almost as magical. Every day, steam engines more than 60 years old defy their age and pull wagons of coal from Banovici's coal mine to nearby towns. In the summer they become the only tourist attraction this impoverished north Bosnian town has to offer, as the mine allows visitors to take a ride on the narrow-gauge (760mm or 30 inches) line.