Paris - French-Dutch airline Air France-KLM said Thursday it had deposed a formal complaint at the European Commission over the sale of Austrian Airlines to the German carrier Lufthansa.

"The agreement concluded on December 5, 2008, between Austrian authorities and Lufthansa does not conform to the conditions that were imposed on Air France-KLM during the procedure of choosing a strategic partner (for Austrian Airlines)," the company said in a press statement.

Berlin - Europe is gearing up to mark a series of major anniversaries next year, defining moments both in terms of European as well as world history.

Besides the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, which began when Hitler's troops marched into Poland on September 1, 1939, 2009 will also mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism across Central Europe.

Starting with democratic elections in Poland in June 1989, the year of change across Central Europe culminated in November of that year with the fall of the Berlin Wall. That event became a symbol of the end of the Cold War and Europe's post-Second World War divide.

Athens - The assassination of his father by Taliban militants forced 13-year-old Jahid to escape his home in Afghanistan.

But his long perilous journey toward asylum in Europe has left him and thousands others trapped for months in a makeshift camp in Greece's western port city of Patras.

Dumbfounded by the government's neglect and the European Union's tough immigration policies, Jahid's future lies in limbo.

London - An historic cushion-shaped diamond with a European royal history of more than 300 years was Wednesday sold for 16.4 million pounds (24.2 million dollars) at Christie's auction house in London.

The Wittelsbach Diamond, an extremely rare 35.56-carat greyish-blue diamond, was offered to the international market for the first time in 80 years.

It had been estimated to fetch a maximum of 9 million pounds.

London, Dec 8 : Every Monday in December before Christmas has been dubbed as a ‘Mega Monday’, as it is the one day of the week when online sales are the busiest.

According to the commercial director of Visa Europe, more than two million Internet purchases take place on a Monday, reason being that when buyers fail to find what they want in the shops during the weekend they end up turning to the net.

“Monday is almost always the biggest shopping day of the week, and Mondays in December are usually huge,” Sky News quoted James Roper, IMRG head, as saying.

Beijing  - China reacted angrily Sunday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to meet with the Dalai Lama over the weekend in Europe.

"This development is indeed an unwise move which not only hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, but also undermines Sino-French ties," state-run Xinhua news agency said of Saturday's meeting in the Policsh city of Gdansk.

"The Dalai Lama has long been engaged in activities worldwide to split China. He can by no means conceal the separatist nature of his activities no matter what by whatever disguise and whatever florid rhetoric he may use."