The Associated PressWhen it was originally sent, her daughter, Sheri, was starting an opera career in Germany. The postcard told her mother how she fell in love with Europe and that she would be in Paris soon.

A survey by the Center for Retail Research reveals Britons are the most prolific shoplifters in Europe. The survey finds Brits stole 3. 58 billion pounds (US$6. 308 billion) of goods from their nation's shops last year. An amount equivalent to 1. 59 percent of British retail turnover.

A Japanese soft drink bottled and made to look like beer, may soon be available throughout Europe, but watchdogs of underage drinking say they will fight any effort to ship it to the United States, reports The New York Times. Kidsbeer is lager-colored and foams like beer, but tastes like cola. It comes in a brown bottle and is advertised with the slogan "Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink,"

Six half-naked animal rights demonstrators began a string of protests planned in the days before Pamplona's traditional "running of the bulls" begin next week. The group reportedly interrupted Madrid's historic Puerta del Sol square overnight in a protest against bullfighting. Shoppers and tourists snapped photos as the five young women and one man carried "Stop the Bloody Bullfights" signs held by the protesters, wearing only white underpants and plastic bulls horns on their heads. The chanted, "Torture is not art or culture".

Gays and lesbians marching in the northern city of Hamburg on Saturday reportedly set a new world record for a group hug, with 16,000 people embracing each other for 10 seconds. Drag queen Olivia Jones, one of organizers told local media that the "march should bring people together, regardless of whether people are homosexual or heterosexual. "