The Church of England has much explaining to do following its failure to vote to allow women to serve as bishops, its leader said Wednesday — and politicians from the prime minister downward are already demanding action or answers.

One legislator even suggested there might be an issue under anti-discrimination laws.

Spanish prosecutors have asked a judge to set bail at €8.2 million ($10.5 million) for the king's son-in-law and his former business partner before their possible trial in a corruption case troubling the monarchy for the past two years.

Inaki Urdangarin hasn't been charged with a crime, but is a suspect in a case in which he and his partner allegedly funneled about €5 million in public money their nonprofit foundation received for conferences between 2004 and 2006 to other companies they controlled.

The continued inability of Europe to agree on Greece's next batch of bailout cash weighed on markets Wednesday, a day when much of Wall Street will be packing up early for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Greece's partners in the group of 17 European Union countries that use the euro once again failed to agree a strategy that would have allowed them to release more money for the debt-crippled country. Though officials say a deal is close — the finance ministers reconvene on Monday — a few thorny issues still need to be ironed out.

Everyone's drawing lines in the sand, but the leaders are so far apart they might as well be on different beaches.

The European Union heads into a critical summit Thursday to hammer out a €1 trillion ($1.28 trillion) budget through 2020 — and it promises to be one of its most bitter fights in years.

Didier Drogba has asked FIFA for special permission to move on loan from his Chinese club despite being outside the official transfer window.

FIFA said Wednesday it is considering the former Chelsea forward's request for an exemption from international rules.

A South Korean man has received a suspended 10-month prison term for retweeting North Korean propaganda posts.

The Suwon District Court cited the National Security Law in its ruling Wednesday against Park Jeong-geun. The law prohibits praising and glorifying North Korea. Park could have received seven years in prison.

Pope Benedict XVI says he is praying for victims of the conflict between Israel and Gaza militants and gave his encouragement for efforts to obtain a cease-fire and negotiations.

He told his weekly public audience Wednesday that "hate and violence are not the solution for problems," receiving applause from pilgrims in the Paul VI auditorium.

Jurors awarded nearly $777,000 Tuesday to a former "The Price is Right" model who claimed she was discriminated against by producers because of her pregnancy.

Brandi Cochran, 41, said she was rejected by the game show's producers when she tried to return to work in early 2010 after taking maternity leave.

Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash resigned from "Sesame Street" on Tuesday amid allegations he sexually abused underage boys, bringing an end to a 28-year career in which he turned the furry red monster into one of the most beloved — and lucrative — characters on TV and in toy stores.

"Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work 'Sesame Street' is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer," the 52-year-old performer said in a statement. "I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately."

In a nondescript building around the corner from the world's biggest casino, students at the Macau Polytechnic Institute are in class. Huddled at a long table topped with green felt, they pay close attention as their instructor writes a series of diagrams and numbers on a whiteboard.

But this isn't a regular math lesson. The students sitting around the roulette table are getting schooled on how to quickly calculate payoffs for the casino game by glancing at how the chips are placed. Elsewhere in the room, the biggest mock casino in Asia, other students are playing practice hands of blackjack or learning how to run a craps table.