BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win any points from 34 of the 39 countries voting. Denmark's Emmelie de Forest won the event, watched by around 125 million people across Europe, with 281 points while German act Cascada was 21st out of 26 countries, getting just 18 points from Austria, Israel, Spain, Albania and Switzerland. ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators are investigating whether Spain's plan to offer a 25.2 million euros ($32.71 million) grant to Ford Motor Co's plant will give the U.S. carmaker an unfair advantage. Ford is overhauling its European operations by cutting jobs and closing plants in Belgium and two British locations, as the economic downturn dampens consumer appetite for new cars and trucks. The company, which holds about 8 percent of the European market, expects to lose $2 billion in Europe this year. The sector in general is struggling with over-capacity. ...

By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France is floating a proposal that the European Union ease an arms embargo for Syrian rebels but delay acting on the decision to intensify pressure on Damascus to negotiate an end to Syria's civil war, a French diplomat said on Wednesday. Sweden, Austria and some other EU member states are resisting efforts by France and Britain to modify the ban to strengthen rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The embargo is part of a package of EU sanctions on Syria that expires on June 1. ...

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog will work hard to resolve differences with Iran over a stalled investigation into Tehran's nuclear program, a senior official said on Wednesday. "As you know differences remain but we are committed to dialogue and we are determined to solve these issues so we will be working hard today to resolve the differences," Herman Nackaerts, deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters as he arrived for talks at Iran's diplomatic mission in Vienna. (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl)