Europe - International Herald Tribune
News from Europe from The International Herald Tribune, the world's daily newspaper online.

• In Italy, a winter of discontent
  These days, Italy finds itself in a collective funk - economic, political and social. Beppe Grillo, a comic and blogger, has become the defining personification of the nation's foul mood.
• Putin's chosen successor would appoint him prime minister
  If the scenario outlined by Dmitri A. Medvedev plays out, President Vladimir Putin would still wield power.
• Russia orders British Council offices to stop operations
  Moscow ordered the British government's cultural arm to halt work at its regional offices, in the latest round of a bitter dispute over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a Kremlin critic.
• Bosnian Serb general convicted in siege of Sarajevo
  The general who ordered the relentless shelling of Sarajevo was convicted of war crimes Wednesday and given a 33-year prison sentence.
• Swiss parties eject far-right leader Christoph Blocher from cabinet
  Centrist parties punished Christoph Blocher, the justice minister, for the way he has conducted himself in the government.
• Yushchenko ally fails in bid to regain office of prime minister
  Yulia Tymoshenko, a leading force in the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine and a strong supporter of President Viktor Yushchenko, was backed by 225 votes, one short of a majority in the 450-seat assembly.
• Qaddafi addresses French lawmakers
  Speaking at the French National Assembly on the second day of his six-day visit to France, Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya said Tuesday that the era of national liberation movements was over and that he wanted a future without "cold or hot wars."
• Celestine Bohlen: Letter from Moldova
  Transnistria is a pawn in a tense game of East-West diplomacy.
• Poland and Germany try to start over
  The new Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, met Tuesday with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, taking the first step toward restoring a climate of trusting, open relations.
• Attempt to reach Canary Islands goes awry; 40 migrants die
  Numerous West Africans were feared dead because of hunger and thirst after their boat spent 12 days at sea in a failed attempt to reach the Spanish enclave.
• Protesters mark passing of Kosovo deadline
  But with national sovereignty still beyond reach, there was impatience on the streets.
• Migrant-laden vessel sinks between Turkey and Greece
  At least 51 people drowned in rough seas over the weekend, and others remain lost at sea.
• Karlheinz Stockhausen, innovative German composer, 79
  Karlheinz Stockhausen, an original and influential German composer who began his career as an inventor of new musical systems and ended it making operas to express his spiritual vision of the cosmos, died Dec. 5 at his home in Kürten-Kettenberg, Germany. He was 79.
• Harmony out of reach at EU-Africa summit
  European and African leaders wound up a summit meeting Sunday in open conflict over trade deals between the two continents and over human rights violations in Zimbabwe.
• Science and policy collide in EU over genetically modified crops
  EU officials have to decide what mix of science, politics and trade to apply when they consider whether to approve a genetically modified corn.
• In France, discrimination on upswing as violence smolders
  A second generation immigrants who have turned their back on France say, little will change unless widespread discrimination in the job market is stamped out.
• Wife of English man who disappeared on canoe trip is arrested on suspicion of fraud
  Anne Darwin was arrested at Manchester's airport Sunday. Her husband is accused of faking his death in an insurance scam.
• Lascaux cave paintings threatened by fungus
  For the second time in a decade, fungus is threatening France's most celebrated prehistoric paintings, the mysterious animal images that line the Lascaux cave.
• Prodi, despite all predictions, still is the prime minister
  Romano Prodi has weathered many storms in the office of prime minister in Italy, but now he is facing new challenges as his opponents realign themselves.
  
• German security officials again seek ban of Scientology
  The country's 16 interior ministers said Friday that they considered the church's goals to be in conflict with the Constitution.
• Poll indicates how Europeans see U.S. election, and how some Americans see it
  Europeans seem more comfortable than Americans with the prospect of a woman or a black man becoming president of the United States, according to an online survey conducted by Harris Interactive in six countries.
• Desperation comes in all professions
  An educated Iraqi, a veterinary surgeon, arrived on the coast of Italy after 30 hours drifting at sea. He is just one of many professionals who move by desperate means from one unwelcome way station to another.
• What happened to Gordon Brown?
  Since Prime Minister Gordon Brown took office last summer, his government has had little time to do much governing, but has lurched from disaster to disaster.
• Rural Britain wants to take itself off the GPS map
  Trucks and tractor-trailers are constantly trying to navigate the small rural roads of little English villages, directed there by navigation devices looking for the shortest route.
• Sarkozy faces an uphill battle as a reformer
  An agent of change, President Sarkozy faces a major challenge with affirmative action.
• Serbs find comfort in dark wit
  The aphorism has a long and rich tradition among Serbs, who have used satire and dark humor to come to terms with decades of authoritarian rule.
• Russia's next flashpoint: Culture
  Vladimir Putin has won the fight for authority over pretty much all the government. But a struggle is emerging for control of Russian culture.
• U.S. credit crisis adds to gloom in Arctic Norway
  Norwegian towns that lost millions in investments that went sour fear they will be forced to cut local services.
• Pope's writing argues need for hope
  In his second encyclical, called "Saved by Hope," Pope Benedict XVI weaves a complex but elegant argument for the necessity of hope, drawing deeply on history, philosophy and theology.
• 'Caught in the middle' of French unrest
  Despite a return to calm in Villiers-le-Bel, shaken by riots this week, the police remain unpopular.
• EU legislators push tougher gun controls
  Against the backdrop of deadly school shootings in Finland and Germany, European Union legislators overwhelmingly backed tough new gun control rules.
• Europeans feel the pinch of higher prices this holiday season
  One theme is increasingly being heard around Europe: namely the notion that inflation is eating into purchasing power.
• British Muslim leaders introduce guidelines to fight extremism
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