A Red Menace That You Can Drive Yourself. There are several ways to tour Germany’s capital, but for those who want to steep themselves in cold war history, a Trabant transports you to the 1960s.

Pope Questions Interfaith Dialogue. Pope Benedict XVI called for more discussion of the practical consequences of religious differences.

French Socialists Face Division and Derision After Vote for Leader. A summer of embarrassing rivalries between Ségolène Royal and Martine Aubry has culminated in a narrow and disputed vote for the new party leader, Ms. Aubry.

Two Presidents Say They Encountered Gunfire. Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Lech Kaczynski of Poland said their motorcade met gunfire at a Russian checkpoint near the South Ossetian boundary.

Greenland to Vote on More Independence From Denmark. The world’s largest island has been gaining more autonomy for decades but still depends on Denmark for much of its budget.

Small Blast in Kosovo Chafes Bond With Germany. Kosovar authorities arrested three Germans and accused them of involvement in an explosion this month in Pristina.

Britain Offers $30 Billion Stimulus Plan. The government plans to cut taxes and increase public spending despite a budget deficit that was among the largest of any developed nation.

At Kremlin, Optimism on U.S. Ties Under Obama. Russian leaders are expressing optimism about possible agreements on military issues under the Obama administration.

France: Recount Confirms Aubry To Lead Socialists. A recount of contested ballots for the leadership of the French Socialist Party confirmed that Martine Aubry, 58, the mayor of Lille, narrowly beat the party’s former presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal, 55, party officials said Tuesday.

Greenland Vote Favors Independence. Greenland voted heavily in favor of self-rule, in a referendum that paves the way for independence from Denmark and gives Greenland rights to lucrative Arctic resources, final results showed.

World Briefing | Europe: Bulgaria: European Union Withholds Subsidies. The European Union deprived Bulgaria of $279 million in subsidies on Tuesday, effectively declaring that the Balkan country was too corrupt and prone to fraud to receive them.

Greece: Dockworkers Protest Against Chinese President.

Bid to Remove Politkovskaya Judge. Russia’s prosecutor general’s office accused Yevgeny Zubov, the judge in the slain journalist’s trial, of “violating procedural rules.”

Ex-Diplomat Says Georgia Started War With Russia. Erosi Kitsmarishvili, Tbilisi’s former ambassador to Moscow, told a parliamentary hearing in Georgia that Georgian authorities were responsible for starting the conflict with Russia.

U.S. Presses NATO on Georgia and Ukraine. The U.S. has started an unexpected diplomatic initiative, urging NATO allies to offer Georgia and Ukraine membership in the alliance without following the formal application process.

Cranberries Go Abroad, a Tonic for an Ailing Industry. Facing a glut of cranberries forcing prices to record lows, farmers began selling their uniquely American crop overseas.

Russia’s Gas Monopoly Warns Ukraine to Pay Up. Gazprom said Wednesday that if Ukraine did not pay a $2.4 billion debt by Jan. 1, it might more than double the price of natural gas, which would deal a blow to Ukraine’s economy.

Greenland Vote Favors Independence. In a referendum, the people of Greenland voted overwhelmingly in favor of loosening their 300-year-old ties to Denmark.

Mayor Killed in North Ossetia Capital. The mayor of Vladikavkaz, in Russia’s conflict-prone North Caucasus region, was assassinated near his home.

Kremlin Rules: Nationalism of Putin’s Era Veils Sins of Stalin’s. The Kremlin in the Putin era has stoked a nationalism that glorifies Soviet triumphs while playing down or even whitewashing the system’s horrors.

World Briefing | Europe: France: At Least 2 Dead in Airbus Crash. At least two people were killed Thursday when an Airbus A320 jet owned by Air New Zealand crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.

Aeroflot Faces a Politically Connected Rival. A government-sponsored merger of 11 regional airlines has twice as many aircraft as Russia’s national airline.

Britain Grapples With Disturbing Abuse Cases. Two child abuse cases in recent years have raised disturbing questions about the effectiveness of Britain’s vast social-service system.

Pope May Make First Trip to Israel and Palestinian Lands in ’09. Talks are under way for Pope Benedict XVI to make his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories next year, Vatican and Israeli officials said.

Mile of London Tunnels for Sale, History Included. After years of lying unused, a historic tunnel complex built in 1940 can be bought for $7.4 million.

Venezuela and Russia Sign Accords. While two countries signed accords intended to cooperate on areas like nuclear energy and oil exploration, there are no detailed timetables for bringing the deals to fruition.

Russian Missile Plan Gives a New European Trade Hub an Old Identity Crisis. A proposal to once again make Kaliningrad a staging ground for missiles renews the old question: is the city Russia’s window, open to Europe, or a turret for firing on it?

Ennio De Concini, Oscar-Winning Writer, Dies at 84. Mr. De Concini had won an Academy Award for the internationally popular comedy “Divorce — Italian Style,” released in 1961.

The Saturday Profile: A Reporter Lands a Slot on Italian Best-Seller Lists and Hit Lists. Rosaria Capacchione, author of “The Gold of the Camorra,” was faced with death threats after a long career tracing the rise of the Campania region’s violent clans.

Legal Hurdles in West Slow Pursuit of Pirates. The bureaucratic and legal gears of Europe’s effort to respond to pirate attacks are proving to be not as swift as the hijackers, as Somali pirates captured another ship.

Claims of Secret Arms Sales Rattle Ukraine’s Leaders. The country’s pro-Russian opposition has been leveling potentially damaging allegations of improper arms sales to Georgia during that country’s brief war with Russia.

Swiss Vote to Keep Program Giving Addicts Heroin. The world’s most comprehensive legalized heroin program became permanent on Sunday with overwhelming approval from Swiss voters.

NATO Duel Centers on Georgia and Ukraine. The United States is eager to put Georgia and Ukraine on a path to NATO membership, but other alliance members are loath to rile Russia.

Camp Szuts Journal: Training Legionnaires to Fight (and Eat Rodents). The French Foreign Legion operates one of the most grueling courses in jungle warfare and survival, opening it to Special Forces from around the world.

World Briefing | Europe: France: Adopting an Aids Mission. Carla Sarkozy, the wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy, announced that she would serve as a good-will ambassador to fight AIDS with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. “I’ll do it as ambassador of the global fund, by using the exceptional people that my new position makes possible to meet,” she said Monday at a news conference. Mrs. Sarkozy’s brother, Virginio Bruni, died of AIDS in 2006.

World Briefing | Europe: Russia: Countering U.S. Missile Plans. Russia plans to upgrade its missiles to allow them to evade American weapons in space and penetrate any prospective missile shield, a Russian officer said Monday. The officer, Col. Gen. Nikolai Y. Solovtsov, chief of strategic missile forces, said Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missiles would be modernized to protect them from space-based components of the United States missile defense system, the news agency Interfax reported. He also said the military would commission new RS-24 missiles with systems to help penetrate a missile shield. The Kremlin has fiercely opposed the United States plan to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a related radar system in the Czech Republic.

Historic Center of Venice Flooded. The worst flooding in Venice in more than 20 years forced residents and tourists to wade through knee-high water Monday.

Memo From Rome: A Premier With a Hand in TV News Sues His Journalist Critics. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s lawyer said Italian newspapers rarely punished erring journalists so public figures had to defend their names in court.

Arrest of Parliament Member Brews British Tempest. Damian Green’s offense seems to center on his relationship with a civil servant who offered himself as a whistle-blower on politically sensitive issues.

Germany Aims to Guide the West’s Ties to Russia. Germany hopes to counter Russia’s renewed militarism by promoting economic development and stability.