World digest 04/12/06

European spacecraft enters Venus orbit

DARMSTADT, Germany -- A European spacecraft moved into orbit around Venus on Tuesday, completing a critical stage of a mission to explore the hostile climate and atmosphere of Earth's nearest planetary neighbor. Officials at the European Space Agency's control center in Darmstadt cheered, clapped and embraced as a green line indicating a clear signal from the Venus Express appeared on their screens. "It's a fantastic mission for us. We've finally reached Venus," project manager Don McCoy said. By June, scientists are expected to begin gathering information on how Venus, while similar to Earth in size and geological makeup, wound up with such a hot, dense atmosphere swathed in clouds of sulfuric acid.

Center-left coalition wins Italian election

ROME -- Center-left economist Romano Prodi emerged the winner of Italy's election by a razor-thin margin Tuesday, promising to form a strong government able to run a deeply divided country mired in economic stagnation. But Premier Silvio Berlusconi claimed voting irregularities and demanded a recount. The dispute could usher in a period of uncertainty over the results, a process which could take weeks. The outcome of the election must be approved by Italy's highest court, and it is up the president to give the head of the winning coalition a mandate to form a government Even if the result is confirmed, prospects of a stable government under Prodi look cloudy at best. Many fear a return to the political chaos that has characterized Italian history since the end of World War II. There have been 60 governments in about as many years.

French students stage new but smaller protest

PARIS -- Nationwide protests of the French government's labor reforms sputtered Tuesday after President Jacques Chirac caved in to pressure and jettisoned his premier's youth employment law. Chirac's retreat on Monday and school vacations that began this week, appeared to deplete the turnout of student-led marches aiming to ride the momentum from massive recent protests to force the government to withdraw other reforms. Some 2,300 students marched in northeast Paris, according to police -- far fewer than the 84,000 people that turned out in the capital in protests that drew 1 million demonstrators nationwide against the measure a week ago. The rejected measure would have allowed employers to fire workers under age 26 at any time during a two-year trial period with no reason.

Rockets kills seven in Afghan schoolyard

ASADABAD, Afghanistan -- A rocket exploded in a schoolyard in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday, killing seven students and wounding 34 other people in an attack possibly aimed at a nearby U.S. military base, officials said. The tragedy was the deadliest in a string of assaults on Afghanistan's education system since the hard-line Islamic Taliban regime was ousted by a U.S.-led coalition after the Sept. 11 attacks. Local police commander Mohammed Hasan accused the Taliban of targeting the boys school in the town of Asadabad in Kunar province. But a purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammed Yousaf, denied involvement. "We do not kill innocent children. This is not our work," he said.

Top U.S. envoy: No sign N. Korea will rejoin talks

TOKYO -- The top U.S. negotiator on ending North Korea's nuclear program on Tuesday renewed his call for the country to rejoin six-party talks, but said after meeting officials from other key nations that he didn't expect it to happen soon. U.S. assistant secretary of State Christopher Hill held meetings with counterparts on the North Korea talks from Japan, South Korea and China on Tuesday on the sidelines of a security conference in Tokyo. "My understanding is that the DPRK is still not willing to rejoin the six-party process," Hill said Tuesday. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

-- From wire reports