Sun, Nov 22 2009
DIFFERENT DESTINIES: Gordon Brown, left, could not match the election victories of Germany's Angela Merkel or France's Nicolas Sarkozy - who pulled off a triumph - and faced a political controversy arguably much more complex and profound than that faced by Italy's Silvio Berlusconi.

European Commission President says Europe owes it to voters to show that it can deliver; around the EU, a new political reality emerges with shifts to the right – and the far-right.
Early results confirm bad news for Labour but the night is still young
Senior Labour figures prepare for drubbing by launching pre-emptive strike. Peter Hain says results are expected to be "terrible".
Angela Merkel loses ground but staves off humiliation, according to German exit polls
Results of the European Parliament elections released on June 7 2009 will have serious implications for political futures around the EU.
The European election results could prove another nail in Brown's coffin, particularly if Labour falls into fourth place
The next week will be vital in deciding if UK prime minister Gordon Brown can survive; if Sunday's European election results are egregious then even the remants of his supporters may turn on him.
Media pundits in the UK contemplate who should preside over Labour's sinking ship but gloss over the real issues
Welcomed by the UK government, France and Germany, as well as the US, the naming of Belgium’s Herman van Rompuy as European Council President and Catherine Ashton as foreign policy chief has caused misgivings in some circles, including Turkey which believes that Van Rompuy will oppose Turkish membership of the bloc.
The dinner meeting of EU leaders to decide on the European Council President and the bloc’s new foreign minister and head of secretariat could take a few hours or all night, says host Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden’s prime minister.
Russia and the European Union have agreed on an early warning system if another natural gas cutoff looms. Some say that Bulgaria, among other countries hard-hit by the January 2009 crisis, is now better prepared. Not everyone is convinced.
Five Bulgarian films screened at the World Film Festival in Bangkok.
A complicated game, played partly in the dark, and with elements of everything from poker to tug ‘o war – that’s the way Europe’s leaders will come up with its new European Council President, foreign minister and European Commission.