The world at a glance . . . Europe

Vatican City

Holocaust denier redeemed: Pope Benedict XVI reinstated four Catholic bishops this week, including one who recently denied the Holocaust. Richard Williamson said just last week that 300,000 Jews had died in the Nazi concentration camps, not the 6 million that historians have documented, adding that “there were no gas chambers.” He and the other three bishops were excommunicated in 1988 because they were ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who broke with the Catholic Church over liberal reforms such as saying Mass in local languages rather than in Latin. The Vatican said the reinstatement was part of an effort to reach out to traditionalists and had nothing to do with the bishops’ political views. German neo-Nazi groups, meanwhile, celebrated the Vatican’s action with jubilant postings on their websites.

London

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Did lords take bribes? Four Labor Party members of the House of Lords offered to amend legislation in return for cash, the London Sunday Times charged this week. The newspaper said its reporters, posing as lobbyists seeking favors for a client, approached the peers and taped the conversations. Lord Taylor, for example, is heard saying that some companies pay him up to 100,000 pounds ($140,000) for help with commercial problems. He tells the reporters: “You’ve got to whet my appetite to get me on board.” The House of Lords, which is now investigating the claims, could suspend the four. But criminal charges are unlikely, as Scotland Yard is wary of sting operations, which could constitute entrapment.