The world at a glance . . . Europe

Paris

Youths riot again: Immigrant youths rioted in the suburbs of Paris this week, rampaging through the streets, breaking windows and burning cars, and injuring more than 85 police officers. The violence began after a police car struck and killed two teen­agers on a motorbike. Residents of the mostly Muslim housing projects outside Paris poured into the streets, throwing Molotov cocktails and attacking police in scenes reminiscent of 2005, when youths rioted every night for weeks. This time, though, some of the demonstrators were packing firearms, and several police officers were shot. “The violence over the last days has been worse than two years ago in terms of its intensity,” said police spokesman Francis Debuire. Immigrant activists say conditions in the projects, where unemployment and poverty are rampant, have changed little since 2005, despite government promises.

London

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Voice of the Tube axed: The announcer whose sweet voice tells London Underground commuters to “mind the gap” was fired this week after spoofing her announcements on the Internet. Emma Clarke, 36, who has been the voice of the Tube for the past eight years, posted tongue-in-cheek announcements on her Web site, such as: “If you are female, smile at the bloke next to you and make his day—he’s probably not had sex for months” and “We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly.” Underground officials said Clarke was fired not because of her spoofs but because of a newspaper interview in which she said that she hated using the subway.

Lisbon, Portugal

Cocaine use way up: Cocaine use across Europe is skyrocketing, the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction said this week. The Lisbon-based group said that 4.5 million Europeans used coke last year, compared with 3.5 million the previous year. Seizures of coke stashes are up by almost 50 percent. Cocaine is now the second most popular drug after hash, a marijuana derivative. Some 4 percent of all European adults have tried it. Use is highest in the U.K., Spain, and Italy—although those countries still trail behind the U.S., where 15 percent of all people over 12 have tried cocaine at least once.

Stockholm

Arms embargoes don’t work: U.N. arms embargoes are ineffective in keeping weapons out of the hands of rogue governments, a study revealed this week. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think tank that studies the arms trade, said that of 27 embargoes imposed since 1990, including embargoes on Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran, only one-quarter actually resulted in a drop in weapons possessed by the targeted government or group. The think tank said corruption among arms exporters made it relatively easy for nations and groups under sanction to get access to weapons. It recommended that the U.N. Security Council establish violations of weapons embargoes as an international crime, with real punishments. The arms embargo is one of the most frequently used forms of U.N. sanctions.

Cittadella, Italy

Poor not welcome: The medieval fortress town of Cittadella has banned residence to any foreigner—even an E.U. citizen—who is poor, unemployed, or has a criminal record. The Italian government says the ban will not stand. “This is a decidedly racist and discriminatory measure, which violates civil and constitutional rights,” said the minister for social solidarity, Paolo Ferrero. But Cittadella Mayor Massimo Bitonci says his townspeople should have the right to decide who lives next to them, and he has the support of dozens of other right-wing mayors in the states of Lombardy and Veneto. Italy has been experiencing a wave of xenophobia since January, when Romania and Bulgaria joined the E.U. and their citizens were allowed to settle freely in other E.U. countries.

Vienna

A win for cheap, sweet wine: German and Austrian vintners have defeated an E.U. proposal to ban the adding of sugar to wine. The winemakers of Central Europe add sugar to cheap wines such as Blue Nun and Black Tower to help the grapes ferment properly; because their vineyards get less sunshine than those in France or Italy, the grapes have less natural sugar. The E.U. sought to ban the practice as a way to cut back on the amount of cheap wine flooding the market, to help an industry plagued by overproduction. But German and Austrian members of the European Parliament convinced their colleagues to vote down the proposal. Sales of cheap German wine are up 25 percent over last year; the wine is especially popular in Britain.