Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today asked the German parliament to hold a vote of confidence, a key step in his plan to call early national elections later this year.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expects his fellow European leaders to show flexibility on the EU’s future budget and live up to “the significance of the situation” at this week’s summit, a spokesman for the German leader said today.

OSAMA BIN LADEN, the accused mastermind of the World Trade