Prague - Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's government faced a parliamentary confidence motion Wednesday, just as the Czech Republic prepares to take over the EU presidency in January.

The left-leaning opposition sought the vote on ousting the government after Topolanek's Civic Democrats, in power since January 2007, were weakened by a defeat in regional elections Saturday.

Political tension in the Central European nation is running high over the government's 2009 budget and before Senate run-off elections starting Friday that could bring more losses for the premier.

Paris - Following big losses on Asian markets overnight and a weak opening on Wall Street, French shares were sharply lower on Wednesday.

In mid-afternoon trading, the Paris Bourse's benchmark CAC 40 was down 3.96 per cent, to 3,337.87, with only two of its 40 listed stocks gaining ground.

Industrials were the hardest-hit, with steel-makers Vallourec and ArcelorMittal off by 9.5 and 7.4 per cent, respectively, and transport manufacturer Alstom losing 9.3 per cent.

London - British pharmaceuticals concern GlaxoSmithKline reported Wednesday that it managed to boost profits and sales in the third quarter despite the challenge posed by generic drugs.

GlaxoSmithKline said it earned 25.2 pence per share in the quarter, up from 23.7 pence in the corresponding period last year. Sales gained 7 per cent to 5.88 billion pounds.

The company said the weaker pound sterling had helped boost sales, in turn lessening the effects of the challenge posed by cheaper generic drugs.

Berlin - Berlin is to lodge with the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial the most complete possible roll of names of Jewish residents of Germany from 1933 to 1945, a foundation said Wednesday.

Compiling the list was a major work of scholarship, with archivists combing more than 1,000 sources to compile the list of 600,000 names and record what became of each person.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's top culture aide, Bernd Neumann, and the head of a reparations foundation, Martin Salm, are to hand over the documents in Jerusalem on Thursday.

The study follows a 1986 compilation, revised in 2005, of the names of the 150,000 German Jews killed in the Holocaust. A greater number of German Jews managed to flee. The Nazis killed 6 million European Jews.

Baghdad - Bombings claimed several lives across Iraq Wednesday as the Iraqi and US governments haggled over an agreement to keep US forces in Iraq. Without the agreement, the US government says, violence could increase in Iraq.

Washington is increasing pressure on Baghdad to sign off on the agreement without amendments, according to Al-Sabah, an Iraqi newspaper close to the administration.

It reported Wednesday that US diplomats and military officials had "begun a massive campaign to convince sceptical members of the administration."