A chronology of the events in the collapse of communism in Europe

Timeline of events leading to communism’s collapse

Poll reveals generation gap on democracy, capitalism in ex-communist European countries

Poll: generation gap in Eastern Europe on politics

A timeline of key dates in the 1989-90 collapse of communism across Eastern Europe

For four decades, the communist regimes of Eastern Europe seemed unshakeable. Yet when the end came, it unfolded with stunning speed:

Vaclav Havel: Czech president is damaging the country by not signing the EU reform treaty

PRAGUE — Vaclav Havel, who led the 1989 Velvet Revolution that peacefully toppled communism in the former Czechoslovakia, accused his presidential successor on Thursday of damaging the country by refusing to sign the EU reform treaty.

Museums, tours in Germany, Czech Republic and elsewhere offer glimpses of life under communism

BERLIN — If you’re interested in the history of Eastern Europe under communism, a number of places around the region offer glimpses of life before the Berlin Wall fell. Here are a few of them, ranging from somber museums to historic sites to themed attractions that are downright kitschy or bizarre.

Romanian-born German writer Herta Mueller wins 2009 Nobel literature prize

STOCKHOLM — Herta Mueller, a little-known Romanian-born author who was persecuted for her critical depictions of life behind the Iron Curtain, won the 2009 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday in an award seen as a nod to the 20th anniversary of communism’s collapse.

Thousands pack airfield in southern Czech city as pope prepares to celebrate outdoor Mass

BRNO, Czech Republic — Tens of thousands of pilgrims have packed an airfield in the southern Czech city of Brno as Pope Benedict XVI prepares to celebrate an outdoor Mass.

Society excludes God at its peril, pope tells thousands at open-air Mass in Czech Republic

BRNO, Czech Republic — Pope Benedict XVI told thousands of faithful on Sunday that societies exclude God at their peril, as he pressed on with a pilgrimage to nudge the Czech Republic — and by extension, the rest of Europe — back to its religious roots.

Pope Benedict XVI urges heavily secular Czech Republic to rediscover its Christian roots

PRAGUE — Pope Benedict XVI sought to reach out to the heavily secular people of the Czech Republic on Saturday, decrying the “wounds” left by atheistic communism and urging them to rediscover their Christian roots.

20 years after collapse of communism, pope urges aloof Czech Republic to rediscover faith

PRAGUE — Pope Benedict XVI criticized the communist era’s fierce religious persecution Saturday as he began a three-day pilgrimage to the Czech Republic, and urged the heavily secular nation to rediscover its Christian roots.

20 years after collapse of communism, the pope visits an increasingly aloof Czech Republic

PRAGUE — Pope Benedict XVI begins a three-day pilgrimage Saturday to the Czech Republic, where people increasingly have become cool to religion since overthrowing a communist regime that ruthlessly persecuted the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope will visit Czech Republic, a voyage among the nonbelievers

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI is going to the heart of central Europe 20 years after the fall of communism ended restrictions on religion. But what he will find is a Czech Republic where nearly half the population professes to be nonbelievers.

Political writer Irving Kristol dead at 89

WASHINGTON — Irving Kristol, the writer, editor and publisher known as the godfather of neoconservatism whose youthful radicalism evolved into a historic rejection of communism, liberalism and the counterculture, died Friday. He was 89.

China’s vice president set to take over military commission in sign he’ll be next leader

BEIJING — China’s communist elite opened an annual conclave Tuesday at which they are expected to appoint the vice president to a powerful military commission — a move that would cement his status as heir to the presidency of the world’s most populous nation.

Thousands pay respects to Cuban revolutionary hero, Juan Almeida Bosque

HAVANA — Tens of thousands of Cubans lined up Sunday to pay their respects to Juan Almeida Bosque, a vice president and hero of the country’s 1959 revolution whose death at the age of 82 further thinned the ranks of this communist-run country’s old-guard leaders.

China jails gangsters in southwest for extortion, rioting over teenage girl’s death

BEIJING — China sentenced 23 members of a gang to jail for up to 20 years for crimes including the involvement in rioting last year over police handling of a teenage girl’s death, a court said Sunday.

Head of Cuban-American National Foundation: One man’s journey is that of a people and an era

MIAMI — Francisco Jose Hernandez points to the boarded windows in his secretary’s third floor office. Days before, a drive-by shooter peppered the glass with bullets.

Head of Cuban-American National Foundation forges new path among exiles as Cuba itself changes

MIAMI — Francisco Jose Hernandez points to the boarded windows in his secretary’s third floor office. Days before, a drive-by shooter peppered the glass with bullets.

Death of Castro’s revolutionary comrade Juan Almeida Bosque highlights aging Cuban leadership

HAVANA — The death of Juan Almeida Bosque, a vice president who was one of the last giants of Cuba’s 1959 revolution, plunged the island into mourning Saturday and was a stark reminder of the mortality of all of Cuba’s aging leaders — including brothers Raul and Fidel Castro.

Cuba: Castro’s revolutionary comrade Juan Almeida Bosque dead of heart attack at 82

HAVANA — Juan Almeida Bosque, a comrade-in-arms of Fidel Castro since the start of his guerrilla struggle more than a half-century ago, has died of a heart attack.

Cuba says ‘Commander of the Revolution’ Juan Almeida Bosque dead of heart attack at 82

HAVANA — Juan Almeida Bosque, a comrade-in-arms of Fidel Castro since the start of his guerrilla struggle more than a half-century ago, has died of a heart attack. The 82-year-old was one of several Cuban vice presidents and had been among only three surviving rebel leaders who still bore the honorary title “Commander of the Revolution.”

Report: North Korea’s No. 2 leader says Kim Jong Il in good health, not planning succession

TOKYO — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is in good health and has not named his third son as his successor, the communist country’s No. 2 leader said in an interview with a Japanese news agency Thursday.

New Cuban law allows Internet access at post offices, but measure yet to be applied

HAVANA — Cuba has authorized public Internet access at post offices across the country, though it has yet to apply what would be a landmark loosening of cyberspace rules in a nation where information is strictly controlled.

Red is dead: Top communist in South African Cabinet chided over flashy choice of car

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s top communist is in danger of losing his working-class hero status after treating himself to the latest BMW 750i and using $120,000 in taxpayers’ money to buy it.

Russia makes once-banned book on horrors of Soviet Gulag required reading in schools

MOSCOW — The book that made “Gulag” a synonym for the horrors of Soviet oppression will be taught in Russian high schools, a generation after the Kremlin banned it as destructive to the Communist cause and exiled its author.

Dalai Lama receives international award for his peaceful promotion of human rights

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — The Dalai Lama received an international award on Wednesday for his promotion of human rights and his leadership in the nonviolent campaign by Tibetans seeking autonomy from China.

China’s Xinjiang chief keeps his job amid waves of protest while colleagues fired over unrest

BEIJING — As leader of the volatile far western Xinjiang territory for 15 years, Wang Lequan is the closest China has to a regional strongman.

Vietnamese police release blogger, online journalist after more than a week in custody

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnamese authorities have released a blogger and an online journalist more than a week after detaining them for questioning about postings critical of the Communist government’s handling of relations with China.

Vietnamese police release blogger after more than a week in custody

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnamese authorities have released a blogger more than a week after detaining him for questioning about postings critical of the Communist government’s handling of relations with China and the Catholic Church.

Troops patrol Chinese city after protests left 5 dead over series of syringe attacks

URUMQI, China — Thousands of troops, backed by tanks and metal barricades, patrolled the western city of Urumqi on Saturday after five people died in protests over a series of bizarre needle attacks that China’s police chief has blamed on Muslim separatists.