Dropping hammer and sickle

Rome - The hammer-and-sickle symbol will virtually disappear if the former communist leader, Mr Massimo D'Alema, fulfils his dream of uniting Italy's left. At a weekend conference in Florence the PDS leader unveiled his project for a new party, Democrats of the Left, whose symbol will be an oak tree with a rose growing near the base. The flower's stem emerges from a ring of European Union stars.