BERLIN - THE head of Conde Nast International said on Wednesday the publisher will shutter the German edition of its Vanity Fair glossy because of extreme financial difficulties.

Jonathan Newhouse cited 'serious business challenges' and 'difficulties which could not have been foreseen even a short time ago' for US-based parent company Conde Nast as the reason behind the decision.

'In a normal economic climate, we would have bravely carried on publishing Vanity Fair,' he said. 'In today's bleak economic climate, it is impossible.'

Vanity Fair hit stands in Germany as a weekly glossy in February 2007 with some 120,000 copies. Its content focused on German culture, politics, style and business. -- AP