Soviet Union

Czech leader defends decision to attend Moscow parade

PRAGUE -- Milos Zeman will attend Victory Day celebrations in Moscow in order to express "his gratitude for the fact Czechs are not forced to speak German today."

Russia will on May 9 organize a military parade to mark 70 years since World War II victory.

Uzbekistan on March 29 declared its presidential ballot valid after more than the required third of voters turned out in an election that 77-year-old strongman incumbent President Islam Karimov is almost certain to win.
 

The Financial Police said on Thursday that they have smashed a racket of fraudsters believed to have swindled 360,000 euros from the Social Security Foundation (IKA) and the OAEE fund for freelancers and the self-employed by issuing forged diagnoses of worksite accidents with the help of doctors.

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover has become the first human-made vehicle to complete a marathon on another planet -- a feat accomplished in a record time of no less than 11 years.
      

The subway in Bulgaria's capital Sofia recently started giving bilingual audio directions - in both Bulgarian and English.

Since the subway extension to the airport is scheduled to launch in April, an increased influx of foreigners is expected in town, according to an official statement released Monday.

Questions are being raised after Patriot batteries placed in three Turkish provinces by NATO failed to prevent a Syrian missile from hitting Turkey.

"The anti-missile system is only for self-defence, as defined by the UN charter, and has nothing to do with Russia," Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Saturday.

Aurescu was commenting after Russia's ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, warned the Scandinavian country not to join the NATO missile defence system.

A 37-year-old ethnic Greek from the former Soviet Union who had absconded while on a furlough from Felli Prison in Grevena, northwestern Greece, last November was caught by police on Thursday in Menemeni, a suburb of Thessaloniki.

The fugitive is serving time for several burglaries in central Thessaloniki and Menemeni.

Russia's Stroitransgaz said on March 12 it will build a gas pipeline across Macedonia, which could eventually be used as part of a route to supply Europe with Russian gas via Turkey.

When Armenians in the former Republic of the Soviet Union were discussing declaring independence, some objected to it, saying that the moment Armenia declared independence Turkey would attack and kill Armenians.