New Year's Day

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said in his New Year message to the citizens of Serbia that nobody will do anything instead of them, or instead of the government, noting that "the sooner we reach towards our goals, the sooner will we bring the country and ourselves back to our feet".

Putin sends New Year's greetings to Serbian counterpart

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the upcoming New Year and Christmas holidays to his Serbian counterpart Tomislav Nikolic.

Namely, both nations celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the calendar used by the Orthodox Church.

Guest houses, motels and hotels of the alpine spas in northern Romania's Maramures are fully booked for the New Year's night and the other three days to come of the winter holiday.

It has become a tradition for cartoonists to depict the ending year as an aged man with a long white beard in a death bed and the coming New Year as a toddler in diapers. Is there indeed that much of a difference between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1? No… It is only a matter of perception.

Greek stocks presented a mixed picture on Tuesday, as banks and most blue chips headed south, while mid-caps and small-caps enjoyed gains and turnover slid to a more subdued holiday level.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 819.81 points, shedding 0.45 percent from Monday’s 819.81 points.

US stocks were slightly slower in opening trade Tuesday, falling with European equity markets on political uncertainty in eurozone member Greece.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,008.31, down 29.92 points (0.17 percent).

The new year will witness increases in fees, stamp taxes and official fines for traffic and tax offences in Turkey.

Details of the new penalties have emerged just as the government met with unions and employers in Ankara to discuss raising the monthly minimum wage, a move which would affect around 5 million people in Turkey.

The Bulgarians were spending BGN 6 M per hour in preparation for the Christmas holidays, shows preliminary data of the National Revenue Agency (NAP), quoted by the Nova TV national channel.

It is expected that this year the households will spend more on celebrations and shopping, compared to last year.

BELGRADE - The current wait times at border crossings are up to 30 minutes for passenger vehicles, and drivers across Serbia are warned about winter driving conditions, the border police directorate said.

Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner who is a leading foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been found guilty of fraud and given a suspended sentence of three and a half years.