Economy of the Soviet Union

The Greek economy is expected to regain its growth momentum in the second half of the year, after a slowdown in the previous quarters, as a result of increased confidence and favorable monetary conditions, a report by the financial analysis department of the National Bank of Greece argues.

Popular Mechanics reports that a Russian defense company has developed a flying vehicle that took to the air earlier this week as manufacturers demonstrated what it can do. The hovercraft, built by Kalashnikov Concern, gets its lift from 16 sets of rotors and appears to run on battery power, not fuel.

Len Homeniuk, a former CEO of Toronto-based Centerra Gold mining company, is facing an extradition hearing in Bulgaria on Thursday, the Globe and Mail has reported.

Toronto-based mining company Centerra Gold has said it has been made aware that its former President and CEO Leonard Homeniuk has been detained by the Bulgarian authorities, "apparently at the request of Kyrgyz Republic authorities".

The technological giant Apple has temporarily suspended online sales in Russia, because of the instability of the ruble, reports Bloomberg.

"Our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing," Alan Hely, spokesperson of Apple told Bloomberg in an e-mail on Tuesday. "We apologise to customers for any inconvenience."

U.S. needs its own "perestroika", says Gorbachev

MOSCOW -- Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said that the United States "needs reforms similar to those during perestroika ("restructuring")."

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the central bank and government on Dec. 4 to take "tough action" to stop speculation on the ruble  after the currency hit new all-time lows this week.

The ruble turned back down on Dec. 3, reaching a new record low against the dollar at 54.82 to the greenback, as well as the euro, which was buying 67.82 units of the Russian currency in early trade.