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/ 4 April 2008

Russia’s Putin stands firm against Nato

President Vladimir Putin on Friday maintained Russian opposition to a United States missile defence system and Nato’s enlargement during talks with alliance leaders, officials said. No progress was reported from the summit but Putin, in his last major international appearance before stepping down in May, and Nato leaders said the talks had been positive.

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/ 4 April 2008

Tensions rise at Russia-Nato summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday started a tense summit with Nato leaders amid mounting tensions over United States anti-missile defence plans and the alliance’s expansion toward Russian territory. In a rare moment of cooperation, Russia and Nato concluded a deal on land transit for non-military freight to Afghanistan.

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/ 4 April 2008

Bigger role for Afghan army

Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, is expected to propose a radical expansion of the Afghan army and call for his troops to take over security responsibilities in Kabul from Nato, according to officials at the alliance’s summit in Bucharest, Romania. The proposal will be discussed by Nato leaders at a meeting on Afghanistan soon.

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/ 2 April 2008

Bush sets up Nato clash over Ukraine, Georgia

United States President George Bush set the stage for a clash at his last Nato summit on Wednesday by pressing reluctant West European allies to set former Soviet republics Georgia and Ukraine on a path to membership. He also urged allies to follow the example of France and host nation Romania in providing extra troops for Nato’s battle against Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan.

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/ 24 July 2007

Heatwave, fires wreak havoc in Europe

Twelve Romanians died and firefighters, soldiers and volunteers battled wildfires across south-eastern Europe on Tuesday as a heatwave broke temperature records across the Balkans. There was a blackout in many parts of Macedonia and some parts of Albania and northern Greece. In Romania, new deaths pushed the toll from the heatwave up to 30.

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/ 11 July 2007

Case against God dismissed in Romanian court

A Romanian man who sued God for ”fraud” and ”betrayal of trust” for failing to answer his prayers has had his case dismissed in court, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Mircea Pavel (40), who is serving 20 years in prison for murder, brought charges against ”the defendant God, who lives in the heavens and is represented in Romania by the Orthodox Church”.

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/ 1 January 2007

Bulgaria, Romania make it to EU

Bulgaria and Romania made it into the European Union on New Year’s on Monday, a historic moment that drew thousands to midnight concerts although leaders warned that painful reforms were still needed. As midnight struck marking the first day of 2007, hundreds of balloons with ”Welcome Europe” written on them rose to the sky from a 30 000-strong crowd in Alexander Battenberg square

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/ 29 June 2006

Romania probes ‘foreign plot’ to worsen weather

The Romanian Senate has opened an inquiry into ”indications” that floods that have battered the country were the result of a ”meteorological war waged by a foreign power”, a senator said Thursday. ”We are planning to check indications … that the extreme meteorological phenomena were caused by human technology controlled from abroad,” Dan Carlan said.

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/ 17 October 2005

Bird-flu threat grips Europe, Asia

The growing threat of bird flu spreading across the continent is set to top the agendas of European Union leaders this week, after the deadly Asian strain of the virus landed in the continent for the first time. In the Far East, where the deadly H5N1 strain first emerged, the top United States health official held meetings with Indonesian ministers.

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/ 16 September 2005

Everton on brink of elimination

Everton’s miserable start to the season suffered a new low on Thursday when they slipped to a humiliating 5-1 defeat at the hands of Dynamo Bucharest in their UEFA Cup first round, first leg tie. The defeat came in the wake of their elimination in the Champions League qualifying round by Villarreal and followed a depressing start to the Premiership where they are third from bottom.

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/ 1 March 2005

Romanians sceptical about ‘heavy leu’

The days when almost everyone in Romania was a millionaire are numbered, starting on Tuesday when sceptical Romanians were greeted with old and new prices as the country takes the first steps to introducing the ”heavy leu”. The 22-month process will see four zeros zapped from the national currency, weakened after 15 years of high inflation.