Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, whose reforms helped lead to the fall of communism, threw his weight behind the pro-democracy protests in Egypt, saying they were “well-grounded and of vital importance”.

Despite his Machiavellian morals, Henry Kissinger’s tale of the Asian nation’s newfound significance is a fascinating read, says TP O’Mahony.

David Reynolds

AN explosion has torn through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm, killing at least 100 people, media reports say.

Taliban militants opened fire at a ceremony marking the defeat of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, forcing dignitaries including Afghanistan’s president to take cover.

Russia's satellite navigation system advances further today as another three are put into orbit, and President Vladimir Putin already has plans for how to use it: to keep tabs on his black labrador.

Russia’s parliament overwhelmingly approved Viktor Zubkov as prime minister today, and President Vladimir Putin said he was among at least five people who could hope to succeed him next year.

Russia’s military has successfully tested what it described as the world’s most powerful non-nuclear air-delivered bomb, Russia’s state television reported, the latest show of the nation’s military muscle amid chilly relations with the United States.

A methane gas leak killed 13 Ukrainian coal miners and injured at least 61 at a coal mine in eastern Ukraine early today, officials said.

An explosion ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine early today, killing at least nine miners and leaving the fate of more than 30 others unknown, the Interfax news agency reported.

SEVERAL thousand opposition supporters gathered on a main square in central Minsk last night as polls closed in a disputed presidential election.

The main Belarusian opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, tonight called for new presidential elections as thousands of his supporters jammed a main square in central Minsk to protest the ballot that authorities said would hand incumbent Alexander Lukashenko a huge victory.

Church leaders, politicians and believers across the country began celebrations of Russian Orthodox Christmas on the eve of the holiday Friday, with President Vladimir Putin sending greetings to the faithful.

An international effort is underway to rescue seven people trapped aboard a Russian mini-submarine off the Pacific coast.

An explosion ripped through a coal mine in Ukraine’s western Lviv region today, killing five miners and seriously injuring three others, the Ministry for Emergency Situations said in a statement.

Some 1,000 angry protesters gathered at the site of earlier violence in this Uzbek city Andijan today, placing six bodies on display among the dozens that witnesses said were killed in earlier fighting in the heart of Central Asia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is embarking on the first ever visit by a Kremlin leader to the Jewish state in an historic bid to cement improving relations after decades of Soviet-era strain.

The Russian Cabinet today allocated the equivalent of $6.8bn (€5bn) to buy new weapons next year, and the defence minister reaffirmed the military’s readiness to strike terrorists outside Russia’s borders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly defended the purchase of Yukos oil company assets by a state-owned firm, saying today that the state was getting its due.

Launching fireworks and champagne corks into the air, thousands of Georgians revelled today in the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze in boisterous street celebrations in the capital Tbilisi, marking what many called a “holiday of freedom.”

Opposition supporters broke into Georgia’s Parliament today, scuffling with lawmakers and forcing President Eduard Shevardnadze to flee as thousands of protesters outside demanded his resignation.

A 23-YEAR-OLD woman, who is the first Afghan in three decades to take part in a beauty pageant, could face prosecution if she returns to her native country, a senior justice official said.

Latvians began voting today in the last referendum of the 10 candidate countries seeking membership in the European Union, seeking to cement the country’s ties to the west after years of occupation.

A powerful car bomb rocked a busy market area in the centre of Kabul today, killing at least 22 people in the bloodiest attack in the Afghan capital since the fall of the Taliban.

Afghan leaders were divided today over how long the British-led multinational security force should remain in the war-ravaged nation.

A former Afghan warlord has urged the ruling Taliban regime to form an alliance with other ethnic groups to fight the United States.

Osama Bin Laden is both one of the CIA's most wanted men, and a hero for many young people in the Arab world.

Belarus is voting in elections to decide if President Alexander Lukashenko is to be returned to office.

The leaders of six nations led by China and Russia signed an agreement today on promoting trade and combating Islamic militancy.