Eurasia

ATHENS, Greece — Three hand-made bombs went off in Athens early Friday (June 8th). One damaged a bus belonging to a German-Greek school.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — In a toughly worded statement on Thursday (June 7th), Republika Serpska (RS) Prime Minister Milorad Dodik again warned the Bosniak member of the BiH presidency, Haris Silajdzic, to stop his anti-Serb rhetoric.

ANKARA, Turkey — Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukanit reacted harshly to an AP report which suggested the Turkish Army had entered northern Iraq, telling reporters Thursday (June 7th) that the army “is no reckless hoodlum”.

BUCHAREST, Romania — Defence Minister Teodor Melescanu says Romania will boost dialogue with Russia to dispel concerns over the deployment of US bases in Bulgaria and Romania.

Bush arrived in Poland on Friday for talks on a planned US missile shield in central Europe after receiving a surprise Russian counter-offer to base it in Azerbaijan.

ANKARA, Turkey — The government on Wednesday (June 6th) denied media reports that Turkish troops carried out an operation against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorists based in Iraq.

BEIJING (Reuters) — China hit back at critics of its policy on Sudan on Thursday, saying forcing UN troops on Khartoum would complicate efforts to resolve the Darfur crisis and calling attempts to link its policies there with the Olympics “ridiculous”.

ANKARA (AP) — Turkey has declared several areas near the border with Iraq to be “temporary security zones” in a sign of increasing activity by the military in its campaign against Kurdish rebels.

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin, bitterly opposed to a US missile shield in eastern Europe, told US President George W. Bush on Thursday that Moscow would drop its objections if the system were installed in Azerbaijan.

Russia’s Putin has suggested a rogue proposal to United States of America to share a Russian-controlled radar as part of an anti-missile shield that would try to protect all of Europe.