Slovenia, the first country to quit Yugoslavia in 1991, becomes EU president on January 1 and will play a lead role in maybe the last act of the old Balkan federation’s demise when Kosovo secedes from Serbia.

The popularity of Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has more than doubled since President Vladimir Putin named him his preferred successor two weeks ago, an opinion poll showed on Thursday.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency) Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Ali Kordan, heading a high-ranking delegation, arrived in Ashkhabad Wednesday.