A major heat wave continues today across Southeastern Europe after record temperatures on July 24 that killed at least 12 people in Romania.

Russia's desire to withdraw from the CFE Treaty has been made clear enough, but what next? Addressing a news conference in Brussels on July 18, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said Russia's intentions regarding the treaty, long considered a cornerstone of stability in Europe, remain a "mystery" to the alliance.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski met with U.S. President George W. Bush on June 16 at the White House, where the two leaders talked about the war in Iraq and U.S. plans to build a missile-defense base in Poland and the neighboring Czech Republic.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and U.S. President George W. Bush will discuss Monday plans to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, the White House press service said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed Saturday to suspend the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and related international agreements in Russia until NATO ratifies an adaptation agreement, the Kremlin press service said.

U.S. plans to deploy its missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic is a ploy to militarize Europe and lure Russia into retaliation, a Russian political expert said Tuesday.

Astronomy is entering a new golden age of discovery led by breakthroughs in telescopes and instruments making them capable of observing distant events early in the life of the universe. There is now great optimism that one of the fundamental questions of cosmology, the origin of galaxies, will be resolved within the next decade or sooner.

A team of U.S. experts is expected to arrive this month in the Czech Republic to examine a place where Washington could set up a missile defense base.

The president of Belarus said Tuesday he was seriously concerned about U.S. plans to deploy elements of a missile defense shield in Central Europe and about NATO's eastward expansion.

Russia's new defense proposals could be implemented only if the United States abandons plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Europe, a Russian delegation source at the informal Putin-Bush talks said Tuesday.

Russia declared a moratorium on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) in the hope that the move would encourage its partners to ratify it, a Russian deputy foreign minister said Monday.

Russia's South Stream pipeline project is not politically motivated and does not threaten Nabucco, Europe's $6-billion gas pipeline project linking the energy-rich Caspian to Europe, bypassing Russia, the Gazprom head said Friday.