VILNIUS, Lithuania, May 14 (AP) — Lithuania's Health Ministry on Tuesday scrapped a Soviet-era rule requiring that women undergo gynecological examinations to qualify for a driver's license.
      An ombudsman office in the former Soviet Baltic republic recently declared the provision discriminatory since men aren't asked to take an equivalent medical test.
      "It should have been revoked a long time ago," Ausrine Burneikiene, who heads the office, said. "This requirement made our country look more than strange."
      The Health Ministry announced its decision to strike the rule from the books after carrying out a five-month study.
      Burneikiene rebuffed a few officials who argued that certain diseases in women could cause sufficient pain to inhibit driving.
      "A majority of our consultants said there are no specific female diseases that could hinder women from driving," she said.
      Lithuania, which regained independence during the 1991 Soviet collapse, has endeavored to bring its laws into line with Western European standards in its bid to join the 15-nation European Union.

      RIGA, May 26 (Reuters) — Thousands of cheering Latvians welcomed home on Sunday their country's Eurovision song contest winner "Marie N," who was given a personal vote of thanks by the country's president.
      The 21-year-old jazz singer and law graduate, who won on Saturday with her Latinesque "I Wanna," said she was overwhelmed by Latvians' response to a second successive triumph for Baltic states after Estonia's victory last year.
      "We were moved to tears by the reception — it was like holding Latvia in our hands," Marie N, whose full name is Marija Naumova, told the crowd of flag-waving well-wishers on arriving home from the Estonian capital Tallinn.
      "It was an awesome feeling."
      Up to 5,000 people packed the Old Town square of Latvia's capital Riga to greet Naumova, who had narrowly beaten second-placed Malta. Latvia's northern neighbour Estonia, which followed the tradition of hosting the contest having won last year, came third and Britain fourth.
      "Next year we now have the possibility to accomplish something beautiful due to this success. Thank you once again Marija," Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said at the welcoming ceremony, looking ahead to the contest being held in Riga in 2003.
      The vivacious Naumova, a member of Latvia's large Russian minority, credited flamboyant choreography, a small-country work ethic and inspiration drawn from wine for her victory.
      "I like to make a show and I like people who want (to put on a show)," she told reporters in Estonia after what she said was a sleepless and celebratory Saturday night and Sunday morning.
      Fluent in five languages, Naumova said she would try to break into the big-time European music scene, as ABBA did when they won with "Waterloo" in 1974, though her surprise victory has left her short on immediate plans.
      She said Vike-Freiberga called her after the event to congratulate her and the government said it would consider a financial reward for Naumova on Monday.
      When Estonia won last year, doubts emerged over whether its public broadcaster was up to the task of hosting Eurovision due to weak finances. There are similar worries in Latvia's case.
      "But I can ask did you notice this last night," the head of Latvia's Eurovision delegation Arvids Bubris asked journalists on Sunday.
      He said Latvian public broadcast funds were tight but the country would manage to put on the event.
      Many deride Eurovision as a kitsch-and-glitz television extravaganza -- Slovenia's entry was a trio of transvestites -- but the event still draws a huge television audience every year, with 160 million expected to have tuned in this year.

      BEIJING, Jun 3, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) — Chinese President Jiang Zemin left here Monday to attend two summits and pay state visit to four European countries.
      Jiang is to attend the summit meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia held in Alma- ata and the Second Summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization held in St. Petersburg, and pay state visits to Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Iceland.
      The Chinese President made the visit at the invitation of President Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan, President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of the Russian Federation, President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of the Republic of Latvia, President Arnold Ruutel of the Republic of Estonia, President Valdas Adamkus of the Republic of Lithuania, and President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of the Republic of Iceland.
      Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, Vice-President Hu Jintao, other senior officials and diplomatic envoys from the six related countries, saw Jiang and his delegation off at the Great Hall of the People.
      Jiang's entourage include his wife Wang Yeping, Vice-Premier Qian Qichen, and other senior officials.

      WASHINGTON (AP) — Nineteen countries are not doing enough to prevent the "horrific practice" of the forced transport of human beings across international borders, a new State Department report says.
      The report, which examined 89 countries, said the number of offending countries is down from 23 a year ago.
      More than a quarter of the countries are in the Gulf region: Bahrain, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
      The report, issued annually, was prepared in response to legislation approved in October 2000 to highlight the problem in which thousands of victims are taken across international borders to work in sweatshops, construction sites, brothels and fields.
      The legislation calls for imposing economic sanctions in 2003 against countries that fail to take action against traffickers or to protect victims.
      Secretary of State Colin Powell was planning to unveil the report on Wednesday. A copy was made available to the Associated Press on Tuesday.
      Apart from the Gulf countries, the remaining 14 countries found not to be complying with minimum standards set forth in the legislation are Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia, Cambodia, Greece, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Russia, Sudan, Tajikistan and Turkey.
      All are designated as "Tier 3" countries in the report. Another 52 countries are listed in the "Tier 2" category; they are said to be not meeting the minimum standards but making "significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance."
      The Tier 2 countries are Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Latvia, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam and Yugoslavia.
      Eighteen "Tier 1" countries are described as complying fully with the standards. In this category are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
      The report said South Korea made "extraordinary strides" last year and moved from Tier 3 to Tier 1.
      Countries in which there were fewer than 100 cases involving transit or destination of trafficking victims were excluded from the report. Other countries were excluded for a lack of information.

      Moscow, Russia, Jun 07, 2002 (RosBusinessConsulting via COMTEX) — The State Duma adopted a resolution on the Latvian government's policy of discrimination against the Russian population of the Latvian Republic at a session today. In the resolution deputies expressed their concern about the fact that the Latvian government was continuing to actively pursue its policy of discrimination against the Russian population. The situation in this sphere has substantially worsened since the adoption of amendments to the Latvian Constitution on April 30, 2002, which rule out the possibility of using Russian in the work of official agencies at various levels, Russian lawmakers believe. The fact that "the Latvian leadership is cynically trying to 'screen' these openly discriminatory moves by the idea of national consensus" causes "particular disgust" among Russian parliamentarians. In this connection the State Duma remarked on the fact that despite this policy of Latvia, Russia had so far been offering that country preferential conditions for trade and economic cooperation. The State Duma suggested that in the future, the Russian government should make decisions on cooperation with Latvia depending on the Latvian government's efforts to stop this policy of discrimination against the Russian population. Deputies appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to take measures to protect the interests of Russian compatriots living in Latvia. The Duma appealed to parliaments of UN members, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to "make a principal assessment of the policy pursued by the Latvian government in terms of the observation of human rights and ethnic minority rights in the Latvian Republic." 383 deputies voted for this resolution, and one deputy voted against it.

      TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld discussed the expected expansion of NATO on Saturday with his counterparts from seven Baltic and Nordic nations and said he would consult with a top U.S. official who had just visited India and Pakistan.
      In his meeting with the defense ministers, Rumsfeld discussed a range of issues, including the likelihood that the three Baltic countries -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- will be invited to join NATO when allied leaders meet in Prague, the Czech capital, in November.
      Rumsfeld told reporters that "most of us favor a relatively robust" expansion of NATO, which now has 19 member countries.
      He declined to be more specific but said U.S. President George W. Bush favors adding "a good number" of candidate countries, which include Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Macedonia, in addition to the Baltic nations.
      Macedonia and Albania are thought to be the least likely to gain membership invitations this year.
      Rumsfeld said he planned to consult Saturday with the U.S. State Department's No. 2 official before deciding when to travel to India and Pakistan to continue efforts at averting war.
      Until he meets with Richard Armitage, Rumsfeld said he had nothing he wanted to say about the situation. Armitage, the deputy secretary of state, met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday.
      Rumsfeld spoke at a news conference after meeting with Baltic and Nordic defense ministers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. That session focused on the global fight against terrorism and prospects for expanding NATO.
      The U.S. defense secretary was scheduled to travel Sunday from Estonia to the Persian Gulf to meet with government officials in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, before heading to Pakistan and India. Aides said Saturday that it was possible Rumsfeld would switch plans and go to South Asia before the Gulf.
      Rumsfeld said Saturday before meeting with Armitage that he had not decided where he would travel next. Armitage was trying to persuade the nuclear-armed rivals to ease tensions along their frontier in the disputed province of Kashmir.
      Both sides have massed 1 million troops along the Line of Control -- the cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

      St. Petersburg , Russia, Jun 10, 2002 (RosBusinessConsulting via COMTEX) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver the opening address at the Summit of the Baltic State in St. Petersburg today. The main topics of the summit will be the problem with the status of the Kaliningrad region prior to Poland and Lithuania's ascension to the EU, investment collaboration of European states within the Northern Dimension program and collaboration between Baltic law enforcement authorities for providing security in the Baltic region. In addition, participants of the summit will discuss customs policies and cooperation in the fields of transport, energy, trade, economy and ecology. The Prime Ministers of Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Estonia are going to participate in the summit. The Russian President is expected to hold several bilateral meetings, in particular, with German leader Gerhard Schroeder and Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson. In addition, Putin will meet with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

      RIGA, Jun 10, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) — Chinese President Jiang Zemin touched down here Monday noon at the start of a state visit to Latvia, the first by a Chinese president to the Baltic country.
      Jiang said in his arrival statement that he is expected to exchange views with Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and other leaders of Latvia on bilateral relations and international issues of common concern.
      The two sides will jointly "explore new ways of pushing China-Latvia friendly relations and cooperation for comprehensive development in the new century on the basis of principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit," Jiang said.
      Jiang expressed his confidence that his visit will help enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two countries, and expand their consensus.
      Latvia has created brilliant cultural splendor and scored remarkable achievements in scientific and technological development, and has over the past years witnessed flourishing development in its economy, culture, education and other undertakings, he noted.
      Jiang flew in from the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, where he had a brief stay over the weekend.

      LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) — Following are some of the major events to have occurred on June 17 since 1900:
      1940 — Red Army troops occupied Latvia and Estonia and pro-Soviet administrations were installed.

      WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure signed into law Monday by President George W. Bush endorses an expansion of NATO and authorizes military aid to seven nations that hope to join the alliance.
      At NATO's November summit in Prague, the 19-nation alliance will decide whether to expand eastward and southward deeper into the old Soviet bloc.
      Among the 10 candidates for new membership, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria are expected to get the nod. Slovakia's bid depends on the defeat of an authoritarian former leader in September elections.
      Croatia, Albania and Macedonia also want to join but are considered longer shots.
      The measure Bush signed, passed by wide margins in both houses of Congress, authorizes dlrs 55.5 million in military assistance for the seven clearest hopefuls, although it does not specifically call for NATO admission for any of the countries.
      The aid: Bulgaria, dlrs 10 million; Estonia, dlrs 6.5 million; Latvia, dlrs 7 million; Lithuania, dlrs 7.5 million; Romania, dlrs 11.5 million; Slovakia, dlrs 8.5 million, and Slovenia, dlrs 4.5 million.
      It says Slovakia should be able to join NATO's "partnership for peace" program, which allows for the alliance to step up cooperation with nonmember nations.
      The measure also expresses support for expanding NATO, in line with statements by Bush last June and by former President Bill Clinton in October 1996.
      Critics of the bill in Congress said NATO's role should be re-evaluated in light of the new U.S.-Russia friendship. Others said it might make the seven nations think they have the U.S. vote for admission and that expansion could weaken the alliance while placing new burdens on American taxpayers.
      Current NATO members are Belgium, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United States.