Ukraine and Moldova on Monday are launching the process of demarcation of their common border at the Dniester section. Itar-Tass was told at the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration that the first boundary sign is expected to be set up here in the presence of the two countries’ official delegations.

   More than 109,000 persons study at universities during the 2009/2010 academic year, a decrease of 4.3% compared with a year before. The decrease is due to the 22% reduction in the number of students in part-time education. At the same time, the number of students in full-time education rose by 5.4%, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics.

   Moldovan outgoing President Vladimir Voronin was elected speaker of the parliament of the 17th convocation with the votes of 60 MPs. His candidacy was put forward by the Moldovan Party of Communists, which holds the majority of mandates in the 101-seat parliament elected on 5 April.

  The Constitutional Court confirmed, following five-hour debates the legality of the parliamentary elections held on 5 April and validated the mandates for all the 101 MPs elected for the Parliament, on 22 April.

  Prime Minister Zinaida Grecianii today chaired a meeting of the National Commission for Emergencies. President Vladimir Voronin participated in the meeting, according to the government's press service.

   Floods have killed 42 people in central and eastern Europe since last month and forced around 40,000 others to flee their homes, the United Nations said Tuesday.

   The Fund for Peace, an independent research organization, and Foreign Policy magazine presented the fourth annual Failed States Index. Using 12 social, economic, political, and military indicators, they ranked 177 states in order of their vulnerability to violent internal conflict and societal deterioration. They examined more than 30,000 publicly available sources, collected from May to December 2007, to form the basis of the index’s scores.

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   Romania is third in a ranking of governments most able to adjust to adverse economic trends and react swiftly and effectively in the wake of economic shocks in the EU-27 and Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland, but that reflects poor tax administration, ratings agency Standard&Poor's said Wednesday.