Warsaw- Poland marked 90 years of modern-day independence Tuesday with tears, patriotic speeches and a gala that controversially left former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa off the guest list.

The national holiday included Roman Catholic church services, parades and ceremonies at monuments to General Jozef Pilsudski, who led Poland toward freedom in
1918 after 123 years of partition by Austria, Germany and Russia.

Helsinki - The 50-50 joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks said Tuesday it planned to cut some 1,250 jobs in Finland and Germany as part of cost-cutting measures.

The group - launched last year between Nokia and Germany's Siemens - estimated the move would impact 750 employees in Finland and about 500 employees in Munich, Germany.

The cuts in Germany were to take effect at the latest on October 2009.

After earlier cuts, transfers and voluntary severance resignations, Nokia Siemens Networks said it expected to employ 7,000 people in Finland down from some 9,200.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated the first democratic

Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has submitted a bill to parliament on extending the presidential term from four to six years, a Kremlin spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Medvedev announced he was seeking the constitutional amendment in his state-of-the-nation address last week.

His administration can easily muster the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to enact the change after the dominant pro-Kremlin party headed by his predecessor Vladimir Putin swept the polls in last years' vote.

But legal experts say the term extensions would only apply to future presidents.

Bucharest - Rapid Bucharest's general manager Constantin Zotta an