Skopje - Georgi Ivanov, the candidate of Macedonia's ruling party in the country's presidential elections, is heading to the second-round vote with a huge lead over his opposition rivals, results released one day after the first round of voting showed Monday.

With some 40 per cent of the ballots counted, Ivanov, nominated by the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party, had more than twice as many votes than his nearest challenger, the Social Democrats' candidate Ljubomir Frckovski.

Frckovski overcame a surprisingly strong showing by former interior minister and VMRO official Ljube Boskoski, now an independent candidate.

The incumbent, Social Democrat Branko Crvenkovski, did not seek re-election in Sunday's polls.

Skopje  - The ruling party's presidential Georgi Ivanov took a convincing lead in the first round of Macedonia's elections Sunday, with twice the number of votes as his nearest rival in early vote results.

With 15 per cent of the ballots counted, Ivanov had 38.49 per cent, more than twice as much as his nearest rival. The turnout among the 1.8 million registered voters was 51.68 per cent, the election commission said.

Washington, March 5 : Major archaeological excavations have started at four ancient sites around Macedonia, namely at the sites of Heraklea Lynkestis, Skopje's Kale Fortress, Stobi and Isar.

It is expected that the sites will be completely explored, Pasko Kuzman, Director of Cultural Heritage Protection in the Macedonian Ministry of Culture, told the Dnevnik newspaper.

About 100 people already started excavating unearthed parts of the Heraklea Lynkestis site, which is located at about two kilometres from the town of Bitola in south-western Macedonia.

Skopje  - Macedonia on Friday marked the end of its participation in the peacekeeping mission in Iraq, welcoming home the troops who served there, Beta news agency reported.

President Branko Crvenkovski, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Defence Minister Zoran Konjanovski presented medals during the welcome ceremony. The soldiers received 98 US medals and a letter of gratitude signed by US President George Bush.

A total of 479 Macedonian troops have served in Iraq since 2003. A further 11, mostly officers, already returned home last week.

Sofia (Bulgaria), Nov 18: A team of archaeologists has found over 100 new artifacts, which date back to the early Roman period, at the Gabrevci site in the central part of Macedonia.

According to a report in www.balkantravellers.com, 130 ceramic vessels and deformed bronze objects were discovered during initial excavations, as stated by Trayche Nachev, head of the archaeological team.

The new findings come a month after a ritual funeral coach was discovered at the site, according to media reports.

Athens  - Greece on Monday said it will appear before the International Court of Justice in The Hague to defend its position against accusations by Macedonia.

Earlier in the day Macedonia filed a lawsuit against Greece accusing Athens of violating international legal obligations earlier this year by blocking Macedonia's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.