Vilnius  - As one of Europe's two Capitals of Culture for 2009, the Lithuanian capital Vilnius hopes it can raise its profile and repeat what happened exactly 1,000 years ago, when the name "Lithuania" was first recorded in writing.

"We have two reasons to celebrate - first Vilnius will become the European Capital of Culture and the second, even bigger reason is that Lithuania will celebrate the millennium of its name," Vilma Janulyte, head of communications for the Vilnius 2009 organization told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Vilnius - The governing body of Lithuanian basketball announced Thursday that it was suspending this weekend's programme of matches in protest at government tax proposals.

In a press release, the Lithuanian Basketball League (LBL) said no national championship games would take place until December 29 in the face of "catastrophic and draconian taxes" planned by the recently-elected government of Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.

Vilnius - Lithuania's recently-installed government won a thumbs-up from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday for austerity measures designed to rescue the Baltic state's economy from the threat of a serious recession.

Catriona Purfield, the head of the IMF team that has been in Lithuania for the last week, confirmed that Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius had not asked for a loan from the IMF.

"Lithuania has not requested such assistance," Purfield said.

Neighbouring Latvia has already joined Ukraine, Hungary and Iceland in seeking an IMF bailout, while on Monday Estonia said it did not need similar help.

Vilnius  - More than a month after it triumphed in a general election, a new government coalition took charge of the Baltic country of Lithuania Tuesday evening, following a swearing-in ceremony at the national parliament, the Seimas.

Now the new Lithuanian government can begin to tackle a worsening economic situation in the largest of the Baltic states, under the leadership of 52-year-old Andrius Kubilius. Kubilius previously served as prime minister during 1999-2000.

Vilnius - Lithuania's President Valdas Adamkus played host to his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko in Vilnius Tuesday, where the two leaders discussed bilateral economic and political relations, regional issues and Euro-Atlantic cooperation.

Yushchenko said Ukrainian companies wanted to participate in the planned construction of a new nuclear power plant at Ignalina in Lithuania.

At present the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Poland are involved in the project, which has yet to commence construction, but Yushchenko said two Ukrainian companies had already applied to Lithuania to take part.

Vilnius - New Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius presented his incoming government's plans to parliament for approval Friday, promptly laying the blame for Lithuania's current economic problems squarely with his predecessor, Gediminas Kirkilas.

"It is regrettable that in his time, the IMF warned that the government needed to take action to avoid an imminent crisis. No action was taken, so we have a crisis," Kubilius said to howls of protest from Kirkilas' supporters.

The Lithuanian economy has recorded some of Europe's highest growth rates over the last decade, but that progress has slowed markedly this year and many in the largest and most economically powerful of the Baltic states fear the country may slide into recession soon.