The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Washington - Seven former Soviet bloc countries weree welcomed into NATO on yesterday, as U.S. President George W. Bush met with their leaders at the White House. The western strategic alliance will grow to 26 on Friday when Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia attend their first NATO meeting in Brussels. That's the largest expansion of the alliance since it was formed in 1949 to protect North America and western Europe from attack by the Soviet Union. Russia has expressed discomfort as the former Cold War foe of the Soviet Union expands eastward. Moscow has said it would have to respond to threats on its borders, and any western meddling in its region. Los Angeles - The U.S. space agency used a special engine to send an unpiloted plane on a brief but historic, hypersonic flight off the coast of California Saturday. The plane reached Mach 7 during a 10-second powered flight, about 8,000 km/h, and then glided for several minutes before plunging into the Pacific Ocean about 650 kilometres from California. Dublin - Ireland now has the toughest anti-smoking laws in Europe. A ban on lighting up in any enclosed workplace, including pubs and restaurants, went into effect at midnight Sunday. Breaking the rules means risking fines of up to 3,000 euros, or almost $5,000 Cdn.
