Parade to be held in Moscow to mark anniversary since 1941.

MOSCOW, November 7 (Itar-Tass) -- A march will take place on Moscow's
Red Square this Sunday to mark the 69th anniversary since the legendary
1941 parade.
The parade was held on Red Square on November 7, 1941, to mark the
24th anniversary since the revolution. Nazi troops at the time were 70-100
kilometres from the capital. Servicemen of the Moscow Military District,
Moscow defence zone troops, students from military schools and other units
of the Red Army marched in the parade, and some of the troops left the Red
Square directly for the front.
More than 4,000 young members of youth public associations, military
patriotic clubs, search teams and military school students will march on
the country's main square this Sunday.
Servicemen of the Moscow Military District, a motorised infantry
brigade, the Defence Ministry's Moscow Military University, students of
military academies and the mounted group of the presidential regiment will
participate in the historical part. They will wear 1941-time uniform.
There will be a cavalry, T-34 tanks, ZIS and GAZ-M1 (Emka) vehicles
and 37-mm antiaircraft guns.
The main spectators will be veterans. About 70 WWII veterans who
participated in the 1941 parade live in Moscow at present. But only about
50 of them can come to watch the parade this Sunday.
Such anniversary-marking events are held on November 7 each year since
1998. Veterans are honoured spectators there.
The parade will begin at 10:00. Earlier on Sunday morning, city
officials will lay wreaths and flowers at the Tomb of the the Unknown
Soldier and the monument to marshal Zhukov. The veterans are invited to
the Bolshoi Theatre after the event to attend a concert.

.APEC Week opens in Yokohama.

YOKOHAMA, November 7 (Itar-Tass) -- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) Week opens in the Japanese city of Yokohama, the prefecture of
Kanagawa, this Sunday. The 18th summit of the organisation will be held
here on November 13 and 14.
A two-day meeting of senior officials -- delegates from each of the
APEC economies -- has already opened in the city. The head of the Russian
delegation is special foreign ministry envoy Valery Sorokin.
Delegates in the format already met this year for three times -- in
Hiroshima, Sapporo and Sendai. The senior officials forming the main
working structure meet in Yokohama this time to specify the agenda for the
summit and discuss possible additions to be taken into consideration in
final documents of the November 10-11 meeting of foreign and economic
ministers.
The final APEC week in Japan (the country this year presides over the
forum) was preceded by more than 10 meetings of heads of various
ministries. The discussions, as the foreign minister meeting in Kyoto last
Saturday, are aimed at deepening of regional integration and an agreement
on a draft APEC strategy for economic development.
"We, as well as other forum participants, have supported the document
to be adopted by the APEC for the first time," Sorokin noted.
A number of its provisions coincide in its direction with the Russian
policy for modernisation, he said.
According to the Russian delegation head, the draft APEC growth
strategy reflects the Russian proposals for regional security.
The delegations are expected to agree on plans to create a common
regional free trade zone.
Common understanding of the importance to actively promote the process
was achieved during the previous discussion, Sorokin said.
The senior officials on November 8 are also expected to approve the
preliminary assessment of the work done by the APEC to achieve the Bogor
Goals set for the period till 2010 and 2020. The priority guidelines in
the organisation activities, which were adopted in 1994, envisaged
creation of a system of free trade and investment activities in the region.
The prepared drafts and conclusions will be taken into consideration
for final summit decisions.
Leaders of 21 countries and territories, forum members, participate in
the annual (informal) PACE summit in Yokohama. Among them will be leaders
of Russia, China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Southeast
Asian states. The Russian Federation participates in the forum since 1997
and for the first time will host an APEC summit in Vladivostok on Russky
Island in 2012.
The APEC economies account for about 60 percent of the World GNP, 50
percent of the world's foreign trade and 40 percent of the earth
population. The total GNP of the members of the regional organisation
amounts to 16 trillion dollars.
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