Russia Ex-President Yeltsin Taken to Hospital

Russia's former president Boris Yeltsin was rushed to hospital on Tuesday just two days before his 70th birthday with what doctors believe is an "acute viral infection", Interfax news agency said.

Interfax quoted Yeltsin aide Vladimir Shevchenko as saying he was taken to hospital with a high temperature and was undergoing intensive treatment.

Yeltsin, who steered Russia's transition from communism to capitalism in nine years of his rule, has a history of health problems, including bypass heart surgery in 1999. However his aides say he has had no health problems since resignation.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/