91.   Talks with Chirac were to focus on plans by NATO to admit former Soviet bloc countries, officials said.

92.   That will give France greater influence as NATO expands by absorbing former members of the Soviet bloc.

93.   The addition of the three one-time members of the Soviet bloc is likely to face a fight in the U.S. Senate, which must ratify the expansion.

94.   The alliance earlier this month admitted Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, the first additions from the old Soviet bloc.

95.   The abuses of former Soviet bloc countries were notorious.

96.   The annual health budget in Bulgaria, once a medical showcase of the Soviet bloc, has dried up.

97.   The challenges are particularly acute in economies making the transition to capitalism, such as those of the former Soviet bloc.

98.   The booming sex industry of Dubi is a product of the free-market economy that is struggling to find its feet in the old Soviet bloc.

99.   The CIA, in part seeking justifications for its existence after the fall of the Soviet bloc, has put new effort into gathering intelligence about criminal organizations.

100.   The collapse of the Soviet bloc further weakened North Korea.