U.S. Forever Stamp Honors Actress Helen Hayes

The longtime theater, film and television actress Helen Hayes is being honored on a new forever postage stamp, on sale nationwide for 44-cents and usable for first-class postage from now on.

The stamp was dedicated Monday. Designed by Howard Paine, it features original art by Drew Struzan, whose movie posters for the "Indiana Jones" and "Star Wars" series have been seen by millions. Struzan based his design for the stamp on a photograph taken of Hayes circa 1958.

Born in Washington, Hayes appeared in her first school production at age 5 and was starring on Broadway by age 20. She went on to become known as the First Lady of American Theater.

In her career she appeared in more than 100 productions, winning Tony Awards along the way. She collected an Oscar for best actress in "The Sin of Madelon Claudet" in 1932, the first stage actress to win an Academy Award, and won another for best supporting actress in the 1970 movie "Airport."

Stamps to honor 60th Anniversary of Thai-Laotian Relationship

The Thai Post has issued a series of stamps to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of Thailand-Lao PDR Diplomatic Relations.

Currently, Thailand and Lao PDR enjoy a smooth and close relationship which is based on respect for mutual interest. The contributing factor to this is the close connection in race, religion, language and culture.

The stamps issued by Thailand depict the national symbols of Thailand and Lao PDR - "Thai and Laotian ladies in their national attire" greeting each other with the national flowers - the golden shower for Thailand and the Lao Champak for Lao PDR.

Three new stamps from Croatian Post's long-running series

Croatian Post has released three new commemorative postage stamps from the "Famous Croats" series. The stamps were designed by Sabina Resic, a designer from Zagreb, printed in 100 000 copies and issued in a 20-stamp sheet. Each stamp has a face value of HRK 1.60.

Croatian Post first issued stamps from the "Famous Croats" series in 1997 and this year the stamps feature: Grigor Vitez (the first modern children's author in Croatia who wrote numerous poems and short stories; he was also the editor of several children's books and magazines), August Harambasic (a gifted Croatian poet, orator and politician from the late 19th and early 20th century) and Jagoda Truhelka (a teacher and one of the most revered authors of children's literature in the first half of the 20th century).

Russian Peace Foundation stamp

This new issue by the Russian Post is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Russian Peace Foundation. The stamp depicts the emblem of this social organization.

In March 1950, millions of peace supporters in the Soviet Union and abroad signed the Stockholm Appeal "On the prohibition of nuclear weapons." Many Soviet people on their own initiative began sending donations to the struggle for peace. For the strictest control over the expenditure of these funds in April 27, 1961 a public organization - the Soviet Peace Foundation - was established. The main directions of its activities were promotion of peace, friendship and understanding between peoples, development of compassion and humanitarianism, international scientific and cultural cooperation, and youth exchanges. The Russian Peace Foundation became successor to the Soviet Peace Foundation.

Emilio Salgari stamp from Italy

The Italian Post has issued a stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of the famous Italian writer Emilio Salgari.

Emilio Salgari (August 21, 1862 - April 25, 1911) was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction in Italy.

For over a century his novels were mandatory reading for generations of youth eager for exotic adventures. In Italy, his extensive body of work was more widely read than Dante - and even today, he remains among the 40 most translated Italian authors. Many of his most popular novels have been adapted as comics, animated series and feature films. He is considered the father of Italian adventure fiction, the father of Italian pop culture and the grandfather of the Spaghetti Western.

The stamp depicts a portrait of Emilio Salgari, two seagulls flying in the foreground and an ancient sailing ship plowing the sea.