The latest: Seven Killed in Clashes Between Police and Rebels in South Russia

31.05.2006
Seven Killed in Clashes Between Police and Rebels in South Russia
Five armed insurgents, one police officer and a bystander were killed on Wednesday in separate clashes near Russia’s turbulent Chechnya region.

31.05.2006
Russia to Establish Anti-drug Buffer Zones Around Afghanistan — Official
Russia wants to establish anti-drug buffer zones around Afghanistan, but is against any measures that could lead the country’s international isolation, the head of Russia’s narcotics service Viktor Cherkesov said. He added that almost 100% of the heroin and opium on the Russian drug market is from Afghanistan.

31.05.2006
Russian Troops to Stay in Breakaway Moldovan Region — Russian MD
Russian peacekeepers will remain in the breakaway Moldovan region of Trans-Dniester, Russia’s defense minister said Wednesday. He also accused the United States and NATO of double standards for U.S. plans to base troops in nearby Bulgaria.

31.05.2006
Russians Need Own Court of Human Rights — Governor
An influential regional leader in Russia proposed Wednesday that a Eurasian Court be created to replace the European Court of Human Rights for Russians. “There is no need for us to travel to Europe to resolve our problems,” said Eduard Rossel, governor of the Sverdlovsk Region.

31.05.2006
Europe’s Largest HIV/AIDS Epidemic Mounts in Russia
Europe’s largest HIV/AIDS epidemic is mounting in Russia, which had about 940,000 cases of HIV in 2005 (1.1 per cent of the adult population) as against 1.5 million in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, says a Tuesday report by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

31.05.2006
Ukrainian Teenagers Cut Man’s Throat for Bottle of Vodka
While celebrating the last day of high school, Ukrainian teenagers cut a man’s throat to take a bottle of vodka from him.

31.05.2006
International Press Watchdog Condemns Russian Website Closure over Putin Mockery
The international press watchdog Reporters Without Borders has condemned the closure of a Russian Internet newspaper days after prosecutors started investigating its editor on charges of “insulting a representative of the state” for publishing an article headlined, “Putin, Russia’s phallic symbol.”

31.05.2006
30 Racist Murders Committed in Russia This Year — Armenian Diaspora Leader
30 murders motivated by ethnic and religious hatred have been committed in Russia this year, president of the Union of Armenians in Russia Ara Abramyan said. He added that 390 racially motivated attacks had been registered in Russia in 2005, and that seven Armenians had been killed in the country this year alone.

31.05.2006
Russia’s Safin Fined for Skipping Press Conference
Russian tennis player Marat Safin has been fined the maximum $10,000 for refusing to attend a news conference after his first-round defeat at the French Open.

31.05.2006
Georgia Outlaws Russian Peacekeepers in Breakaway Region
Georgia criticized the arrival of 500 new Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia on Wednesday, saying the rotation of troops was illegitimate because they arrived in the breakaway region without visas.

31.05.2006
Lithuanian PM Resigns Amid Corruption Allegations
Lithuania’s Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas told the president he was resigning Wednesday after his coalition government was left in tatters by the withdrawal of a key partner.

31.05.2006
Employers Asked to Turn Blind Eye on Day of Ukraine’s World Cup Performance
The Ukrainian government asked employers to adjust the working day on June 14 so that Ukrainians can watch their national soccer team make its debut in the World Cup.

31.05.2006
Soviet-Era Aircraft Carrier Theme Park Sold for $16M in China
A former Soviet aircraft carrier redesigned as a military theme park was auctioned off Wednesday in China for 128 million yuan ($16 mln). The decades-old aircraft carrier, converted into a floating theme park had been offered for sale to pay off the debts of its bankrupted owner Minsk World Industries Co Ltd.

31.05.2006
Russia-China Relations at Unprecedented High — Hu Jintao
Relations between giant neighbors China and Russia have reached an unprecedented high, China’s president said in comments published on Wednesday ahead of a regional security forum summit.

31.05.2006
Russia to Close Airspace, Waterways During G8 Summit
Airspace and river navigation will be closed for security reasons in St. Petersburg during the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in July, the G8 organizing committee said

31.05.2006
Russia to Help Venezuela Make Kalashnikov Rifles — Chavez
Russia will help Venezuela build plants to make Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition after the United States restricted arms sales to the South American nation, President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday.

31.05.2006
UN Experts Disprove Milosevic Russian Letter Poisoning Fears
There is no evidence to suggest that former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was poisoned, according to a United Nations investigation. The Hague tribunal’s report said he died of a heart attack — despite claims “that he was the victim of murder”.

31.05.2006
Russia’s Lavrov, U.S. Rice Discuss Iran Crisis
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have discussed the long-running crisis around Iran’s controversial nuclear program in a telephone conversation.

31.05.2006
Mayor Defends Gay Pride Ban in Russian Capital
Moscow’s influential mayor said on Tuesday that the city banned gay activists from holding a parade because it is morally cleaner than the West, which is caught up in “mad licentiousness”.

31.05.2006
Pro-Russian Opposition Says U.S. Ship Threat to Ukraine
Ukraine’s pro-Russian opposition parties on Tuesday railed against President Viktor Yushchenko’s government for allowing a U.S. Navy ship to enter a Ukrainian port, calling it a threat to the nation. Earlier, an anonymous bomb threat was called in against U.S. soldiers in Simferopol.

31.05.2006
Russia May Remove ’Against All Candidates’ Option From Ballot
Russia may remove the ’against all candidates’ box from the ballot-paper for national elections, a move the opposition thinks is a Kremlin ploy.