The latest: Bush, Putin Discuss Abduction of Russian Diplomats in Iraq

06.06.2006
Bush, Putin Discuss Abduction of Russian Diplomats in Iraq
U.S President George W Bush spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to express concern over the four Russian diplomats abducted in Iraq. The two leaders also discussed Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization and the G8 summit set to take place in St. Petersburg in July.

06.06.2006
Russia’s Putin Plays Down Differences With U.S., Hails Proposals on Iran
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last month compared the United States to a hungry wolf, sought to smooth relations on Tuesday, saying they continued to improve despite changing circumstances.

06.06.2006
Bush, Blair Preach Democracy to Azerbaijan as Caspian Oil Pipeline Putting into Operation Nears
President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have urged Azerbaijan to keep on a democratic course as a key pipeline to Western markets from the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation is poised to become fully operational.

06.06.2006
Monkey “Psychologists” Help Stressed Patients in Belarus Zoo
A family of cynomolgus monkeys has been helping people fight stress in a special “psychological relief room” at a Belarus zoo for several years. Citizens of Vitebsk come to share their troubles and triumphs with the primates.

06.06.2006
Crimea Declares Itself “NATO-Free Territory”
The local legislature of Ukraine’s Crimean autonomy has declared the peninsula “NATO-free territory”. Deputies also called for ensured legal protection for those who have taken part in anti-NATO protests in the cities and villages of the Crimean Peninsula.

06.06.2006
Russian Crew Scuttle Ship After Coastguard Chase
The crew of a Russian ship that was allegedly poaching crabs off Russia’s Far Eastern coast scuttled their vessel Tuesday after a chase by coast guards.

06.06.2006
Kuznetsova Defeats Fellow Russian Safina in French Open Quarters
Svetlana Kuznetsova recovered from an atrocious start to beat fellow Russian Dinara Safina 7-6 6-0 in the French Open quarter-finals.

06.06.2006
Russian Central Bank Warns of “Ballet Ticket” Counterfeit Bills
Fraudsters have designed counterfeit Russian ruble banknotes that have “Ballet Ticket” printed where “Bank of Russia” should be, the Russian Central Bank reports.

06.06.2006
Beslan Terrorist’s Lawyer Files Appeal
A lawyer for Nurpashi Kulayev, the only Beslan hostage taker captured alive, has filed an appeal to the Russian Supreme Court to contest his client’s life sentence that was handed down by a North Ossetian court in late May.

06.06.2006
British Court Rejects Russia’s Request to Extradite Berezovsky
A British court rejected a Russian extradition request for billionaire tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who is wanted in his homeland for allegedly plotting a coup. District Judge Timothy Workman, sitting at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, central London, said extradition proceedings would be “futile” and incur “great expense to the British taxpayer”.

06.06.2006
Russia Rejects Ukraine’s Call for International Mediation in Azov Sea Border Talks
Russia on Monday bristled at Ukraine’s proposal to invite other nations to join tense bilateral talks on border delimitation in the Azov Sea, news reports said. The Ukrainian proposal was “unnecessary and untimely,” a Foreign Ministry envoy said after the latest round of talks.

06.06.2006
Russia Remains on U.S. Trafficking Watch List
The U.S. State Department has kept Russia on the list of 32 countries whose governments are not doing enough in the fight against trafficking in human beings, an annual report said.

06.06.2006
Armenians Protest Hate Killings in Russian Capital
Several dozen protesters rallied outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan on Monday, protesting a series of attacks on ethnic Armenians in Russia by skinheads and racist nationalists. The demonstration, organized by rights activists, came just 10 days after a group of apparent skinheads stabbed a teenager on a train outside of Moscow.

06.06.2006
Russia to Produce Rare-Earth Metals on Moon — Space Agency
Russia plans produce rare-earth metals on the Moon, a deputy head of the Federal Space Agency said Monday. Following a May announcement from the country’s largest rocket corporation that it intended to seek helium-3 on the Moon for nuclear fusion, Yury Nosenko said that the agency was aiming to produce the metals for more mundane purposes.

06.06.2006
Russia’s Putin Lauds Media’s Role, Sidesteps Harsh Criticism
President Vladimir Putin on Monday sidestepped harsh criticism of the level of media freedom in Russia, emphasizing the crucial role the press had played in this country during its transition from the Soviet era. The WAN Congress urged the Russian government to give more freedom to the media.

06.06.2006
Ukraine’s Yushchenko Party Says Russia Inciting New Crimean War
Ukraine has accused Russia of stirring up anti-U.S. and anti-Nato protests on the Crimean peninsula where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based. The dispute comes as Ukrainian politicians are struggling to form a coalition government more than two months after the election that confirmed the country’s apparently irreparable split into pro-Russian and pro-Western camps.