The latest: Iraqi Al-Qaeda Group Says Kidnapped Russian Diplomats Killed

21.06.2006
Iraqi Al-Qaeda Group Says Kidnapped Russian Diplomats Killed
A group loyal to al-Qaeda in Iraq said it killed four kidnapped Russian diplomats, according to an Internet posting found by the Washington-based Search for International Terrorist Entities Institute.

21.06.2006
Russian Attacker Stabs Synagogue’s Door Shouting Anti-Semitic Slogans
An unidentified man climbed over the fence of a Yekaterinburg synagogue, ran up to the entrance and, while shouting anti-Semitic slogans, knived the door about ten times.

21.06.2006
Turkmen Leader Orders to Suspend All Work in 45-Degree Heat (113 F)
Saparmurat Niyazov, the leader of the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan has signed an order allowing all enterprises, institutions and organizations to suspend work when outdoor temperature reaches 45 degrees Celsius (113 Farenheit).

21.06.2006
Russia Responds to al-Qaeda Threat to Kill Russian Diplomats Abducted in Iraq
Russia has appealed again for the immediate release of four diplomats kidnapped in Baghdad on June 3.

21.06.2006
Venezuela’s Ambassador to Russia Says His Nation Will Set Oil Fields on Fire in Case of Aggression
Venezuela will set fire to its oil deposits in the event of a U.S. military operation, Venezuelan Ambassador to Russia Navarro Alexis Rojas said at a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

21.06.2006
Iraq Militant Group Says It Has Decided to Kill Russian Hostages
A militant group led by al Qaeda in Iraq said on Wednesday that it has decided to kill four Russian hostages after Moscow failed to meet demands that it withdraw from Chechnya and free Muslim prisoners.

21.06.2006
Leading Russian Activist Urges Moscow to Defend Human Rights in Belarus
A leading Russian human rights activist bemoaned the closure of Belarus’ largest and most influential rights organization Wednesday and called on Moscow to do more to defend rights in the tightly controlled ex-Soviet republic.

21.06.2006
U.S. Lawmakers Urge Bush to Pressure Putin over Democracy in Russia
Four prominent U.S. lawmakers urged President George W. Bush to rebuke Russian President Vladimir Putin over the “deterioration of democracy” in his country, as Russia prepares to host next month’s Group of Eight summit.

21.06.2006
2 Police Chiefs Killed in Russia’s Dagestan Republic
Head of the Dagestani Interior Ministry’s Khasavyurt district organized crime department Saigidsalim Zabitov and road police inspector Shamsudi Kachakayev were killed in a militant attack.

21.06.2006
International Reporters’ Association Urges Russia to Protect Tajik Editor Receiving Death Threats
Reporters Without Borders has called on the Russian Interior Ministry to protect Dodojon Atovulloyev, a Moscow-based Tajik journalist who has been receiving death threats.

21.06.2006
Russian Burning Spaceship Sinks in Pacific Ocean
The fragments of a Russian cargo vessel carrying space trash dipped into the Pacific Ocean on Monday after a three-hour flight since separating from the International Space Station (ISS).

21.06.2006
U.S. Parents Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison for Torturing Adopted Russian Son
A U.S. court has sentenced an American couple who abused their adopted 4-year-old handicapped son from Russia to four and two months in jail respectively.

21.06.2006
Ukraine Orange Leaders Yushchenko, Tymoshenko Unite in Coalition
Ukrainian media today reported that the estranged Orange Revolution allies had reached a coalition agreement that will restore Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister, ending nearly three months of political uncertainty, AP reports.

21.06.2006
“Crazy Chess Player” Serial Killer Confesses to 61 Murders
A serial killer detained in Moscow has confessed to killing 61 people of the 64 he was planning to kill — one murder for each of the chessboard checks.

21.06.2006
Kournikova Hopes to Return to Court
Former number one tennis player Anna Kournikova has said she hoped to return to the WTA tour as she watched Martina Hingis go back to the top after recovering from ankle and foot injuries.

21.06.2006
Moscow One of World’s Least Courteous Cities — Survey
Moscow citizens have proved to be among the world’s least courteous people, says a recent survey conducted by Readers’s Digest magazine.

21.06.2006
Belarus Calls Assets Frozen in U.S. “Mythical”
Belarus’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed Washington’s imposition of a freeze on its assets in the U.S. as meaningless and suggested that the “mythical funds” be sent to families in need.