The latest: Russia Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Lebanon

31.07.2006
Russia Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Lebanon
Russia’s foreign ministry on Monday criticised delays in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon.

31.07.2006
Russia Extends Term for Chechen Rebels’ Voluntary Surrender
The chairman of the National Anti-Terror Committee on Monday extended the term for the voluntary surrender of Chechen militants until September 30.

31.07.2006
Russia Destroys 1000 Nuclear Weapon Delivery Vehicles
Russia on Monday said it has eliminated over 1,000 nuclear weapon delivery vehicles under the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) it had signed with the US for limiting nuclear arsenal stocks.

31.07.2006
Russia Fears Environmental Disaster as Export Pipeline Bursts
A serious oil spill has occurred on one of Russia’s largest export pipelines near the border with Ukraine and Belarus, the Natural Resources Ministry said Monday, warning it could cause an environmental disaster. The ministry said the spill happened on Saturday but only became public on Monday.

31.07.2006
Khodorkovsky Family May Face Eviction — Ex-Tycoon’s Wife
The family of jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky may be evicted from their suburban Moscow home. Inna Khodorkovsky, the businessman’s wife, said in an interview she did not plan to leave Russia even if she and her three children were forced to look for a new place to live.

31.07.2006
Russian Envoy Hails UN Lebanon Statement
The UN Security Council passed a coordinated text of its presidential statement on the situation in Lebanon on Sunday. Russia has hailed the move.

31.07.2006
Russian Court Rejects Synagogue Attacker’s Request for Jury Hearing
A Moscow court has rejected synagogue attacker Alexander Koptsev’s request to have his case heard by a trial of jury. The court said the defense first had to ask for preliminary hearings, but failed to do so. “Due to this violation the court has decided to reject the defense’s request to allow a jury to examine Koptsev’s case”, the judge said.

31.07.2006
Belarus State TV Broadcasts Diplomat’s Homosexual Sex Tape
Belarus’ state-run television showed footage featuring two men — one of them allegedly being a Latvian embassy worker who faces porn charges in Belarus — having a sexual intercourse with one another.

31.07.2006
Estonian Extremists Threaten Government With Forest Fires, Demand Removal of Soviet Monument
A previously unknown extremist group has threatened to start numerous forest fires in the country until Estonian authorities remove the memorial to Soviet soldiers in Tallinn.

31.07.2006
3 Killed, 19 Wounded in Tajikistan Earthquake
Three children were killed and 19 people suffered injuries in an earthquake in Tajikistan on Sunday, Tajikistan’s Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Abdurakhmanov Rakhimov has reported.

31.07.2006
Russia Rejects U.S. Offer of Help in Probing Klebnikov’s Murder
Russia’s prosecutor general on Friday rejected a U.S. offer of help to track down the killer of U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov, shot in Moscow two years ago.

31.07.2006
Russia Blames Israel for Middle East Conflict Escalation
Israel bears full responsibility for the spread of violence in the Middle East, a member of the Russian parliament said Sunday. “The tragedy is unprecedented in its scale even for the Middle East where violence is a common phenomenon,” said Konstantin Kosachev.

31.07.2006
Georgia Partially Withdraws Troops From Restive Kodori Gorge
The Georgian government pulled out some of its troops over the weekend from Kodori Gorge, on the edge of the breakaway province of Abkhazia, following an operation to quell a rebel militia. The Russian peacekeepers’ chief said, however, that Georgia retained a sizable force in the area, news reports said.

31.07.2006
Chechen War Continues in Court
About six years ago a Russian general ordered a young Chechen killed. While the victim was reported missing and his body never found, the man responsible for his death was promoted and even received a Hero of Russia medal.

31.07.2006
2 Blackmailers Jailed for Railroad Terrorism in Northern Russia
A local court in Russian northern city of Archangelsk has sentenced Aleksey Semanov and Aleksandr Dyachkov to 11 and 9 years in prison respectively for an attempt to commit a terrorist act on the railroad.