The latest: Prosecutor Dies From Wounds After Car Blast in Southern Russia

08.08.2006
Prosecutor Dies From Wounds After Car Blast in Southern Russia
A prosecutor in Russia’s Dagestan region, severely wounded Tuesday by a car bomb, died in a hospital on the same day. Earlier local officials said that a parked car exploded as Bitar Bitarov, a prosecutor in the town of Buinaksk, was passing by on his way to work.

08.08.2006
Legally Contesting U.S. Sanctions May Be Difficult, But Not Impossible — Expert
The U.S. has slammed sanctions on two major Russian arms dealers — Rosoboroneksport and the aviation firm Sukhoi — for allegedly selling high-tech equipment to Iran. Nikolai Zlobin of the Center for Defense Information says Russia could challenge the move although it would not be an easy task.

08.08.2006
Russian Prosecutors Open Bankruptcy Fraud Case Against Yukos Creditor
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal case of fraud against one of the main creditors featured in the bankruptcy case of the troubled oil company Yukos.

08.08.2006
Terrorists Fight Israel With Russian Weapons — Internal Security Minister
Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter has said in an interview that “all the terrorists surrounding Israel” are using Russian weapons. “We don’t have information about direct contacts between Hezbollah combatants and Russia, but we know quite well about Hezbollah’s direct contacts with Syria and Iran,” Dichter said.

08.08.2006
Old Lady Finds Diamond Ring in Candy Bar, Returns it to Owner
When an elderly Russian woman bit into her favorite candy bar, she found a surprise: a diamond ring. The good Samaritan then located and returned the ring to its owner, a distraught newlywed.

08.08.2006
Generous Turkmen Leader Offers His Ministers Luxury Cars on Independence Day
Turkmenistan’s President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov on Saturday promised each of his ministers a gift of a Mercedes Benz to mark the 15th anniversary of his country’s independence. Regional chiefs only qualify for a jeep, but they will be upgraded to a Mercedes if they bring in their cotton harvest early.

08.08.2006
Russian Tennis Star Kafelnikov Faces 93,000 Euro Tax Claim in Switzerland
Swiss tax agencies are seeking to receive 147,942 franks (some 93,000 euros) in unpaid taxes from former tennis champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

08.08.2006
Police Disperse Anti-Israel Protest in Azerbaijan
Police in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan forced a crowd of about a hundred Muslims to leave the spot near the Israeli mission in Baku, where they had planned a picket in support of Lebanon.

08.08.2006
Famous Russian Architect’s Drawings Worth Millions Stolen
Drawings worth millions of dollars by famous Russian architect Yakov Chernikhov, widely admired for his avant-garde and constructivist designs, have been stolen from the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, officials said Tuesday.

08.08.2006
Russian Physicist Found Guilty of Exporting Dual-Use Technology to South Korea
A court in the Russian central province of Bashkortostan has handed down a verdict of guilty to a Russian physicist, charged with illegally exporting dual-use technology to South Korea.

08.08.2006
Ukrainian Swims Across La Manche Strait, Breaks 2005 Record
Igor Neniko became the first Ukrainian to swim across the La Manche Strait on Saturday, and in doing so he broke the 2005 record.

08.08.2006
Russian Researchers Say Rains Boost Oil Reserves
A group of Russian scientists at the oil and gas research institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, led by Azary Barenbaum, have come up with a new explanation of the nature of oil and gas formation.

08.08.2006
Court Overturns Ruling Refusing to Recognize Russian Czar, Family as Victims of Repression
A court on Monday overturned a ruling refusing to recognize Czar Nicholas II and his family as victims of political repression, a lawyer for the royal family’s descendants said. The Moscow City Court’s ruling is a victory for descendants of the Russian royal family, who this year appealed a lower court’s decision not to “rehabilitate” the czar, his wfe and five children.

08.08.2006
Russia Seeks More Satisfying UN Resolution for Lebanon
Russia favors a Security Council resolution that would satisfy Lebanon, Russia’s ambassador to the UN has said.

08.08.2006
Interior Minister, Prosecutor Attacked in Southern Russia
The motorcade of a top government official in the southern Russian province of Dagestan came under fire Tuesday. In a separate development, a top prosecutor in the republic was wounded after a car exploded while he was driving by in the same region near Chechnya.

08.08.2006
Swiss Air Controllers Charged in Russian Plane Crash Probe
A Swiss court has indicted eight employees of the Swiss air traffic control authority, Skyguide, for their involvement in the 2002 Ueberlingen plane crash.

08.08.2006
Russia to Probe Museum Security After Hermitage Thefts
Russia’s cultural watchdog will inspect and review museums throughout the world’s largest country after the theft of 221 exhibits from the State Hermitage Museum, home to works by Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso, went unnoticed for six years.