The latest: Georgia Hands Over Russian Officers to OSCE

02.10.2006
Georgia Hands Over Russian Officers to OSCE
Georgian authorities on Monday handed over four Russian army officers accused of spying to mediators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

02.10.2006
Russia Hails Israeli Pullout From Lebanon
Moscow welcomes the end of Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon and hopes that both sides will fulfill UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman said Monday.

02.10.2006
TNK-BP Subsidiary Executive Killed in Russian Siberia
A top manager at a TNK-BP subsidiary, Rusia Petroleum, was found killed in Siberia, a local police authority said Monday.

02.10.2006
Russia’s Putin Warns Bush Against Encouraging Georgia’s Destructive Policy
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned any third country against encouraging Georgia to pursue a destructive policy in a telephone conversation Monday with his American counterpart, the Kremlin press service said.

02.10.2006
Russian Officers Detained for Espionage in Georgia to Return to Moscow — OSCE
Four Russian military officers accused by Georgia of spying will be returned to Russia, a spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said.

02.10.2006
Hypnotizing Indian Fakirs Prime Suspects in Kyrgyz Bank Robbery
Police in the republic of Kyrgyzstan are in search of two Indians who had reportedly used hypnosis to commit a number of robberies.

02.10.2006
Eccentric Lawmaker Says War Against Georgia Is Only Solution
Russia should occupy Georgia before the unruly ex-Soviet republic ever joins NATO, a senior Russian lawmaker and leader of an ultra-nationalist party said Monday as tensions between the two countries grew in the wake of the Russian soldiers’ arrest on espionage charges.

02.10.2006
Russia Issues Guidelines on Dealing With Corrupt Officials
A 16-page booklet tells Russians what to do when faced with a corrupt official bent on extracting a back-hander. The booklet penned by a member of a rights watchdog set up by the Kremlin urges Russians to report bribe-takers to the police.

02.10.2006
Greenpeace Wants Russia to Crackdown on International Fishing Piracy
Greenpeace says it has tracked down what it describes as “a notorious pirate fishing fleet”. The fleet was documented in Svetly, close to Kaliningrad, Russia, by Greenpeace activists on board the ship “Arctic Sunrise”.

02.10.2006
Georgia Says Will Hand Over Russian Officers to OSCE
Georgia on Monday said it would hand over four Russian army officers arrested on spying charges to European mediators in a decision that will help defuse a crisis with Russia.

02.10.2006
Russian Deputy Mayor Pleads Guilty to Attempt to Blow Up Oil Tanker
Former deputy mayor of a closed territory in the north of Russia has pleaded guilty to an attempt to blow up an oil tanker. The official said he had been offered $100,000 for the terrorist attack.

02.10.2006
First Female Space Tourist Keen On Flying to ISS Again
The world’s first paying female space tourist Anousheh Ansari is set to repeat her trip into the orbit and will use every opportunity to fly again to the International Space Station.

02.10.2006
Chess Match Between Kramnik, Topalov to Continue, Score Yet Uncertain — FIDE Chief
The head of the World Chess Federation said that the unification match between Classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov would continue Monday, but it was not clear whether Kramnik would accept his ruling on the scoring.

02.10.2006
Russia Freezes Air, Land and Sea Transport Services to Georgia
As the conflict between the two countries escalates, Russia has announced it is suspending air, land and sea transport services to Georgia.

02.10.2006
Russia’s Putin Accuses Georgia of State Terrorism, Georgia Dismisses Rebuke
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili shrugged off on Monday Moscow’s harsh reaction to the arrest of four Russian army officers for spying, that fuelled a crisis in relations between the two ex-Soviet states.

02.10.2006
5 Workers Killed at Auchan Construction Site Near Russian Capital
Five people died and three were injured on Sunday when a flight of stairs collapsed at a construction site outside Moscow, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said.

02.10.2006
Top Prosecutor Admits Russian Passenger Flights Dangerous
Russia’s top prosecutor said Monday the safety of passenger flights in Russia is inadequate.

02.10.2006
European MetOp Satellite Launch from Kazakhstan Postponed Again
The launch of the European MetOp meteorological satellite with a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle from Baikonur space center scheduled for October 7 has been postponed.

02.10.2006
Belarus Orphan Brought Back Home From Italy
Italy has returned to Belarus a 10-year-old orphan girl who had been hidden by an Italian amid fears she would be abused if she was sent back to the orphanage in her home country.

02.10.2006
Sexual Games With Barbie Dolls as Evidence of Abuse
Italy ordered a 10-year-old orphan, who had been spending her holidays with an Italian couple, to return home. The girl was brought back to the orphanage near Minsk, leaving her Italian foster parents desperate. Much in Vika-Maria’s story remains unclear.

02.10.2006
Radical Youth Groups Rally in Moscow, Challenge Putin Regime
More than 500 activists of Russian leftist youth groups rallied in Moscow Sunday, assailing President Vladimir Putin’s government.