TIME

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Created: 14.06.2006 14:11 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:29 MSK

France Jails 25 Militants Accused of Jihad Links With Chechen Rebels

A French court has jailed 25 alleged Islamic militants for planning attacks in France in support of Chechen rebels. Prosecutors said the group’s intended targets included the Eiffel Tower and the Halles shopping center. The group was accused of “jihad” links with Chechen militants fighting Russia.
FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 18:31 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 19:03 MSK

Russia, Eastern Energy-rich States Demonstrate Alarming Decline in Democracy — Report The American pro-democracy NGO Freedom House has issued a report saying that energy-rich countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as Russia, are declining in their democratic performance, even as their resources become strategically more important. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 16:14 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:14 MSK

Helicopters Bomb Rebel Positions in Russia’s Southern Region Russian helicopters on Wednesday bombed a wooded area in the restive southern region of Ingushetia where security forces believed up to 10 Chechnyan militants were hiding. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 16:29 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:29 MSK

Russia Denies Violating Non-Proliferation Regime Russia will not sign any contract with another state if it finds in its terms any kind of threat to the international regime of non-proliferation of missile technology, Russia’s top defense official told an international economic forum in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 13:54 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:55 MSK

18 Killed, 129 Wounded in Nationalist Attacks in Russia in 2006 — HR Centre More than 100 attacks incited by nationalistic hatred have been recorded in Russia since the beginning of the year, 18 of them ending in deaths of the victims, a Moscow human rights centre reports. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 11:56 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:19 MSK

	Fisherman Killed by New Fishing Rod A man went fishing for the weekend and died of electric shock as his new rod was caught on a high voltage wire. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 15:26 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:37 MSK

American Woman Pleads Guilty in Russian Adoptions Fraud Trial A woman accused of bilking couples out of nearly $100,000 after promising to help them adopt Russian children has agreed to plead guilty to mail and wire fraud. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 12:12 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:26 MSK

Belarus Prosecutor Orders Crackdown on Jewish Children’s Group Prosecutors in eastern Belarus have issued a warning to a Jewish kindergarten music teacher after she celebrated the traditionally joyful Jewish holiday of Purim with Jewish children. The move is seen as part of a government-led campaign to restrict religious activity in the country. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 13:49 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:18 MSK

Russian, Foreign Hackers Increase Attacks on State Computer Networks — Official Hackers have been attacking computer networks of Russia’s state departments and ministries more frequently, but they have all been repelled, Viktor Gorbachyov, the head of the Federal Security Service’s center for communications security said Wednesday. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 14:00 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:00 MSK

First Contract to Build Floating Nuclear Power Plant Signed in Russia The state-owned nuclear power generating monopoly Rosenergoatom and Sevmash shipyard have signed a contract to build the world’s first floating nuclear power plant, the Russian nuclear agency said Wednesday. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 13:16 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:13 MSK

Russia Will Not Discuss its Nuclear Weapons With U.S. — Official Russia does not intend to discuss issues relating to the future of nuclear tactical weapons with the United States, a senior defense ministry official said Tuesday. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 11:13 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:05 MSK

Ukraine Does Not Fear Spain — Coach Spain should be running scared of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian coach Oleg Blokhin, ahead of their clash in Group H on Wednesday. “Am I worried? It’s the Spaniards who should be worried,” he said. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 09:38 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:01 MSK

Russia Urges Palestinians to Stop Violence Russia on Tuesday called on feuding Palestinians factions to stop the violence that has raised fears of imminent civil war. The statement came a day after hundreds of Palestinian police loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas government. FULL STORY...

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Created: 14.06.2006 09:38 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:35 MSK

Russia’s Putin Meets Georgian Counterpart in St. Petersburg In an effort to mend their differences, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Georgian counterpart Mikhail Saakashvili met for more than two hours of talks in St. Petersburg. After the meeting, Saakashvili admitted that most issues they had discussed remain unresolved. FULL STORY...

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Created: 13.06.2006 10:29 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:41 MSK

Russia to Boost Military Cooperation with West — Official Russia is ready to expand military and technological cooperation with Western countries, says the director of the Federal service for military and technological cooperation. FULL STORY...

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Created: 13.06.2006 18:17 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:41 MSK

Breakaway Regions in Ex-USSR to Form Joint Peacekeeping Force — Official Three breakaway regions in former Soviet republics currently embroiled in “frozen conflicts” may consider forming a joint peacekeeping contingent if Russian peacekeepers withdraw, President of the Georgian province Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh has said. FULL STORY...

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Created: 13.06.2006 16:53 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:14 MSK

Russia Urges Talks Between Group of Six, Iran on Proposed Incentives Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin on Tuesday expressed the hope that negotiations on Tehran nuclear program between the “Group of six” and Iran, would begin on the basis of the group’s recent proposed package of incentives. FULL STORY...

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Created: 13.06.2006 19:16 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 19:16 MSK

Experimental Mission to Mars to Start in 2007 — Russian Scientist An experiment simulating a crewed flight to Mars would start in 2007, Anatoly Grigoriev, the head of the Medical and Biological Problems Institution of the Russian Academy of Sciences said. FULL STORY...

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Created: 13.06.2006 17:19 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 18:16 MSK

Russian Town Officially Bans Da Vinci Code from Cinemas The administration of the Russian regional center of Vyazma has officially banned cinemas from featuring the movie, The Da Vinci Code, the decision being motivated by the special role Christianity plays in live of Vyazma residents. FULL STORY...

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Created: 13.06.2006 15:13 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:13 MSK

Russian Police 21 Times More Suspicious of Non-Slavs — Report Russian police are 21 times more likely to stop ethnic minorities on Moscow’s underground train system than passengers with typical Russian looks, a study published on Tuesday said. FULL STORY...

MosNews

Russian Finance Minister Chides Government for Excessive Petrodollar Spending

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Wednesday, June 14, that the government is making a big mistake by excessively spending petrodollars, which flood the Russian economy. He said that such spending promotes inflation and strengthening of the ruble, which are both bad for the economy.

LISA VRONSKAYA

MosNews

World Cup Kicks Off Without Russia

Host Germany and Costa Rica got the soccer World Cup underway with a match in Munich on June 9. The World Cup is seen by millions of fans as the biggest soccer event on the planet. It feels sad to see Russia not participating in the tournament.

ADVERTISMENT

MosNews

Ukraine’s Football Achievements Mean a Brighter Future for Children — Shevchenko

Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko is one of more than 100 football greats serving as a FIFA charity ambassador. In an interview to SOS-Kinderhof International, Shevchenko explains his decision to take part in the Children’s Villages project, speaking about the situation in his homeland of Ukraine and the chances that Ukraine and Germany have at the World Cup.

MosNews

Vladimir Putin’s State-of-the-Nation Address

Russian President Vladimir Putin used his annual state-of-the-nation address Wednesday, May 11, to warn that Russia’s population of 143 million was falling by an average of 700,000 each year. He has pledged cash bonuses to Russian women who give birth to two or more children. His speech also focused on the problems of the Russian Armed Forces.

GIDI WEITZ AND AMIR BEN-DAVID

Yediot Ahronot

Gazrprom’s Eye Fixed on Israel

Israel and Russia have started negotiations on contracts for the supply of natural gas and the construction of a pipeline to carry it. Who will profit from the billion-dollar deal? Gidi Weitz and Amir Ben-David at Yediot Ahronot, the Seven Days weekend magazine, search for a key to the puzzle.

Hundreds Rally for “Free Country” in Moscow on Russia Day

On June 12, Day of Russia, some 600 people gathered in Moscow centre for a rally entitled “Free country for free people”. The protesters, mostly young people, rallied against nationalism, mass media censorship, political arrests, army hazing and the so-called “Operation Successor” that kicked off ahead of nearing presidential elections.