* Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he expected an answer from Iran on starting talks to resolve the crisis around its nuclear program in the near future

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 06:09 GMT

ALMATY, June 17 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday a summit in Kazakhstan's capital dedicated to boosting trust in Asia was unique and had wide opportunities.

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 06:38 GMT

WASHINGTON, June 17 (RIA Novosti) – Sea Launch, the world's sole company to orbit satellites from a pad in equatorial waters, said Saturday it had postponed the launch of a U.S. satellite by one day, moving liftoff to June 18.

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 06:59 GMT

MOSKOVSKY (Moscow Region), June 17 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's Communist Party intends to cover all the country's settlements with its influence, the party's leader said Saturday.

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 07:50 GMT

She is a remarkable woman. And yet, she is just another Soviet woman who concealed her true sex while serving in a tank regiment during World War II. A Russian paper tells an astonishing story of a Russian woman who defended her homeland back in the 1940s.

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 08:13 GMT

A district court in the Russian capital sentenced six members of a criminal gang who had forged at least 5,000 credit cards and sold them over the Internet both in Russia and abroad.

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 08:21 GMT

ALMATY, June 17 (RIA Novosti) – Biased restrictions on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes may seriously undermine trust in the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Iran's deputy foreign minister said.

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 08:40 GMT

Russia ratified a transfer agreement with the National Hockey League (NHL) on Friday, ending a year-long confrontation with their North American counterparts.The executive board of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) voted unanimously to approve the deal

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 08:49 GMT

The U.S. on Friday said it will ask Russia to reconsider selling two dozen fighter jets to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez after Washington banned all U.S. arms sales to Caracas. Meanwhile, Venezuela has already purchased 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles and Russian-made attack and transport helicopters.

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 08:55 GMT

GROZNY, June 17 (RIA Novosti) – Abdul Khalim Saidulayev who called himself the president of Ichkeria, the name militants use for Chechnya, was killed in a special operation Saturday, Chechnya's prime minister said.

// Jun. 17, 2006 - 09:23 GMT