MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on setting up a federal agency dedicated to securing Russia's borders, the Kremlin press office announced on Saturday.

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 07:18 GMT

MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – Six people were killed in a major car crash in the Sverdlovsk Region of Russia's Urals, local police reported.

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 07:29 GMT

BAKU, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – Two bodies have been found in the Caspian Sea following the crash of an Azerbaijani helicopter carrying six men, an oil company whose workers were on board announced.

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 08:00 GMT

NEW YORK, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – A former Russian UN official who has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison in the U.S. for money laundering has protested his innocence and said he will appeal.

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 08:27 GMT

MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Russian human rights activists in Moscow on Saturday, a day after unsuccessful defense talks with the country's leaders.

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 10:00 GMT

MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov hosted talks in Moscow on Saturday with the United States state and defense secretaries.

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 10:39 GMT

(Adds Nabiullina's comment in paragraph 3)

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 10:51 GMT

TEHRAN, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Islamic countries to boycott November's U.S.-sponsored international conference on the Middle East.

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 10:58 GMT

KIEV, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – At least seven people are confirmed dead following a gas explosion that caused a section of a residential building to collapse in Dnepropetrovsk, south-central Ukraine, rescuers said on Saturday.

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 11:19 GMT

(Recasts, adds Nabiullina, Gordeyev comments in paras 3–5)

// Oct. 13, 2007 - 12:14 GMT