No major voting irregularities were registered during Ukraine’s election, says the European Parliament’s chief monitor Pavel Koval. According to him, the monitors are content with the way the run-off was held. Koval says that an official report is due in a matter of days. But the CIS international monitors were outraged over Julia... →
With over 93% of the ballots, cast in Ukraine’s presidential election run-off, counted, the Central Elections Commission says Victor Yanukovych is leading Julia Tymoshenko by 2.45%. The leader of the opposition Party of the Regions has polled 48.41% of the votes, while the incumbent Prime Minister has 45.96% of the votes to her credit. A... →
The European Union is prepared to discuss in the OSCE framework Russia’s proposal for concluding a new European security treaty, says the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested creating a mechanism to keep the peace in Europe during his visit to Berlin in... →
At least 5 people are dead and 12 others hurt in a gas explosion at a power plant in Middletown in the American state of Connecticut. All were crushed by a collapsing wall of the plant’s turbine hall. Some of the 51 workers on the shift found themselves blown away by up to 12 metres. Search and rescue are in progress, and a mobile... →
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the leader of the HAMAS movement’s political wing Khaled Mashaal are meeting in Moscow today to take up ways to resume the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue and reach an inter-Palestinian settlement. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman Andrei Nesterenko, consultations... →
Russians begin Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week celebrations on Monday. Traditionally, Maslenitsa is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent, and is the seventh week before Easter. In Russia, Pancake Week has always been the time for bright festivals to celebrate the end of winter. Moscow hosts traditional Pancake celebrations on Red Square... →
Whoever wins Ukraine’s run-off, Russia is prepared to establish working ties with the winner. The Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov told this to the media in Kiev on Sunday. Exit polls meantime give a 3- to 6-percnt lead to Viktor Yanukovich. →
The Supreme Court of Russia has outlawed the international organization “Imarat Kavkaz”, or the Caucasus Emirate, on finding it to be terrorist in character. “Imarat Kavkaz” was set up by a Chechen militant chief Doku Umarov in October 2007 to create a Sharia law-governed state in the North Caucasus. But the organization... →
Ceremonies in Kursk are to mark 67 years on Monday since advancing Red Army troops liberated this central Russian city from 15 months of occupation by the Nazis. Some 10 thousand residents there had fallen victim to Nazi terror, and about as many, to disease and starvation. →
Iran has confirmed the construction of 10 new uranium enrichment plants. Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, recalled that first Tehran announced its plans last November. The construction of uranium enrichment facilities, as powerful as the Nuclear Center in Natanza, was expected to begin at the end of 2009 or in early... →
President Barack Obama has told the CBS that the American economy is turning round but the employment situation still leaves much to be desired. The national jobless rate in January was 9.7 percent. This is only 0.3 percent less than in the month before. The figures are from the US Labour Department. →
Laura Chinchilla, presidential candidate for the National Liberation party, is most likely to become Costa Rica`s first woman president after receiving 47 per cent of the vote in Sunday elections. Thousands of Chinchilla’s supporters took to the streets to celebrate her victory before the official voting results are announced. Chinchilla... →
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have again been asked to lay down arms ahead of a large-scale military operation that the Afghan, US and British military are due to launch in the southern province Helmand shortly. Taking part in the operation are thousands of Army servicemen and policemen. The British Major-General Gordon Messenger believes that... →
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has announced March 27th the day to hold another Earth Hour global event, when households and businesses are asked to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances at 8:30 p.m local time for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. More than 400 cities in... →
