Main news of June 29

(WORLD, RUSSIA, MINISTRY, SPOKESMAN, MONDAY, RUSSIAN)

WORLD
* Russia condemns the coup d`etat in Honduras and calls for the restoration of law and order in the country, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said
* The European Commission said Monday that progress has been made on the issue of giving Ukraine an international loan to pay Russia for natural gas
* The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday confirmed 70,893 officially registered A/H1N1 cases and 311 deaths in 116 countries and territories worldwide
* Honduran interim president Roberto Micheletti promised on Monday that presidential polls would go ahead as scheduled on November 29, a Venezuelan paper said
* A lawyer for Michael Jackson`s personal doctor denied claims on Monday that the cardiologist had injected the pop legend with a powerful painkiller prior to his death
* Iranian authorities have begun a partial recount of the fiercely disputed June 12 presidential vote, national media said
* Scientific tests conducted on what are believed to be the remains of Apostle Paul "seem to confirm" that they belong to the saint, Pope Benedict XVI has said
RUSSIA
* With a looming July 1 deadline to shut their doors and take down all signs, many Moscow casinos have opted to close early rather than gamble on working right down to the wire
* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told state-run banks on Monday to use new government funding to increase lending by at least 150 billion rubles ($4.8 billion) in July
* Russia`s Air Force has resumed Su-24 Fencer attack aircraft flights after a 10-day suspension following two crashes in mid-June, a Defense Ministry official said
* Pilot error has been identified as the cause of a crash involving a Su-24 Fencer tactical bomber in mid-June, a flight service official said
* Large-scale military drills start on Monday in 10 southern subjects of the Russian Federation, a spokesman for the North Caucasus military district said
* A Russian-Argentine agreement scrapping bilateral visa requirements entered into force
SPORT
* World No. 1 Dinara Safina and fellow Russian Yelena Dementieva won on Monday to secure places in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, while two compatriots were knocked out
Original article

Related articles:
Moscow condemns Honduran coup, calls for restoration of law

EU says making progress on gas loan to Ukraine

(EUROPE, RUSSIAN, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, SUPPLIES, EUROPEAN)

Delivering gas to Europe
A map of Russian gas suppliers to Europe via Ukraine
Russia resumes gas supplies to Ukraine
Russia Ukraine sign gas deal
BRUSSELS, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - The European Commission said Monday that progress has been made on the issue of giving Ukraine an international loan to pay Russia for natural gas.
The statement was issued after high-level talks involving representatives of gas companies Gazprom and Naftogaz, the World Bank, the IMF, the EBRD and the EU.
"The participants made good progress in identifying the key issues of concern and elements for possible solutions including possible financing arrangements," the representatives said in a joint statement.
The ex-Soviet state is seeking a syndicated loan of over $4 billion from European banks to pay it debts to Russian energy giant Gazprom until November 2009.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in early June it would be difficult for the EU to help Ukraine keep up with its payments.
Russia, which supplies around one fifth of Europe`s gas, briefly shut down supplies via Ukraine`s pipeline system at the start of the year during a dispute with Kiev over unpaid debt.
The conflict was resolved in January, when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, agreed deals on deliveries to and gas transit through Ukraine for 2009.
Ukraine transits around 80% of Russia`s Europe-bound gas.
 
Original article

Russia to deliver new security proposal in Brussels July 22

(RUSSIA, SECURITY, COUNCIL, ROGOZIN, BETWEEN, AUGUST)

MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia`s proposals for a new National Security Strategy is to be presented at NATO headquarters in Brussels on July 22, Russia`s envoy to NATO said Monday.
"A high-level expert - one of the leaders of Russia`s Security Council - will arrive for that," Dmitry Rogozin said during a video link from Brussels organized by RIA Novosti.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree in May on the National Security Strategy up to 2020.
Rogozin also said that NATO had invited "the Russian envoy to take part on July 7 in a seminar devoted to NATO strategic development issues."
He also said the first meeting between a Russian representative and the newly-appointed NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who takes up the post on August 1, will be held August 11.
"I think at the August 11 meeting he is to outline prospects for his trip to Russia," Rogozin said.
Rogozin said discussions on a Russia`s proposal for a European Security Treaty could start in September during a Russia-NATO Council session.
Saturday`s informal foreign ministerial meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was the first high-level talks since last August`s five-day war between Russia and Georgia, after which contacts were frozen. Russia then recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
Relations between Russia and NATO have also been frayed in recent years over the military alliance`s eastern expansion. Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet republics, have applied to join, but their U.S.-backed bids were turned down due to pressure from Germany and France at a 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest.
 
Original article

Russia ready for more NATO cargo transits to Afghanistan

(AFGHANISTAN, RUSSIA, TRANSIT, MILITARY, GERMANY, FRANCE)

Facing the Taliban in Afghanistan
UN Secretary General welcomes Russia`s role in restoration of Afghanistan
CORFU (Greece), June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is ready to extend the transit of military cargoes through Russia to other key member nations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, a deputy foreign minister has said.
Russia already has bilateral transit deals with Germany, France and Spain, and Moscow also signed an agreement with NATO in 2008 on rail transits of non-lethal supplies to Afghanistan.
"As for military transits, we have signed agreements with Germany, France and Spain. We are also considering a request from Italy," Alexander Grushko told a news conference late on Sunday after an informal meeting of the Russia-NATO Council.
Due to worsening security on the main land route from Pakistan, NATO is seeking alternative routes to supply the U.S.-dominated ISAF in Afghanistan.
There are 62,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, and U.S. President Barrack Obama has pledged to deploy another 17,000 U.S. military personnel to the war-ravaged country.
The informal foreign ministerial meeting of the Council on Saturday was the first high-level talks since last August`s five-day war between Russia and Georgia, after which contacts were frozen. Russia then recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
Relations between Russia and NATO have also been frayed in recent years over the military alliance`s eastern expansion. Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet republics, have applied to join, but their U.S.-backed bids were turned down due to pressure from Germany and France at a 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest.
NATO and Russia have recently taken measures to step up cooperation on international security, including anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden.
 
Original article