Eurasia

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Somali pirates have seized a Ukrainian ship carrying more than 30 tanks to Kenya and Russia said on Friday it was sending a warship to combat piracy in the region.

The President of the former Soviet state Belarus insists this weekend’s elections will be fair and democratic, despite growing scepticism. Advance voting has begun, and the Minsk hardman, President Alexander Lukashenko, who recently fell out of favour in Moscow, must balance the demands of the Kremlin with the promises of …

Russia is to beef up its nuclear arsenal in the next 12 years, including building its own missile shield in space and commissioning more atomic submarines.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Baku will host a meeting of the Iranian, Azerbaijani and Russian work groups, engaged in the project of the North-South international transport corridor on October 7-8, said spokesman for the Azerbaijan State Railway Company Nadir Azmamedov.

NAZRAN, Russia (Reuters) – Russia thought it had tamed the Muslim regions on its southern flank when it quelled a rebellion in Chechnya, but trouble is brewing again.

TANG KHATTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani forces have killed up to 1,000 Islamist militants in fighting in the strategically important northwestern region of Bajaur this month, an army commander said Friday.

The Presidents of Venezuela and Russia have met to further tighten military and economic cooperation, in the wake of Moscow’s war with Georgia which soured relations with the US.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday it was ready to consider helping Venezuela develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, a gesture that will displease Washington as two of its sharpest critics draw closer.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan on the sidelines of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Azerbaijan is sticking to plans to reduce oil exports to the EU and increase shipments to Russia and Iran, as the South Caucasus country – home to another Russia-influenced frozen conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh – seeks to spread risk.