Eurasia

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian helicopters rescued 775 fishermen stranded on ice sheets drifting into the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday extended his congratulations to Dmitry Medvedev on his victory in Russia’s presidential election.

MINSK (Reuters) – Belarus, accused in the West of infringing fundamental rights, recalled its ambassador to the United States on Friday and urged the U.S. envoy to leave the ex-Soviet state.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday he would support an incoming coalition government that could potentially seek his resignation, so long as peace was maintained.

KARACHI (Reuters) – Islamists held demonstrations in Pakistan’s main cities on Friday to protest at the republication in Danish newspapers of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad that caused outrage across the Islamic world two years ago.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia made a new appeal to Russia and Western countries on Friday to recognize its independence, three weeks after Kosovo’s secession from Serbia, Russian news agencies reported.

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko issued a new denunciation of his prime minister on Friday over her stand on gas trade with Russia ahead of new talks to resolve long-running price and supply disputes.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss German concerns about Russia’s presidential vote during talks on Saturday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his newly elected successor Dmitry Medvedev.

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Viktor Bout, the Russian alleged “Merchant of Death” of the clandestine arms trade arrested in a U.S. sting operation in Thailand, will stand trial in Bangkok before extradition is considered, police said on Friday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Pakistan on Wednesday said a bus service to Iran would commence soon and a private company had been entrusted to operate the service.