- Russia does not see any threat from Iran and does not think it could be used to justify plans to deploy missiles in Europe
- the UN Security Council resolution on Iran will be approved if the UN nuclear watchdog concluded that it was impossible to cooperate with the Islamic Republic
- Washington had assured Moscow that it would assume all financial risks in transferring North Korea's $25 million unfrozen from a Macao bank
- a Russian national apprehended in Austria last week on suspicion of spying had diplomatic immunity and authorities had no right to detain him
* Russian envoy at the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said Moscow would not participate in discussions over the new draft resolution on Kosovo, which gives the parties to the conflict four additional months to conduct talks on a status for the province
* Israel allowed a shipment of humanitarian aid into Gaza for the first time since sealing borders with the enclave, following its takeover by Islamist group Hamas, the country's military said
* Israeli Ambassador to Russia Anna Azari said the international community should support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as his Fatah Party was the only group trying to achieve peace in the Palestinian territories
* Sixty-nine Russians, seven Belarusians, and 91 Ukrainians were evacuated from the Gaza Strip via Israel, RIA Novosti correspondent reported
* Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian militants in a shootout in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and a third militant in Gaza, the army press service said
* A group of unidentified gunmen attacked a special-purpose police base in the North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia, wounding several officers
* Four servicemen and one police officer were killed in a shootout in Chechnya's capital, said a high-ranking source in the law enforcement agencies of the troubled North Caucasus republic
* Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said last week's jump in bread prices was deliberately provoked by 'certain political forces', not by a shortage of rain
*Austrian prosecutors' spokesman said Austria would immediately release the Russian spy suspect detained last week if Moscow refused to strip him of his diplomatic immunity
* The leader of Russia's Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, said he was ready to run for president in 2008, and his deputy said the party had given its backing
* Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev agreed to dissolve the lower house of parliament and call new elections on the request of lawmakers, in a move to speed up president-sponsored reforms
* The U.S. Senate approved a bill enabling the government to sue international oil and gas cartels in a move clearly directed against OPEC; but the bill is unlikely to receive presidential backing
* First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia's strategic goal was to become the third largest producer of passenger and transport aircraft and to increase its share on the world market from 1% to 10-12% by 2025
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had signed a decree to merge two leading tanker companies, Sovkomflot and Novoship, in a bid to raise the sector's international competitiveness
* Russian Patriarch Alexy will attend a session of PACE, Europe's leading human rights body along with Pope Benedict, but a historic meeting between the estranged church leaders is highly unlikely
* NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO enlargement would not affect cooperation with Russia, and missile defense planned in Europe were not aimed against the country
* Russia's VTB Group is planning to raise $10 billion in loans on foreign markets this year, a senior official at the state-controlled financial group said
* Crude oil production in Russia expanded 3.6% year-on-year in the first four months of 2007 to 161.2 million metric tons (1.2 billion barrels), the country's top statistics body said
* Russia's space agency signed three contracts, five agreements, and a memorandum at an international air show in France, the agency's head said
* A spokesperson for Russian leasing company Ilyushin Finance said the company had signed contracts with four Russian airlines worth just under $1 billion at catalogue prices
* Russia's Ural Airlines said it had signed a contract with European aviation giant Airbus to buy five A320 passenger planes worth $365 million
* Russian, U.S., U.K., and French warships started sea maneuvers as part of the major Russia-NATO interoperability exercise near the U.S. Atlantic coast, a Russian Navy spokesman said
* Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot said it had signed a contract with European aviation giant Airbus at the Paris air show to buy 22 A350 passenger planes, but declined to specify the price of the deal
* The landing of the Atlantis space shuttle may be delayed by adverse weather, a spokesperson for Houston mission control said
* Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill banning the privatization of water and land assets related to the public water supply, the Kremlin press office said
* The older daughter of Kazakhstan's president, Dariga Nazarbayev, confirmed reports she has divorced her Austria-based husband wanted at home on suspicion of kidnapping two people and organizing a criminal group
