Eurasia

NIKOLSKOE, Russia (Reuters) – A Russian doomsday cult sheltering in a bunker say credit cards and food packaging bar codes are satanic, the official negotiating the release of children from the group said on Monday.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Once a laggard among former Soviet allies in joining the European Union and NATO, Romania hopes the military alliance’s summit in Bucharest this week will earn the Black Sea state a bigger role in southeastern Europe.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Chinese Ambassador to Tehran Xie Xiaoyan extended an invitation to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the Olympic Games (2008) in China.

 TEHRAN (FNA)- The European Parliament President, Hans-Gert Pottering, praised Iran’s crucial and undeniable position in the region and the world.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia warned NATO on Friday against expansion into ex-Soviet neighbors Georgia and Ukraine ahead of a NATO summit next week that will discuss what Moscow sees as deep encroachment into its backyard.

TBILISI (Reuters) – A court in Georgia on Friday found the ex-Soviet state’s former defense minister and opposition politician Irakly Okruashvili guilty of corruption and jailed him for 11 years in absentia.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Eighteen Ukrainian sailors are missing after their tug boat sank off the Hong Kong coast following a collision with a cargo ship last night, local media reported on Sunday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf assured his full support on Sunday for an incoming government that will almost certainly be led by a prime minister he had jailed for over four years.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – The party of assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto nominated on Saturday former National Assembly speaker Yousaf Raza Gilani as its candidate for prime minister.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – About one thousand people protested in central Amsterdam on Saturday against right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders and the imminent release of his film expected to be critical of the Koran.