U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney lashed out at Russia on Thursday, telling a Vilnius audience the country had curbed civil liberties and used its energy resources as "tools of intimidation and blackmail."
The vice president's remarks prompted a swift and angry response from the Kremlin.
"In Russia today, opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade," Cheney told an audience in the Lithuanian capital that included the presidents of Lithuania, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.
"In many areas of civil society -- from religion and the news media to advocacy groups and political parties -- the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people," Cheney said, according to the White House transcript of the speech.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/05/001.htmlRussia sends $10 mln to Palestine in urgent financial aid -1
MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government has provided $10 million in urgent financial aid to the Palestinian National Authority, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
"In view of the aggravating socioeconomic and humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, the Russian government has decided to offer urgent financial aid to the Palestinian National Authority, totaling $10 million," the ministry said.
The funds, intended to be used for social and humanitarian needs, were transferred Thursday to an account of PNA President Mahmoud Abbas's office, the ministry said, adding that the transaction had been coordinated with the Middle East Quartet of mediators, comprising Russia, the EU, the United States and the United Nations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last month it would be wrong to halt aid to the Palestinian National Authority because of radical Islamic group Hamas' dominance of its new government, in an apparent reference to the EU's decision to freeze its aid to the PNA indefinitely.
And now for the rest of the story.
Currency Reserves Jump to $225Bln
Russia's foreign currency and gold reserves rose to a record $225.7 billion on surging oil and natural gas prices, giving the country
cash to pay off its foreign debts early.
The reserves jumped by $8.6 billion by April 28, the 23rd consecutive weekly gain and the biggest increase since January 2005, the Central Bank said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. The country's reserves are now the fourth-largest in the world, behind China, Japan and Taiwan.
Russia is
awash with cash from oil and gas after the price of Urals, its main export blend of crude, more than doubled in the last two years.
The stockpile prompted President Vladimir Putin to say on April 27 that he wants to
pay off the country's debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations ahead of schedule.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/05/047.html