Russian Economic Development Minister German Gref says Russia has completed a round of bilateral talks on entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

An international media watchdog says Russian prosecutors are investigating Chechen police for possible involvement in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan meet in Moscow today for a fresh round of talks on the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russian prosecutors today charged a banker with ordering the murder of Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Andrei Kozlov.

Russian Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika said today British investigators probing the death of former Russian intelligence officer Aleksandr Litvinenko have asked to return to Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin today accused the European Court of Human Rights of handing down "political" rulings.

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Rene van den Linden will make a working visit to Moscow on January 10-12.

Viktor Cherkesov, head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service, and a delegation arrived in Tehran on December 4, IRNA reported. Amir-Hussein Motahar, deputy chief of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters, expressed the hope that their meeting might result in closer cooperation between the two countries, while Cherkesov noted that Russia and Iran have a common interest in controlling the flow of drugs.

The horrors of the conflict in Chechnya are known in the West largely because of the work of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist slain outside her Moscow home on October 8.

British investigators traveled today to Moscow to search for clues in the apparent murder of Russian ex-intelligence officer Aleksandr Litvinenko. The case has also lead a second police contingent to the United States.

Travel to Russia but be prepared to meet some adventures with police! The problem is, that most of the travelers who did have some extraordinary experiences with Russia would never dare to repeat it.