44 bodies from Kemerovo mine blast identified.

MOSCOW, May 12 (Itar-Tass) - Forty-four bodies from the Raspadskaya
mine blast at the Kemerovo region were identified, Investigative Committee
spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
"At present, forty-five bodies have been recovered and brought to the
surface, forty-four of them have been identified," he said.
Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin, who arrived at the
scene of the accident, held a meeting with participation of officials of
the main investigative department, chiefs of the Russian technical
watchdog, the Federal Security Service and the Kemerovo region prosecutor
general's office.
Concrete actions were taken to study all possible versions of the
blast, Markin said.



.Turkey's Energy Ministry hopes to seal nuke plant deal with Russia.

ANKARA, May 12 (Itar-Tass) - Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz has
expressed the hope that an agreement on the construction of a nuclear
power plant will be signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's
visit to Turkey that began on Tuesday.
"There are no negative factors or problems with the Russian side as
concerns the preparation of the agreement. We continue to work towards
reaching concrete results. I hope that the two sides will take a positive
approach and sign the document," he said.
Russia proposed to build four nuclear power generating units with a
total capacity of 5 gigawatt at Akkuyu on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
The first stone is expected to be laid in November 2010.
The talks on the project have been underway since January.



.RF hopes COE report on S Caucasus to normalize region's situation.


STRASBOURG, May 12 (Itar-Tass) - Russia hopes that a report on the
South Caucasus prepared by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe,
Thorbjorn Jagland, will help to stabilize the situation in the region,
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Itar-Tass on
Tuesday.
He took part in the meeting of the Ministers' Committee of the Council
of Europe.
"The report on the situation in the South Caucasus is another step
towards making the Council of Europe's role realistic in what concerns the
conflict between Georgia on the one hand and South Ossetia and Abkhazia on
the other hand," the diplomat said.
"Certainly, we share not all provisions of the document. In
particular, in our opinion, conclusions from the report made by the head
of the EU fact-finding mission investigating the conflict in the South
Caucasus, Heidi Tagliavini, should get more reflection in the document,"
he said.
"Nevertheless, this report opens more realistic prospects for the
Council of Europe in resolving concrete aspects related to the
humanitarian situation in the region and will lead to depoliticization of
the discussion within the framework of the Council of Europe," Grushko
said.



.Iran's DM to discuss stronger military cooperation with Tajikistan.

DUSHANBE, May 12 (Itar-Tass) - Iran's Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi on
Wednesday begins his two-day visit to Dushanbe to discuss prospects for
military and technical cooperation with Tajikistan's high-level military
and political authorities.
This visit takes place at the invitation of Tajik Defence Minister
Sherali Khairullayev.
Vahidi will hold talks with his Tajik counterpart, speakers of two
houses of the country's parliament and law enforcement chiefs.
After the talks several bilateral documents are expected to be signed.
According to the press service of the Tajik Defence Minister, Vahidi
will also meet with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon.
Intensive military cooperation between Iran and Tajikistan has been
underway since 1997. Iran provided huge technical assistance to Tajikistan
in reforming the national army. Moreover, with Iran's financial support a
military uniform manufacturing plant was opened in Dushanbe.
Dozens of Tajik servicemen underwent training in Iran's military
institutions.
"Iran is Tajikistan's important partner. Dushanbe consistently speaks
against international sanctions on this country believing that all
emerging problems should be resolved by political and diplomatic means,"
the ministry's press service told Itar-Tass.

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