Lavrov goes to Switzerland to pave way for Medvedev's visit.

VIENNA, June 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
ends on Wednesday the Austrian part of his European tour and heads for
Switzerland, where he will meet with his Swiss counterpart Micheline
Calmy-Rey to pave the way for a visit by Russian president Dmitry
Medvedev, scheduled for autumn.

"The dialogue of the ministers will also focus on further steps to
develop bilateral cooperation both in the political sector and in some
practical spheres," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko
said.
They will discuss finishing work on intergovernmental agreements on
simplification of visa procedures, readmission, scientific cooperation,
cooperation in the sphere of emergency humanitarian reaction, on mutual
assistance in customs affairs and some others, he added.
"Switzerland is a major trade partner of Russia. Last year, bilateral
trade made up 12.2 billion dollars. The Swiss business increases
investments on the Russian market, the amount of which has reached 3.9
billion dollars and is tenth biggest among foreign investors," he stressed.
The sides will also discuss the functioning of the Russian Federation
Interests Section at the Swiss Embassy in Tbilisi in conditions when there
are no diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia.
Particular attention will be focused on Russian president's initiative
on a European security treaty, in which the Swiss side demonstrates
considerable interest.
After the talks in Switzerland, Lavrov will head for the north-eastern
Italian port of Trieste, which will host a meeting of the G8 foreign
ministers on June 25-27. The foreign ministers will discuss the key world
issues and will prepare for a G8 summit in L'Aquila on July 8-10. The
Middle East Quartet will meet on the sidelines of the G8 ministerial
meeting. The G8 ministers will also hold an informal meeting involving
Afghanistan and Pakistan.

.Water supply cut off to Sakhalin city Aniva because of cyclone.

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, June 24 (Itar-Tass) - Water supply has been fully
cut off to Sakhalin's city of Aniva amid a cyclone raging over the island.
This was done to prevent polluted water from getting into the city water
pipe, the press service of the Russian emergencies ministry's regional
department reported on Wednesday.
Thirty-four houses are partially flooded in Aniva, and 19 people have
been evacuated from them, the press service reported. In
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 35 people were evacuated from a flood zone. They are
accommodated at local hotels. Some city districts have been left without
electricity supply.
Rains in the Makarovsky district have washed out sections of the
roadbed. Mudflows triggered by the cyclone in Sakhalin have engulfed 18
sections of the Sakhalin railway. The amount of mud measures up to 100
cubic meters in some sections. Train services were cancelled. A total of
98 passengers have been accommodated in 16 railway cars.
About 100 people assisted by bulldozers and excavators are used to
clear mud and uprooted trees away, the press secretary of the Sakhalin
Railway, Sergei Dashchinsky, reported on Wednesday.
An emergency headquarters was set up to control the situation. It
reports that the level of water in rivers of southern Sakhalin begins to
subside. The cyclone with heavy rainfalls moves to the north.

.Terrorism acquires global nature - head of Russian FSB.

IRKUTSK, June 24 (Itar-Tass) - Terrorism is acquiring the global
nature, triggering interfaith and interethnic conflicts, the director of
the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov said on
Wednesday.
"At the present stage, terrorism as phenomenon has outgrown national
boundaries, acquiring more and more the global character," Bortnikov said
in the opening remarks at the eighth session of heads of secret services
and law enforcement agencies in Irkutsk.
"Being a challenge to the whole international community, terrorism
poses a threat to the territorial integrity of states, destabilizes the
work of legally elected governments, triggers interfaith and interethnic
conflicts," the FSB director stressed.
"Seeking to reach their criminal aims, terrorists are acting more and
more defiantly," he said. "They include in the arsenal of methods of their
activity the use of information technologies, seek to obtain components of
weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems," Bortnikov added.
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