Russia attempts to prevent the implementation of projects bypassing it but I think it will fail, said head of the Center of Economic and Political Studies Sabit Baghirov.

According to him, Europe is interested in ensuring its energy security and will do everything possible to promote alternative gas supplies to the European market.

"Therefore, we see progress in Nabucco project.

President Hugo Chavez will keep donating heating oil for poor American families in a costly decision that suggests the Venezuelan leader wants to keep to his pledges _ and buttress his image _ in spite of ...

At least three rockets have been fired into northern Israel from Lebanon raising fears that the current Israeli offensive in Gaza may spill over.

Venezuela ordered the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and some embassy staff on Tuesday to protest Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The decision by President Hugo Chavez, a longtime critic of U.S. and Israeli policy, to kick out the diplomats appeared to be the strongest reaction yet to the Gaza offensive by any country with ties to Israel.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed nearly 600 Palestinians in ground and air strikes. Israel launched the attacks Dec. 27 to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into southern Israel.

Well-known Azerbaijani playwright Jafar Jabbarli`s brain, which was kept at a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has disappeared. Museum officials have said that they were unaware of the loss.

The only heir of the writer, Gular Jabbarli, said that initially no one, including his mother, knew that her father`s brain was removed. Only afterwards were they informed of that.

In 1934, the writer`s brain was removed before his burial for scientific research and subsequently sent to Russia.

The revenues of Azerbaijan`s communication and information technologies sector will be equal to those brought in by the oil sector by 2018, Minister of Communication and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov has said.

The minister said if the project on the establishment of regional innovation zones is implemented, this will give an impetus to the IT sector development in Azerbaijan. The tariff benefits envisaged in this regard will facilitate the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

The minister added that the average annual growth in the IT sector was 34-35% during the last five years. Over these years, Azerbaijan has expanded its IT potential 4.5 times.

I was woken up by the sound of muffled explosions in the vicinity, apparently still on the outskirts of Grozny. In the last few days I have learned to distinguish between the thunder of a tank and the explosions of bombs, dropped by planes. The aerial bombing produces more noise. Besides that, when the Russian planes appear over Grozny, the chechen anti-aircraft guns open their fire. This time the fire came from the tanks.

The rumbling did persist. Every minute the city was shaken by a few thunderous hits. No doubt, all city's inhabitants were awakened. At that time I still did not know, but guessed that the attack of Grozny has begun.

Gaza's main hospital, already full of Palestinians wounded in the week-long Israeli air assault, reached critical mass on Sunday, according to a Norwegian doctor volunteering at Shifa Hospital.

"We've had a steady stream [of patients] every day, but the last 24 hours has [brought] about triple the number of cases," Dr. Erik Fosse told CNN. "So this day has been extremely busy."

Fosse said he estimated that about 30 percent of the casualties at Shifa Hospital on Sunday were children, both among the dead and the wounded.

The search continues for more possible victims after a series of powerful earthquakes in remote eastern Indonesia killed at least four people.

Launching a much expected ground offensive in a widening war on Gaza's Hamas rulers, Israeli tanks and infantry entered Gaza after nightfall Saturday.

Australia has told the United States for a second time that it will not resettle detainees freed from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba.

Raul Castro was unanimously selected by Cuba's National Assembly in February to succeed Fidel Castro after his nearly 50-year reign as Cuba's leader. The younger Castro had largely been in charge since an aging Fidel underwent major surgery in July 2006.

When Raul officially took the reins, he quickly focused on overhauling Cuba's lackluster economy, which had weakened under trade embargos and long-held communist policies. The first wave of reforms instituted included the right for Cubans to buy new electronic goods, most notably cell phones; the right to operate private transportation practices, such as a taxi or bus routes; the right to obtain the title to a state-owned home; and the right to stay in tourist hotels.

Gazprom , the Russian energy monopoly, shut the entire flow of natural gas intended for Ukraine 's domestic consumption Thursday morning after negotiations over prices and transit fees unraveled the day before.

The Iraqi government made final preparations for what it considers a restoration of its full sovereignty when a new security pact with the United States goes into effect today.