Moscow  - A reporter critical of Islam was shot and mortally wounded in Russia's restive Dagestan province, the Interfax new agency reported Wednesday.

An unknown person or persons fired at least two bullets into Abdullah Alishaev, a local television journalist, as he was driving through the Dagestan provincial capital Malachkala Tuesday evening.

The bullets struck him in the head and shoulder. Doctors at the city hospital treated the injuries, but Alishaev died from his wounds.

Alishaev, sometimes going by the name Telman Alishaev, was a well- known media personality in Dagestan for his appearances as moderator of the TV-Chirkey and "World to Your Home" television shows, Ekho Moskvy television reported.

Ankara  - Turkey and Russia on Tuesday failed to find a solution to a
growing trade dispute with Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan merely
saying that he hoped the situation would be solved soon.

In what has been seen as retaliation for Turkey allowing US warships
into the Black Sea to deliver aid to Georgia, Russia has imposed new
import controls on lorries carrying Turkish goods that have resulted in
hundreds of Turkish lorries lining up at Russian border points.

Berlin - A majority of Germans believe Russia could stake further territorial claims along its borders, following its military incursion into Georgian territory last month, according to a poll published Tuesday.

The poll carried out by the Emnid institute found that 60 per cent of German citizens regarded the threat of further territorial claims as "realistic," whereas 34 per cent saw the incursion into Georgia as a one-off event.

Germans have some comprehension of Russian anxieties, with 63 per cent understanding that Russia feels threatened by plans to station elements of a US anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Moscow - Diplomats from Russia's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said they were pleased with a European Union decision not to impose sanctions on the Kremlin over Georgia.

Officials speaking to the Interfax news agency said the EU's choice at a crisis summit on Monday to ask Russia to remove troops in Georgia, rather than attempt to exert economic or political pressure, was a sign a majority of EU nations were seeking "a path of partnership" with Russia.

The moderate EU position on Georgia would assist "both sides in mutually-advantageous cooperation," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Brussels - Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze thanked the European Union for its support Tuesday and called for closer ties with Brussels.

"What Georgia needs is to consolidate the gains we have made through tightened integration (with the EU)," Gurgenidze said after talks in Brussels with the EU's external affairs commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The meeting came a day after EU leaders reached out to Georgia by promising to start negotiations on a free-trade area and on granting visa facilitation to Georgian nationals.

At their emergency summit, EU heads of state and government also threatened to suspend talks on a new partnership agreement with Russia because of its refusal to comply with the six-point peace plan.

Beijing - China and Russia have shown interest in buying stakes in Germany's state-owned railway, Deutsche Bahn AG, in its initial public offering this year, the German finance minister said Tuesd