A recent opinion poll suggests that today more Russians would like closer ties with NATO than a year ago, however most still see the military alliance as a threat.

In the south of Kyrgyzstan as a result of the unrests the number of the victims has grown reaching 191. 1971 people has asked for medical aid, 957 people get treatment at hospitals, the head of the press service of the Healthcare Ministry of Kyrgyzstan Yelena Bayalinova told the sources.

Yelena Baturina, the powerful wife of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, is the one of the three richest women in the world with an estimated wealth of $2.9 billion, Forbes magazine reported.

The United States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe agree that more coordination is needed in aid efforts in Kyrgyzstan, where ethnic violence has killed 170 people, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The first International Youth Economic Forum will open in Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg on June 15, uniting some 200 young businessmen from different states.

The organizers of the forum said the young businessmen, age between 18 and 30, will be mainly discussing new ways of developing international business relations under current economic conditions.

The Pentagon is preparing to embark on a mini-building boom in Central Asia. A recently posted sources-sought survey indicates the US military wants to be involved in strategic construction projects in all five Central Asian states, including Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Russia President Dmitry Medvedev will discuss the controversial issue of missile defense with the U.S. leadership during his upcoming visit to the United States, the Russian foreign minister said.

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that the delivery of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran is not against the recently imposed UN sanctions.

Russia sees fresh sanctions against Iran imposed by the UN Security Council on Wednesday as «a forced measure,» the Russian permanent envoy to the United Nations said.

The situation in Afghanistan, NATO reforms and missile defense will be the main focus of discussions during a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers, due to open in Brussels later on Thursday.

Defense ministers of non-NATO member states will join discussions on Afghanistan.