Manama - Russia and Turkey on Thursday came out in support of Bahrain, in face of renewed Iranian claims that the Gulf island was an historical province of Iran.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan both expressed their countries' support for Manama in separate press conferences with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al Khalifa at the Bahraini foreign ministry.

Moscow - Kyrgyzstan's parliament approved on Thursday a government decision to shut down a US air base on its territory, which has been a crucial for supplying US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The decision was overwhelmingly passed with 78 votes for and 1 vote against, Russian news agencies reported.

The United States has 180 days to close the airbase in the Central Asian state, the head of the country's security council, Adukhan Madumarov said earlier.

There has been speculation that Russia had intensified pressure on the former Soviet republic to terminate the lease.

Beijing  - Eight crew were feared dead after Russian Coast Guard vessels fired on a Chinese ship that was fleeing port after a dispute over a rice cargo, Chinese and Russian media said Thursday.

China's Foreign Ministry said the cargo ship New Star sank Saturday off Russia's eastern port of Nakhodka in waters close to Japan.

The ministry did not give the cause of the sinking, but Russia's RIA Novosti news agency said the Russian Coast Guard opened fire after the cargo ship ignored warnings to return to port.

The agency said eight crew died after the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel sank during a storm.

Geneva - All sides involved in the talks on last summer's Georgia conflict agreed Wednesday in Geneva to set up a telephone hotline and hold weekly meetings on security incidents.

However, other issues at the eight-party talks at the UN's headquarters in the Swiss city, such as joint missions to conflict areas and humanitarian assistance, and even the date for the next round of talks, remain stalled.

Moscow - Russia opened its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant Wednesday on the Pacific coast in a bid to reach new clients in Asia and the continental United States.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the plant based on Russia's Sakhalin Island only about 160 kilometres from Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.

"It's a wonderful day, we have launched a large-scale project," Medvedev was quoted by Interfax as saying boisterously. "For us, especially, this is a new direction in our country's eastern policy."

Geneva  - Delegates from eight parties started the newest round of talks Tuesday on last year's conflict between Russia and Georgia, though negotiations have so far yielded little results.

The talks at the United Nations' Geneva office will focus on humanitarian and security issues, including a mechanism to prevent and resolve future armed incidents near or within the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

While the parties have agreed to the mechanism in principle, they were still debating the details of how it would function.