Russia has rowed back on plans to take part in the construction of a canal across Nicaragua, linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, saying it needs to reassess current financial conditions before making a final decision.
The rapid downfall of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came as a surprise for political analysts. Only four days previously he met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in Bishkek. Not a single analytical centre in Russia or the West predicted such a rapid turn of events.