Jim Heintz

US, Canada, Russia plan more anti-hijacking exercises after 'flawless' drill in 2010. A first-of-its-kind hijacking exercise involving the U.S., Canadian and Russian militaries went so well that a similar drill is planned for 2011, an American officer said.

Thousands try to storm govt building in Belarus, riot police violently disperse protests. Thousands of opposition supporters in Belarus tried to storm the main government building to protest what they claim was large-scale vote-rigging in Sunday's presidential election, but they were driven back and beaten by riot police.

Medvedev warns of possible new arms race if NATO, Russia fail to reach deal on missile defense. NATO's failure to build a joint European missile shield with Moscow may force Russia to deploy new offensive weapons and trigger a new arms race, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday in a stern warning reflecting the deeply rooted Kremlin distrust of Western intentions.

Officials say 11 suspects detained in anti-terror sweep in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany. Federal prosecutors said Tuesday 11 suspects have been detained in an anti-terror sweep in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Russian President Medvedev suggests changes to intelligence agency after spy scandal. Russia's president suggested Friday changes to the country's spy agency are coming in the wake of this summer's arrest of agents in the United States and a report that a top Russian intelligence officer helped capture them.

Russian Yury Fedotov is new UN drugs and crime czar, pledges to focus on public health. A Russian diplomat pledged to focus on public health and human rights Monday on his first day as the U.N.'s new drugs and crime czar.

3 soldiers killed, 32 wounded, in suicide car-bomb attack on Russian base in Dagestan. A suicide car-bomber killed three soldiers and wounded 32 others in an attack on a military base in Russia's violence-plagued republic of Dagestan on Sunday, officials said.

Police: 2 killed in attack on Russian hydropower station. Two carloads of assailants attacked a hydroelectric station in southern Russia early Wednesday, killing two workers and setting off bombs.

After tens of thousands of years under the Siberian frost, a baby woolly mammoth is taking a summer vacation in southeast France.

After many years under Siberian frost, Ice Age baby mammoth goes on display in French museum. After tens of thousands of years under the Siberian frost, a baby woolly mammoth is taking a summer vacation in southeast France.

After tens of thousands of years under the Siberian frost, a baby woolly mammoth is taking a summer vacation in southeast France.

Spy swap defuses thorny diplomatic problem as US seeks better relations with Russia. With the conclusion of the biggest spy swap since the Cold War, the U.S. has defused a thorny diplomatic problem quickly and cleanly ? and avoided damaging recent efforts to improve relations with Russia. And Moscow has escaped further embarrassment over a group of spies that over the years apparently had little if any success in ferreting out any useful secrets.

Russian secret agents getting new life in swap that also frees 4 convicted of helping West. Their U.S. ring dismantled, 10 Russian secret agents are on their way to a new life under Moscow's wing in a swiftly brokered trade also freeing four men imprisoned for spying at the highest levels for the West.

Russian pianist Pletnev returns to Moscow after Thai sex arrest. Russian news agencies say the acclaimed pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev has returned to Russia after being charged with raping a teenage boy in Thailand.

In Cold War remix, accused spies readied for possible exchange in round of US-Russia intrigue. U.S. and Russian officials met secretively on two continents Wednesday in a likely prelude to one of the largest swaps of accused spies in decades, a Cold War remix showing the high-stakes race for covert intelligence between East and West endures in the new century.

European case over crucifixes in classrooms divides nations that will have to abide by ruling. An emotional debate over crucifixes in classrooms is opening a new crack in European unity.

7 injured in suicide bombing in heart of Chechen capital. A suicide bomber blew himself up in the capital of Russia's restive Chechnya on Wednesday, outside a theater where the region's Kremlin-appointed president was waiting for a concert to begin, officials said.

Cold War revisited? Justice Department says 10 Russian secret agents have been arrested in US. The FBI has arrested 10 people who allegedly spied for Russia for up to a decade ? posing as innocent civilians while trying to infiltrate U.S. policymaking circles and learn about U.S. weapons, diplomatic strategy and political developments.

Georgian elections pit fractured opposition against Pres. Saakashvili's governing party. Elections Sunday for local positions across the former Soviet republic of Georgia will give voters their first chance to pass judgment, even if indirectly, on the president who led them in a disastrous war with Russia nearly two years ago.

Officials: 2 passengers in cockpit before Kaczynski plane crash, crew faced heavy fog. At least two passengers visited the cockpit of Polish President Lech Kaczynski's plane before it crashed last month, and others may have chatted on cell phones, possibly affecting navigation as the crew battled heavy fog over challenging terrain.