Russian accused in US of creating spam network pleads not guilty.

NEW YORK, December 4 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Oleg Nikolayenko, whom the
U.S. authorities have charged with creating the world's largest network of
spam - undesirable e-mails dispatched to millions of PCs around the world
- has told the court about his innocence. At a hearing held in Milwaukee
(Wisconsin) on Friday he turned to U.S. federal judge with a request not
to send him to prison while the trial is on, but to put him under house
arrest.
By the decision of Judge Patricia Gorence, Nikolayenko has been
remanded in custody without bail, as he may try to leave the country. The
judge promised to consider the possibility of his temporary release at a
conference scheduled for December 21. The trial is to begin no later than
February 11.
Nikolayenko is accused of violating the U.S. law of 2003 governing the
distribution of promotional messages on the Internet. According to
witnesses for the prosecution, Nikolayenko, one of those behind the
creation of the Mega-D botnet - the biggest network of infected PCs (500
thousand), sending billions of spam messages to e-mail boxes. At some
points, according to U.S. prosecutors, the system generated 32 percent of
the world's spam messages - up to 10 billion per day.
Nikolayenko was arrested in November in Las Vegas (Nevada), where he
arrived to visit a car showroom. On all counts he may be faced with up to
three years in prison and a 250-thousand dollar fine.

.Yanukovich congratulates RF upon win of 2018 Soccer World Cup bid.

KIEV, December 4 (Itar-Tass) -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich
has congratulated his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev upon Russia's
win of the right to host the Soccer World Cup in 2018 and wished Russia to
hold the contest in a decent way.
"I share your joy at the fact that it is the Russian Federation that
has had the honor to host this prestigious world football forum. I am
confident that the decision of FIFA will give a powerful impetus to the
development of football and related infrastructures in the region of
Eastern Europe," Yanukovich said in the message quoted by his press office.
"Today, Ukraine is successfully continuing its preparations for
organizing and hosting the finals of the European Football Cup of 2012.
All this indicates that our are states are gaining respect in the world of
football," said the Ukrainian president.
Poland and Ukraine in 2012 will co-host the European Soccer Cup. The
tournament will be held in four Ukrainian and four Polish ones.

.Armenia to go ahead with efforts for Nagorno-Karabakh settlement-FM.

YEREVAN, December 4 (Itar-Tass) -- Armenia will continue its efforts
to achieve a peace settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the
basis of proposals from international mediators, Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian said in an interview to the state news agency Armenpress,
released on Friday.
This week's OSCE summit in Astana "has become an important stage,
which made it possible to identify what has been done over the latest
period in terms of Karabakh settlement," Nalbandian said. He recalled that
the presidents of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan, the prime minister of
France and the U.S. secretary of state in a joint statement, adopted at
the meeting, confirmed that "the settlement should be achieved peacefully,
through negotiations."
In Astana, the three mediator-countries (co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group
on Nagorno-Karabakh - Russia, France and the USA) "addressed the parties
with a call to focus on completing the coordination of basic principles of
a future settlement," said Nalbandian.

-0-str