All 75 people on board a Russian Defence Ministry plane which crashed into a mountain are believed dead.
The plane went down near the town of Batumi, capital of Georgia’s Adzharia region, while trying to land in bad weather.It veered off course on approach in “difficult weather conditions,” said Alexander Silagadze, head of the civil aviation agency Sakaeronavigatsiya.The plane, an Il-18 transport with 64 passengers and a crew of 11, crashed about 15 miles east of the town, said Marina Ryklina, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry.Although Russia and Georgia became independent countries when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Russian still maintains troops in Georgia.The plane was flying from Chkalovskoye, a town outside Moscow where a military airfield is located, to Batumi, also home to a Russian military base.The Russian emergencies ministry was sending a plane carrying a search and rescue team.Russia is in the process of removing its troops and equipment from two bases in Georgia, and is negotiating withdrawal from two more. Equipment from the bases is being shipped through Batumi.The Il-18 is a Russian-made, four-engine turboprop. In 1997, an Il-18 owned by a private Russian carrier crashed on a charter flight while trying to take off in Johannesburg, South Africa. All five people survived and the reason for the crash was not determined.The model first flew in 1957, and production ceased in 1970. The plane was used as a passenger plane by the Soviet national airline Aeroflot and seats up to 100 passengers Aeroflot still used the plane for cargo flights.. The Government was refused access last night to a group of six Britons, believed to be private detectives, detained in Cuba for more than two weeks after authorities became suspicious about their activities. The Government was refused access last night to a group of six Britons, believed to be private detectives, detained in Cuba for more than two weeks after authorities became suspicious about their activities.
Bernard Garside, the British consul in Havana, met officials on the island late yesterday to request an explanation as to why the group had been held for 16 days without access to diplomatic aid.

He had hoped to see the five men and one woman but was refused. Cuban officials said access might be granted in the next two days.British authorities have been pressing unsuccessfully for more than 10 days for access to the group, one of whom was named by officials as Jonathan Fawcett. The Foreign Office said Cuban officials told Mr Garside they were investigating the group’s activities which appeared to be related to a private investigation.The growing diplomatic dispute has threatened to sour already tenuous relations between the two countries.Peter Hain, the Foreign Office minister, will today summon Cuba’s envoy in Britain to a meeting.Mr Hain said: “It is unacceptable that six British nationals are being held in Cuba without explanation and without access. Our chargé d’affaires is demanding that we be given immediate access.”Their relatives have a right to know what’s happening to them; they themselves have the right to know why they are being held, and the British Government has a right to offer them consular access.”British officials were first notified on 9 October that the group had been detained, but written confirmation was not received until 13 October. Last night the Foreign Office said Cuba was breaching its obligations regardless of the activities of the group. “We would expect British nationals to be charged or released,” said a spokesman.Britain has maintained a policy of constructive engagement with Cuba recently, promoting cordial relations while continuing to air concern over the country’s record on human rights.This was reflected in meetings between the Foreign Office minister Baroness Scotland of Asthal and the Cuban Foreign Minister in September and the signing of a prison transfer agreement, which led to the release of Rachel McGee and Michelle Malcolm, two 24-year-olds serving 15-year sentences for drug trafficking, as a goodwill gesture by Cuba..

The seven Britons held in Cuba, one more than originally thought, were private detectives hired by the wife of a wealthy businessman, it was reported today. The seven Britons held in Cuba, one more than originally thought, were private detectives hired by the wife of a wealthy businessman, it was reported today.
They were investigating allegations of infidelity, said British Embassy officials. It is believed their methods may have been in breach of Cuban law.An embassy spokesman said they had been assured that the Britons were in good health, have been given access to telephones and have been offered legal help.The embassy in Havana was first notified of the detentions on 9 October in a phone call from the Cuban authorities, but was given no reason until yesterday.Embassy officials have still not been able to meet the six men and one woman.. To Tony Blair, the Japanese Prime Minister’s remark might have seemed no more than a casual aside.

But yesterday, the accident-prone Yoshiro Mori came under further pressure to resign after blurting out details of secret negotiations with North Korea. To Tony Blair, the Japanese Prime Minister’s remark might have seemed no more than a casual aside. But yesterday, the accident-prone Yoshiro Mori came under further pressure to resign after blurting out details of secret negotiations with North Korea.
At a meeting of the prime ministers on the margins of the Asia-Europe summit in the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Friday, conversation was dominated by talk of North Korea, to which Britain had just announced it would give diplomatic recognition.Japan, which is close to the Korean peninsula, would like to do the same but is hamstrung by an issue involving 20 or so Japanese who vanished in the Seventies, almost certainly kidnapped by North Korean agents. North Korea refuses to admit any knowledge of the missing people and the Japanese public opposes any warming of relations with Pyongyang until the issue is settled.For three years, Mr Mori has been considering a resolution to the abductions problem – why not arrange for them to pop up somewhere else? After the meeting with Mr Blair, Mr Mori was quoted as saying: “North Koreans are very concerned about protecting their honour. So we told them they can deal with the Japanese as missing people and say they were found in Peking or Bangkok.” Mr Blair’s reaction is unrecorded.Yoshimi Watanabe, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Mr Mori, said yesterday: “The remark was inappropriate and [Mr Mori] should quit.” Nobuteru Ishihara, leader of a group of LDP reformers said: “Mr Mori has damaged the national interest and endangered those abducted by his words.”When questioned about the remark, Mr Mori said it was a “story from the past”, adding: “I was just explaining the details.” The Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa, said the proposal had come not from Mr Mori but from an LDP bag carrier accompanying Mr Mori to North Korea. As Japan’s Minister for Construction, Chikage Ogi, said, “It is strange the Prime Minister’s explanation differs from that of the Chief Cabinet Secretary”.. With the Governor, George W Bush, seeking to avoid all unnecessary embarrassment in the run-up to next month’s presidential election, Texas has slammed the brakes on its usually hectic schedule of judicial executions.