News of the Day, 18:00 Moscow time

* Romania dismissed claims by Moldova that it had interfered in its internal affairs and threatened to expel the Moldavian ambassador

* Russian police have detained several people suspected of committing a series of high-profile crimes, including the murder of former State Duma deputy Ruslan Yamadayev, investigators said

* The Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia said it would start construction of a fourth Borey class nuclear-powered strategic submarine this year

* Riots in Chisinau left 170 police officers and more than 100 civilians injured, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said

* A Russian MP, accused by the Dubai police of involvement in the March 28 assassination of Sulim Yamadayev, condemned the police investigation and said the police were "covering up" for a "criminal"

* Russia is to deliver S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) surface-to-air missile systems to Belarus under an integrated air-defense agreement, a senior Belarusian military official, Igor Azarenok, said

* North Korea has threatened to prevent Japanese attempts to locate components from a rocket launched by Pyongyang on April 5 that fell into the Pacific Ocean

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told the pro-Kremlin United Russia party that it needs to make greater use of the Internet in getting its message across

* Pope Benedict XVI of Rome said he would visit the site of the April 6 earthquake in central Italy, which killed at least 250 people