A brief look at the stories making headlines in the Russian-language press

Seventeen-year-old Russian swimmer Stanislava Komarova was disappointed in Barcelona, jubilant in Madrid and now has her eyes set on Athens.

A video posted on an al-Qaida-linked web site showed the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq and said the execution was carried out to avenge abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

U.S. soldiers backed by tanks and helicopters battled fighters loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr near a mosque in the holy city of Karbala on Wednesday, hours after Iraqi leaders agreed on a proposal that would end al-Sadr's standoff with the U.S.-led forces.

Israeli troops launched a massive incursion into a heavily populated neighborhood on Wednesday, firing missiles, demolishing homes and storming buildings, in a bid to recover the body parts of six soldiers killed by Palestinian militants.

The No. 2 commander who was in charge of the infamous Abu Ghraib prison until mid-January defended himself publicly for the first time Tuesday, releasing a six-page statement in which he also blamed subordinates for carrying out ""vigilante justice"" in revenge for the alleged rape of Private Jessica Lynch while she was in the custody of Iraqis.

A former Afghan police colonel gave a graphic account in an interview this week of being subjected to beating, kicking, sleep deprivation, taunts and sexual abuse during about 40 days he spent in U.S. custody last summer.

The U.S. trade deficit swelled to an all-time high of $46 billion in March as a stronger U.S. economy stoked Americans' appetite for foreign-made cars, televisions and other goods.

The European Union's head office issued its first warning Wednesday to six new member countries about excessive budget deficits, but said the costs of joining the bloc would be taken into account when deciding on disciplinary action.

DaimlerChrysler said Wednesday it would sell a $1 billion stake in South Korea's Hyundai Motor, further scaling down the German-American company's ties with automakers in Asia.