News

A deputy commander of Tajikistan"s border...

A deputy commander of Tajikistan"s border guard troops has been detained on suspicion of drug trafficking and accepting bribes, the director for the Tajik agency for financial control said on Tuesday.

Aeroflot has signed a deal with a top Russian...

Aeroflot has signed a deal with a top Russian mobile operator to set up cell phone services on board its aircraft, Russia"s flagship airline said in a statement on Thursday.

Although Arctic issues and those of the...

Although Arctic issues and those of the Arctic Ocean have only been discussed by the few littoral nations until now, it appears that the region will soon be reorganized on a grand scale.

An executive order on the formation of the...

An executive order on the formation of the “Russian Arctic” national park was signed last summer. Gennady Danilov, director of the federal natural reserve located on the territory of the archipelago, believes that the park ought to include Franz Joseph Land. It currently includes the northern part of the island Novaya Zemlya and several neighboring islands. In an interview with RIA Novosti correspondent Alexander Kuleshov Danilov argues for the creation of a single, specially protected natural park. He also explains what could attract tourists to the Arctic and details the potential environmental threats Franz Joseph Land faces.

A Russian airliner made an emergency landing...

A Russian airliner made an emergency landing in Iran on Sunday after experiencing technical difficulties en route from the Urals city of Perm to Dubai, Ekho Moskvy radio station reported.

At least 11 people, including seven police...

At least 11 people, including seven police officers and four drug smugglers, have been killed in a shootout in eastern Iran, BBC has said.

At least five police were killed and another...

At least five police were killed and another ten wounded in a blast near a traffic police post in the capital of Russia"s North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan, local law-enforcement bodies said on Wednesday.

A total of 18 people, including eight children...

A total of 18 people, including eight children, were injured during New Year celebrations in Moscow over the careless use of fireworks, Moscow"s emergencies center said on Sunday.

A total of 7.8 million lost and mishandled...

A total of 7.8 million lost and mishandled bags cost the air transport industry around $2.5 billion in 2009, a leading air transport communications company said on its website.

A Turkish assassin who shot and wounded...

A Turkish assassin who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981 has said he will deliver a true account of his assassination attempt after he is released from jail, his lawyers said.

A U.S. passenger airliner with 231 people...

A U.S. passenger airliner with 231 people on board bound for Hawaii was escorted back to Portland International Airport by two F-15 fighters after one of the passengers become disruptive, FoxNews.com website reported.

Britain has fully re-closed its airspace...

Britain has fully re-closed its airspace until at least 01:00 (04:00 Moscow Time) on Sunday because of a volcanic ash cloud from an eruption in Iceland, U.K. air navigation service provider NATS said.

Colombia is looking to attract Russian investment...

Colombia is looking to attract Russian investment in any sector and is prepared to offer potential investors all necessary guarantees, Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez said on Monday.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is...

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is a greater threat to security in the Black Sea region than the Mistral-class helicopter carrier Russia intends to buy from France, Moscow"s envoy to NATO said on Friday.

Google has decided to close its Internet...

Google has decided to close its Internet search service based in inland China over censorship concerns and will direct Chinese users to a Hong Kong-based uncensored version of its search engine, the company has said in blog post.

Investigators have said the crew of the...

Investigators have said the crew of the Tu-204 plane that made a belly landing in the woods on its approach to a Moscow airport earlier this week used a pocket GPS instead of the primary air navigation system, a leading Russian business daily said on Thursday.

Israel"s plans to build homes for Jewish...

Israel"s plans to build homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem "endanger" indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the EU foreign policy chief said on Monday.

Leading Russian business paper Vedomosti...

Leading Russian business paper Vedomosti said on Thursday it had been the target of a continued hacker attack.

LONDON, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - David...

LONDON, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - David Miliband is starting a two-day visit to Russia on Sunday, which will be the first visit to the country by a British foreign secretary in the past five years.

MOSCOW, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - The crew...

MOSCOW, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - The crew of a Russian tanker has successfully repelled an attack by pirates off the Somali coast, the Russian maritime journal Sovfrakht reported.

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russian warships will continue patrolling pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast to ensure the safety of commercial shipping in the area, Russia"s defense minister said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - A passion...

MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - A passion for web blogs is sweeping the world. More than 10,000 new on-line magazines appear every day. The trend is on in Russia, too, as blogs are offering a viable alternative to the traditional media outlets, remarks the Novaya Gazeta weekly. LiveJournal is one of the world"s best-loved blogger services. Russia is no exception her. It ranks the world"s 4th for the number of LiveJournal users, coming after the USA, Canada and the UK. The journal has close on 150,000 registered Russian accounts. Certain analysts ascribe LiveJournal popularity in this country to Russian mental specifics. Russian blogs have a pronounced national character, and do not resemble their US counterparts in the slightest. We Russians have had enough of politics, and we want to talk about what really interests us. LiveJournal has developed here into a site for recreation, striking acquaintances, self-expression, and an escape from drab everydays. Amateur literary pursuits dominate Russian blogging, with satire and tongue-in-cheek confessions in the foreground. Americans, on the contrary, prefer professionals of journalism who come up with views running counter to corporate. Information overloads and a lack of public attention will certainly develop into principal problems quite soon. Sober-minded people expect blogs to lose the charm of novelty. Even the most daring muckraking journalism will no longer arouse the present-day overwhelming public interest, warn skeptics.

MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - The eight...

MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - The eight men accused of involvement in the mystery disappearance of the Russian-crewed Arctic Sea cargo ship last month have denied charges of piracy and kidnapping, a lawyer of one of the defendants said Friday.

MOSCOW, February 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, February 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s military policies are aimed at avoiding an arms race and military conflicts, but they should also correspond to real threats which the country faces, Russia"s security chief Nikolai Patrushev said in an interview with the Russian government daily.

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian...

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian consortium comprising En+ Group, Severstal and Renova submitted investment proposals to the Mongolian government last month to develop one of the world"s largest coal mines, a business paper said on Wednesday. According to Vedomosti, the consortium"s intention to develop the Tavan Tolgoi coal field in the Gobi Desert, with estimated reserves of 6.5 billion metric tons of coking coal, was confirmed by an executive of the Severstal steelmaker while a representative of the Renova asset management group declined to comment. A representative of En+ Group owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska told the paper that the Mongolian side viewed positively the consortium"s proposals. At the same time, the Mongolian government has yet to determine its project requirements and it is not yet clear whether it will issue a license for the entire mine or for separate sections, the paper said. In any case, competition is going to be tough as major global companies, such as Vale, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Xstrata and China"s Shenhua Energy are also keen to take part in the tender, the paper reported.

MOSCOW, February 9 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian...

MOSCOW, February 9 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Pacific Fleet's Admiral Vinogradov destroyer and India's Tabar missile frigate have practiced joint anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, the Russian Navy spokesman said on Monday.

MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti) - China...

MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti) - China has decided to allocate another $2.6 million for relief efforts in Haiti, hit by a devastating earthquake last week, Xinhua news agency said.

MOSCOW, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian...

MOSCOW, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy will expand and modernize its Soviet-era naval maintenance site near Tartus in Syria to support anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, a high-ranking navy source said on Monday.

MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s foreign debt fell by $8.4 billion to $475.1 billion in the first six months of 2009, the Central Bank said on Friday.

MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian-Argentine...

MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian-Argentine agreement scrapping bilateral visa requirements entered into force on Monday.

MOSCOW, March 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will...

MOSCOW, March 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will provide nuclear fuel for a Soviet-designed nuclear power plant in Bulgaria until 2020, a Russian supplier said Thursday.

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government's foreign debt, including liabilities of the former Soviet Union, declined 2.7% in January-March 2009 to $39.5 billion, the Finance Ministry reported on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti) - Muslims...

MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti) - Muslims in Russia join the Islamic world on Friday in celebrating Eid al-Adha, Festival of Sacrifice, or Kurban Bairam, as it is called by Russian and Central Asian Muslims.

MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia may join the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in January 2006, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.

MOSCOW, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian...

MOSCOW, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Interior Ministry will buy two Israeli-built unmanned aerial vehicles in 2010, a senior police official said on Thursday.

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia must look into the implications of genetically- modified food and make sure they are safe before widely introducing them, a group of experts attending a seminar on the issue said Tuesday.

MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian investigators said on Tuesday they had searched the Arctic Sea vessel and found only lumber registered in the ship"s cargo log.

MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed on Tuesday media speculation that the Arctic Sea cargo ship, recently hijacked in the Atlantic, was carrying missiles for S-300 air defense systems.

NATO continues to pose a serious threat...

NATO continues to pose a serious threat to Russia, not least because of its desire to expand closer to Russia"s borders, Russian security chief Nikolai Patrushev said on Tuesday.

North and South Korea exchanged artillery...

North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, a day after Pyongyang declared the border area a "no-sail" zone, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported.

North Korea said on Friday it would retaliate...

North Korea said on Friday it would retaliate with "unprecedented nuclear strikes" if anyone attempts to provoke instability in the country.

On February 12, 2010, the U.S. Missile Defense...

On February 12, 2010, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) used the Airborne Laser Test Bed (ALTB) mounted on a Boeing B-747 jumbo jet to shoot down a liquid-propellant and a solid-propellant target missile.

Police in central Russia"s republic of Chuvashia...

Police in central Russia"s republic of Chuvashia detained on Saturday a suspect in the murder of a priest, an investigation spokesman said.

Police will use video cameras to monitor...

Police will use video cameras to monitor the entire high-speed rail route from Moscow to St. Petersburg in northwest Russia, following a recent bomb attack, which killed 27 passengers, a police official said on Sunday.

Polish skier Justyna Kowalczyk snatched...

Polish skier Justyna Kowalczyk snatched the first gold medal for her country at the 2010 Olympics in Canada after finishing in just 0.3 seconds ahead of her closest contender in ladies" 30 km Mass Start.

Pumping of Russian natural gas to Europe...

Pumping of Russian natural gas to Europe via the Baltic Nord Stream pipeline will start in September 2011, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Relations between Russia and the United...

Relations between Russia and the United States must be based on concrete projects and expanded in such areas as space exploration, aircraft and nuclear energy industry, a senior Russian diplomat said.

Russia has provided U.S. investigators with...

Russia has provided U.S. investigators with data on Nazi death camps which could lead to the prosecution of alleged WWII war criminals, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday.

Russia is ready to help reconstruct Afghanistan...

Russia is ready to help reconstruct Afghanistan, but it is up to Western countries to come up with the funds, a Russian newspaper reported on Wednesday, quoting Russia"s envoy to NATO.

Russian diplomats and special services are...

Russian diplomats and special services are trying to return to Russia a 12-year-old boy who has been living for several years in the Dominican Republic, presumably after being abandoned by his Russian adoptive parents.

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin admitted...

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin admitted on Friday that the economic growth achieved in the country during the past decade of boom was impossible to maintain.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday visited a Russian bobsledder who has been in a Munich hospital since receiving serious injuries in a training incident in Germany in late November.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take part in an international conference on Afghanistan in London on January 28, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

Russian police have arrested four top officials...

Russian police have arrested four top officials of the Eurasia Logistics company, Russia"s major industrial and warehouse property developer, on charges of complicity in embezzling some $2 billion of Kazakh investments, a leading Russian business daily has said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday proposed amendments to the country"s criminal legislation to fight the illegal seizure of companies.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin demanded...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin demanded the Russian armed forces be equipped with modern weapons during a government meeting to discuss Russia"s 2011-2020 military program late on Tuesday.

Russia"s ailing car giant AvtoVAZ said on...

Russia"s ailing car giant AvtoVAZ said on Thursday it planned to begin the production of Renault and Nissan cars in 2012-2013, a year later than Russian officials had planned.

Russia"s GDP fell 8.9% in the third quarter...

Russia"s GDP fell 8.9% in the third quarter year-on-year and grew 13.8% on the second quarter, the Federal Statistics Agency said on Friday.

Russia"s Navy will take delivery of the...

Russia"s Navy will take delivery of the first MiG-29K (Fulcrum-D) fighters later this year, a Navy official said on Friday.

Russia"s Space Forces on Friday launched...

Russia"s Space Forces on Friday launched a Soyuz-U carrier rocket with a Cosmos-series military satellite, a SF spokesman said.

Some 30 people, including nine foreign tourists...

Some 30 people, including nine foreign tourists and a child, were injured in an acid attack on a busy street in Hong Kong, BBC said on Sunday citing a local police statement.

ST. PETERSBURG, August 25 (RIA Novosti)...

ST. PETERSBURG, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - The defense lawyer for two of the alleged hijackers, arrested aboard the Arctic Sea last week, said on Tuesday that there has been no mention of arms trafficking in the court files.

Students from earthquake-stricken Haiti...

Students from earthquake-stricken Haiti studying in Moscow are sick with worry for their relatives at home and are unsure if they will be able to continue studying.

The deadline for Ukraine"s payment for natural...

The deadline for Ukraine"s payment for natural gas supplied in December has been moved from January 7 to January 11, 2010, due to the New Year holidays, energy giant Gazprom said on Tuesday.

The first pipelay vessel started its journey...

The first pipelay vessel started its journey to the Baltic Sea to begin construction on the Nord Stream pipeline, which will pump Russian natural gas to Europe, the project operator said on Monday.

The first reactor of the Kudankulam nuclear...

The first reactor of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in India will be launched in 2010 as scheduled, Russia"s nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko said.

The Investigation Committee at the Russian...

The Investigation Committee at the Russian Prosecutor General"s Office has set up a special department in Chechnya to investigate abductions in the volatile southern republic, Russia"s top investigator said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed...

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed hope that the political crisis in Thailand will be resolved through peaceful means, and violence will not resume.

The Russian government is set to return...

The Russian government is set to return for the first time during the crisis period a major bank it has rescued from bankruptcy, a business daily reported on Monday.

The Somali pirates involved in hijacking...

The Somali pirates involved in hijacking the Russian Moscow University tanker will be sent to Moscow for proceedings, a Russian Investigative Committee spokesman said on Thursday.

The United States will probably make a statement...

The United States will probably make a statement on its strategic missile defense plans upon signing a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia in Prague this week, the Kremlin said.

The Vietnamese defense minister said on...

The Vietnamese defense minister said on Tuesday that the current visit of his Russian counterpart to Vietnam would strengthen bilateral military ties, which have seen a significant improvement in the last few years.

Thirty militants and six soldiers have been...

Thirty militants and six soldiers have been killed in an operation held by Pakistani troops in the country"s northwest, the Voice of America has said.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has...

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has abolished Ukraine"s National Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration, the presidential website said on Saturday.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has condemned...

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has condemned a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip which killed a civilian in Israel on Thursday, on the eve of the Middle East Quartet meeting in Moscow, Ban"s spokesperson has said in a statement.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has confessed...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has confessed for the first time that he is a follower of the ideas of Karl Marx, as well as saying that Jesus Christ was a "radical" leftist.

Viktor Yanukovych will go to Brussels, the...

Viktor Yanukovych will go to Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union, for his first trip as Ukrainian president, the Kommersant-Ukraine reported on Tuesday, citing EU sources.

Washington"s plans for a missile defense...

Washington"s plans for a missile defense shield do not presently constitute any threat to Moscow"s strategic interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

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ZHUKOVSKY, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

ZHUKOVSKY, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s flagship air carrier Aeroflot is to become the official airline for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the resort city of Sochi, RIA Novosti said on Wednesday.