Russia would be glad to sign a new START treaty in Kiev, says the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following his talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Konstantin Grishchenko. But Lavrov pointed out that a decision on the issue is to be made by President Dmitry Medvedev and his US opposite number Barack Obama. The Russian news media reported... →
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon visits Moscow on March 17-19. A key point of his agenda is the situation around Gaza and the Palestinian Autonomy. Speaking to journalists after a meeting of the mediating quartet of Russia, the US, the UN and the EU, Ban Ki-Moon voiced his concern over the Tuesday Israeli-Palestinian standoff which resulted in... →
Presidential envoy on child care Pavel Astakhov is in Turku, Finland to regulate the situation with the 7-year-old Robert Rantala holding double Russian-Finnish citizenship. The boy was taken away from his parents in early February on suspicion of child abuse. Later the boy fled from the child care facility he was placed in to his parents. The... →
Around 2000 labour union activists hit Athens’ streets late Tuesday to protest the government austerity campaign. During the rally the protesters decided to vent their anger on the police which caused an open standoff with the police troops using noise grenades. Government employees are not happy with the state decision to cut benefits... →
Russia would be happy to sign the new START Treaty with the US on reducing offensive strategic weapons in Kiev, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on Ukraine's proposal after negotiations with his Ukrainian counterpart Konstantin Grishchenko on Tuesday in Moscow. Sergey Lavrov expressed the following ideas. "We... →
The Nord Stream consortium signed the Phase I financing of the pipeline project on March 16th in London. The financing for Phase I accounts for € 3.9 billion. Another loan of € 2.5 billion for Phase II is expected to be obtained in late 2010. The rest of the money will be provided by consortium's shareholders. The Nord Stream is a... →
A decision to establish an International Anti-fascist Movement was adopted at the Holocaust Conference in Riga. "We will resist all organizations tolerant to fascism and the Nazi Germany", - the president of the World Congress of Russian Jewry Boris Spiegel told journalists. He said it will be an... →
The euro rose 0,41% to $1.37 as Europe’s finance ministers approved a series of austerity measures to help Greece overcome its debt crisis during the meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. “However, there is no need to worry about the euro”, said Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank. →
The British Ambassador to Georgia, Denis Keefe, is outraged over a bogus news report on a Russian invasion of Georgia shown by the Imedi TV company on 13 March. The diplomat said neither he nor the British government have something to do with the scandalous footage. Addressing the journalists in Tbilisi on Tuesday, Mr. Keefe said the hoax would... →
Turkmenistan’s president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is ready to provide Russia with the needed quantity of gas, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists Tuesday after his two-day visit to Ashkhabad ." Turkmenistan always has enough gas for Russia, the president said ", - Lavrov noted. The volume... →
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says this year’s Earth Hour climate awareness campaign may hit the 2009 record as thousands of cities in 107 countries, including six out of 10 most populous cities, have confirmed their participation in the event. On March 27 at 8:30 p.m everyone who cares about the future of our planet will turn off their... →
Russia ranks second after the US in terms of arms exports from 2005 to 2009, The Guardian says citing a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The report says the US remains the world's top arms exporter, accounting for 30% of the total, followed by Russia (23%), Germany (11%), and France (8%). →
The world’s first Diamond iPad tablet computer developed by Apple Inc. has entered assembly lines in the US. Reports by Interfax say Mervis Diamond Importers is launching the luxury version of Apple iPad in a limited number of batches by early summer. Encrusted with 11.43 carat diamonds, the new iPad will cost nearly 20 thousand dollars,... →
English architect David Chipperfield has won an international contest with his project for the restoration of the Opera and Ballet Theatre building in Perm. If he manages to complete the project, this Ural city will have a building unequalled anywhere in Russia. The Perm State Opera and Ballet Theatre was officially built in 1870, although... →
Scientists at Cambridge University have discovered the ‘pain gene’ known as SCN9A which makes some people more sensitive to and less able to tolerate pain. This gene may greatly increase the ability to control and conquer various pains, from back pain to osteoporosis. →
The world athletics governing body IAAF says the US women’s 4x400 m relay team will be stripped of their gold medals from the 2004 Athens Olympics after the suspension of Crystal Cox for doping. Second-placed Russia are set to receive gold ahead of Jamaica and Britain. →
A cat has returned to its owner living in Stockholm after 9 years since its disappearance. Vera Detman from Sweden moved to Stockholm in 2001, but its freedom-loving cat Lackriz did not like it in the capital and ran away. According to Stockholm’s media, after nine years Vera got a call from cats’... →
