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Adults in Scotland annually drink the equivalent...

Adults in Scotland annually drink the equivalent of 46 bottles of vodka each, Sky News reported Sunday citing a new study.

A group of four unidentified assailants...

A group of four unidentified assailants robbed a bank in St. Petersburg in northwest Russia of almost 3.5 million rubles ($115,000), a police source said on Sunday.

A group of Russians deceived by real estate...

A group of Russians deceived by real estate developers have created a social-networking site in an attempt to bring together some of what they say are thousands of defrauded investors.

A match in Russia"s Continental Hockey League...

A match in Russia"s Continental Hockey League between West Siberia"s Omsk Avangard and the Moscow Region"s Vityaz ended just minutes after it began, after referees failed to stop a fight between the teams" players.

A national referendum on Russian becoming...

A national referendum on Russian becoming a second official language in Ukraine would split the country, so each region should be able to decide the issue for itself, a Party of Regions lawmaker said on Tuesday.

A project group under the presidential council...

A project group under the presidential council for financial markets will oversee Russia"s efforts to establish an international financial center in Moscow, a Kremlin aide said on Tuesday.

A Russian senator has urged Iran to fully...

A Russian senator has urged Iran to fully cooperate with the United Nations nuclear watchdog and to reconsider its plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities.

A Soyuz-FG rocket bearing a Soyuz TMA-18...

A Soyuz-FG rocket bearing a Soyuz TMA-18 piloted spacecraft blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday morning from Russia"s Baikonur space centre.

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 Tu-204 plane with nine people onboard...

A Tu-204 plane with nine people onboard performed an emergency landing one km from Moscow"s Domodedovo airport, an airport spokeswoman told RIA Novosti on Monday.

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.

Canada has blocked the adoption of all documents...

Canada has blocked the adoption of all documents to be considered at an upcoming Russia-NATO meeting, the Russian envoy to NATO said on Tuesday.

French naval shipbuilder DCNS said on Thursday...

French naval shipbuilder DCNS said on Thursday it expected to receive a final answer from Russia soon on buying a Mistral-class helicopter carrier.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has defended...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has defended his decision to allow the sale of a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship to Russia by saying it would not threaten regional security, the Daily Herald reported.

Investigators have established that the...

Investigators have established that the latest test failure of the troubled Bulava ballistic missile was caused by a design flaw, rather than a faulty component, a Russian defense industry source said Tuesday.

Iran and Russia should switch to their national...

Iran and Russia should switch to their national currencies in joint oil and gas projects, an Iranian oil official suggested on Wednesday as part of bilateral talks on a long-term plan of energy cooperation.

Iran"s top nuclear official said on Monday...

Iran"s top nuclear official said on Monday the Islamic Republic was considering a new offer from Russia, the United States and France on nuclear fuel enrichment, the ILNA news agency reported.

Israel has carried out at least 13 airstrikes...

Israel has carried out at least 13 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the BBC has said, quoting Palestinian sources.

Leading Russian business paper Vedomosti...

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

Maintaining macroeconomic stability and...

Maintaining macroeconomic stability and balancing the budget are key areas for Russia"s economic development in the next two years, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

Moscow. (Anatoly Korolev, RIA Novosti commentator)...

Moscow. (Anatoly Korolev, RIA Novosti commentator) Bernard Weber's New 7 Wonders (N7W) Foundation has called for the list of the Seven Wonders of the World to be updated, as only one, the Giza pyramids, has survived to the present day.

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian...

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Finance Ministry has received, and is considering, a request from the Bolivian government for a $100-mln loan, a ministry"s source said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - The...

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy has handed over to Yemen 10 Somali pirates detained several days ago off the Horn of Africa, Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, February 24 (RIA Novosti) - The...

MOSCOW, February 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy will continue its important duties in the seas and oceans of the world, Navy spokesman Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

Moscow is undaunted by Poland"s decision...

Moscow is undaunted by Poland"s decision to base U.S. surface-to-air missiles closer to Russian borders, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

MOSCOW, July 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia’s...

MOSCOW, July 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia’s Kruzenshtern sailing ship has left the U.S. port of Boston and headed for Canada’s Halifax, taking part in the final stage of an international tall ships regatta.

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, March 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, March 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russian metals magnate Mikhail Prokhorov will through his Onexim Group finance the Seliger 2010 youth forum, a symbol of the Kremlin"s youth policies, a Russian newspaper reported on Monday.

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - International...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - International Olympic Committee officials arrived in Sochi on Tuesday on a two-day visit to assess progress in preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee said. The IOC delegation, led by Coordination Commission head Jean-Claude Killy, will hold meetings on Wednesday and Thursday with Organizing Committee members and senior Russian government officials, as well as representatives of the Olimpstroy state construction corporation, the Russian Olympic Committee and Sochi city and Krasnodar Region authorities. "I am honored to welcome the IOC Coordination Commission to my home city and look forward to showing them the excellent progress the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee has made since their first official visit," Sochi 2014 chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said in an Organizing Committee press release. "Not a single day has been lost in our preparations and we have much to update them on," he added. The delegation will look at the development of Olympic venues, accommodation and local infrastructure, as well as assess environmental protections and Paralympic preparations. After his previous visit to the Black Sea resort, Killy said the preparations were "on track," according to the Sochi 2014 press release. Russia is spending billions of dollars on hosting the Games, with thousands of construction jobs expected to be created in the Sochi area.

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - Somali pirates...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - Somali pirates can be prosecuted under Russian laws, a Russian deputy general prosecutor said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s Reserve...

MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s Reserve Fund shrank by 13.7% to 3.551 trillion rubles ($106.81 billion), and the National Prosperity Fund declined by 1.6% to 2.869 trillion rubles ($86.3 billion) in April, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. The Reserve Fund was set up to cushion the federal budget against a fall in oil prices, and the National Prosperity Fund was designed to help the government carry out pension reforms. So far this year, Russia has spent 1 trillion rubles ($30.3 billion) from the Reserve Fund to cover the federal budget deficit, the Finance Ministry said. It said a total of 1.6 trillion rubles would be spent from the Reserve Fund to cover the deficit in the first half of 2009 alone. Russia posted a budget deficit of 50 billion rubles ($1.5 billion), or 0.1% of gross domestic product, in the first quarter of this year. Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin earlier said budget spending had increased in the first quarter as the government allocated additional funds for anti-crisis measures, in particular measures to support the pension system, regional governments and key sectors of the economy, such as the defense complex and the auto industry. He said the largest budget deficits were expected in the second, third, and possibly fourth quarters, as the government spends more on anti-crisis measures. The minister said the projected 7.4% federal budget deficit in 2009 would be covered by the Reserve Fund.

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - Greenpeace"s...

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - Greenpeace"s new head, South African activist Kumi Naidoo, can be expected to pursue balanced policies, the head of the Russian branch of the global environmental group said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - France"s...

MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - France"s Liberation newspaper has published the findings of a report claiming that spent fuel from French power plants is being stored at an open-air site in Russia.

MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - A group...

MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - A group of prominent Russian scientists working abroad have urged measures to end the ongoing brain drain from the country and prevent the collapse of science in the country.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - The Japanese government has approved a document declaring the South Kurils an occupied territory.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - Russian designers are currently developing a fifth-generation fighter plane, also known as the Advanced Front-Line Aviation Complex (PAK FA) for Russia's Air Force.

MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) -- Russian...

MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) -- Russian and Chinese warships have completed a joint anti-piracy exercise which involved escorting a convoy of 23 merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, a Pacific Fleet official said on Monday.

MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s Justice Ministry has posted for public discussion a draft law which will increase state control over the Internet, a government daily reported on Tuesday.

NASA has given the final go-ahead for the...

NASA has given the final go-ahead for the launch of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled for April 5, NASA said on its website on Saturday.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and up to...

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and up to 131 people traveling with him to commemorate the mass killing of Polish officers during World War Two died on Saturday when his plane crashed on landing in western Russia.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and up to...

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and up to 131 others traveling with him to commemorate the mass killing of Polish officers during World War Two died on Saturday when his plane crashed on landing in western Russia.

Russia hopes that the Guinean government...

Russia hopes that the Guinean government will help ensure the security of a plant run by Russian aluminum giant RusAl that has been hit by recent militant attacks, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Russian army sappers render harmless some...

Russian army sappers render harmless some 100,000 mines and other forms of ammunition every year, an Armed Forces official said on Saturday.

Russian billionaire oligarch Viktor Vekselberg...

Russian billionaire oligarch Viktor Vekselberg in charge of coordinating the project of Skolkovo"s high-tech research and production hub believes the new research center will become self-sufficient in 5-7 years.

Russian business tycoon Viktor Vekselberg...

Russian business tycoon Viktor Vekselberg will coordinate a project to build a high-tech research and production hub, similar to the Silicon Valley in California, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss Nagorny Karabakh during his visit to Armenia on January 13-14, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Russian human rights activists have been...

Russian human rights activists have been granted permission to hold a central Moscow rally for radical police reform on March 6, a leading activist said on Wednesday.

Russian law enforcement agencies are looking...

Russian law enforcement agencies are looking into an incident in east Siberia"s Irkutsk Region after videos posted on the web showed high school students beating up their old teacher during physical education classes, Russian media reported.

Russian military helicopters dropped ten...

Russian military helicopters dropped ten bombs in Siberia in their annual offensive against ice-choked rivers, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom will...

Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom will increasingly cede the domestic market to independent producers by 2030 as part of ambitions to double exports to 320-345 billion cubic meters, a Russian business daily said on Monday.

Russian oil output rose 1.2% to 494 million...

Russian oil output rose 1.2% to 494 million metric tons (3.63 bln bbl), and natural gas production declined 12.1% to 584 billion cubic meters in 2009 year-on-year, the country"s statistics service said on Friday.

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.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved new rules on the sales and use of pyrotechnics more than two weeks after a deadly nightclub fire killed at least 150 people in the Urals.

Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova"s mother...

Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova"s mother was arrested and charged with child neglect after her 5-year-old son fell out of a window and was injured, the U.S. entertainment news website TMZ reported.

Russia"s budget deficit rose to 4.9% of...

Russia"s budget deficit rose to 4.9% of GDP in January-November 2009 from 4.7% in September-October, the Finance Ministry reported on Wednesday.

Russia"s envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin is...

Russia"s envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin is expected to take part in a bike show to commemorate Soviet soldiers killed in Belgium during World War II.

Russia"s largest independent crude producer...

Russia"s largest independent crude producer LUKoil posted a 23% year-on-year net profit decrease in 2009 to about $7 billion, but expects its financial results to improve this year, the company"s CEO said on Monday.

Russia"s newly appointed chief of Ground...

Russia"s newly appointed chief of Ground Forces said on Thursday Russia would do well with half the number of tanks it has today.

Several Russian car manufacturers have asked...

Several Russian car manufacturers have asked the government to introduce a minimum assembly requirement for foreign producers of 300,000 cars per year by 2013-2014, Russian business daily Kommersant said on Monday.

Soaring imports into Russia registered in...

Soaring imports into Russia registered in the fourth quarter of 2009 threaten the country"s economic recovery and may plunge it into a new economic decline, a business paper reported on Thursday.

Some 2,000 young people of different faiths...

Some 2,000 young people of different faiths and confessions will take to Moscow streets on April 20 to hold an "Islam against Terror" march, the pro-Kremlin Nashi political movement said in a statement on Monday.

South Korea has called off a rescue operation...

South Korea has called off a rescue operation for more than 40 sailors who remain unaccounted for since a warship sank last week in the Yellow Sea, the South Korean Yonhap news agency has said.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 21 (RIA Novosti) -...

ST. PETERSBURG, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - Rossiya Airlines, a St. Petersburg-based air carrier, plans to buy four A320 Airbus planes in 2008, a senior company official said Thursday. Gennady Boldyrev, first deputy director general at Rossiya Airlines, said an initial protocol had already been signed and a contract was being drawn up. The airline is expected to obtain the first A320 jet in November 2008. Boldyrev said his company would buy Tu-204-300 planes for private carriage, using federal budget funds. Rossiya also expects to receive three long-haul Boeing-767 aircraft later this year. The Airbus A320 is a medium-haul airliner with a passenger capacity of up to 120 and an average flight range of about 3,000 miles. Rossiya Airlines was established in 2006 through a merger between Pulkovo Aviation Company in St. Petersburg and Moscow"s Russia State Transport Company. Its pool has 52 passenger aircraft, including five Boeing 737 and two Airbus A-319 planes. At this week"s air show at Le Bourget outside Paris, Russia"s flagship airline Aeroflot signed a contract with Airbus to buy 22 A350 passenger planes and Russia"s S7 Airlines (formerly Sibir) said it would purchase 25 A320 planes.