The Afghan and Russian presidents have taken steps to restart economic and political ties that have been almost nonexistent since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was highlighted by the signing of an agreement that could pave the way for Russia to participate in “priority economic projects” – including ones left unfinished after Soviet forces pulled out of the country in 1989, following nearly a decade of war.
Russia does not see a role for itself in the negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo’s Albanians, says Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin. At the same time, the Russian diplomat said that he was not optimistic about the outcome of the announced talks.
ASBIS, Leading Pan-EMEA Distributor, Broadens Reach of QLogic Ethernet, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand Products
Russia’s federal government will lose 5% of its staff this year as part of a three-year program of cuts, RIA Novosti reported. The Russian news agency quoted Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The presence of the Polish Air Force Chief in the cockpit of the presidential plane that crashed in Russia in April made the crew take “unjustified risk”.
This was stated by the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK), RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday.
At least 14,000 people attended Christmas service in Moscow alone, a police spokesman said, RIA Novosti reported. “So far, about 14,000 people attended the capital’s churches, and they continue to arrive. No incidents were reported,” Viktor Biryukov said.
Police have detained at least 120 people in Moscow and St. Petersburg who were taking part in a regularly occurring, authorized protest. The group of demonstrators, representing opposition to the Kremlin, schedule the protests for the end of months with 31 days, symbolizing Russia’s right to assemble under the country’s constitution.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed an order mandating the Russian government and related agencies to move to using Linux and open-source software by 2015. – The
Russian government will transition its computer infrastructure from Microsoft
Windows to the Linux open-source operating by 2015, according to an order
signed by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
According
to a Dec. 27 article in the Russian-language
CNews, translated with Googl…
Russian weekly Novaya Gazeta says it is joining forces with whistle-blower site WikiLeaks to expose corruption in Russia, RFE/RL reports. The Moscow weekly, which is controlled by billionaire Aleksandr Lebedev, said on its website that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has material about Russia that haven’t been published yet.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday touched down here early Tuesday morning on a two-day visit during which the two sides are expected to sign over a dozen agreements, including a key pact on Moscow building more nuclear reactors in India. Manmohan Singh and Medvedev will discuss a wide range of bilateral and international issues, including [...]
Poland has rejected a Russian report into a plane crash that killed the country’s president in April as “unacceptable.â€
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it failed to respect a convention on international air travel.
Serbian and Russian Foreign Ministers Vuk Jeremić and Sergei Lavrov discussed bilateral and international cooperation in Moscow today.
The two ministries are preparing a declaration on strategic partnership between Russia and Serbia.
A Moscow court has delayed its verdict on the politically charged case of a former oil tycoon, Deutsche Welle reports. Mikhail Khodorkovsky is standing trial on charges of embezzling oil worth billions of dollars.
FM Vuk Jeremić will travel to Moscow this week to discuss bilateral and cooperation in the international arena, including the issue of Kosovo. These issues be in focus of the talks as he meets with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, an official of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated ahead of Jeremić’s visit.
Deputy Russian FM Vladimir Titov will chair a meeting of Russian ambassadors appointed to Southeast European countries in Belgrade today. The gathering will also be attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić, Tanjug learned at the Russian diplomatic mission in Belgrade.
WikiLeaks cables show all the cynicism of U.S. foreign policy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has stated.
“We are not paranoid and we do not link, let’s say, Russian-American relations to any leaks,†he said.
One of Russia’s most respected journalists, Leonid Parfyonov, has launched a stinging attack on the state of television news in his country.
He said that Russian TV correspondents were no longer journalists, but bureaucrats serving the state.
KARACHI – A Russian cargo plane crashed in KarachiÂ’s Dalmia Naval Colony in the wee hours of Sunday, killing at least 11 people including all eight crewmembers on board and three on the ground.
The Sudan-bound four-engine plane took off from Quaid-i-Azam International Airport at 1.55 am and crashed after five minutes of its flight. Eyewitnesses said they saw planeÂ’s right engine was on fire before it plunged towards the ground and crashed causing a huge explosion.
Several residential buildings caught fire after the explosion. Rescue and relief teams rushed to the crash site. So far rescue workers recovered four bodies from the wreckage of the plane.
It is learnt that these cargo planes were normally used by NATO forces for shifting of cargo to Afghanistan. It was not immediately known what kind of cargo this plane was carrying from Karachi to Khartoum.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman Pervez George said first reports indicated it was a Russian cargo plane with eight crewmembers and it came UAE. He further said that normally such planes carry three or four people as crew. All the crewmembers were foreigners, he added.
The cause of the crash was not yet established by the CAA authorities. When contacted, airport authorities told this correspondent that it was too early to draw any conclusion. Replying to a question, they said apparently it was a technical fault that caused the crash. He, however, did not respond when asked if there could be a possibility of terrorist activity.
Dalmia is a thickly populated area near Gulistan-i-Johar.
Hundreds of people have gathered at the spot arrived on the spot while the crash site is on fire and thick smoke emitting from the scene, eyewitnesses said.
The local authorities declared emergency in all the Karachi hospital putting the staff on high alert. Meanwhile, a number of injured people were shifted to these hospitals. Condition of some of the injured was stated to be serious. A large number of ambulances were seen at the crash site ferrying injured to the hospitals.
It may be recalled that a small plane carrying 22 people crashed near Karachi Airport on November 5 last. The two pilots and all 20 passengers were killed.
On July 28, an Airblue plane crashed outside Islamabad, killing 152 people. It was the worst crash on Pakistani soil.
Runaway drug lord Darko Šarić was in charge of logistics and organization in drug trafficking operations behind which was the Russian mafia.
“That’s why the Italian mafia tolerated their actions in their country’s territory,†International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association (INEOA) Board of Directors member Marko Nicović told Montenegrin daily Vijesti.
