Moscow - Russia's state railway RZD announced Friday that it has sent one-fifth of its workforce, 250,000 workers, on unpaid leave due the ongoing worldwide economic crisis. Quoted by the Interfax news agency, the 100-per-cent state-owned company reported a loss of nearly 50 billion roubles (1.5 billion dollars), its first major loss in years.
A year's end the Russian railway reported a debt burden of 7.2 billion euros.
Moscow- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin requested greater investment by Russian firms in Iraq. According to the Interfax news agency, Putin agreed to help in the building of a "strong and independent Iraq."
In the first visit by an Iraqi prime minister to Moscow since the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, al-Maliki is also expected to visit Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Tbilisi/Moscow - Georgian President Miheil Saakashvili on Friday refused to quit, despite around 100,000 protestors nationwide demanding he leave his job. "The government is ready for a dialogue with all political powers, moderate or radical," Saakashvili said in a national television address.
Moscow, April 9 : A team at archaeologists, working at Egypt's Fayoum Oasis, have uncovered a number of mummies wearing golden masks, as well as other artifacts of historical value.
According to Russian News Agency RIA Novosti, a group of Russian archaeologists working in the Fayoum province, some 80km southwest of Cairo, since 2003, have made the findings.
The team has been carrying out excavations at the Deir Al-Banat necropolis for the past two years.
Moscow, Apr. 7 : As Russia''s Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, earns 11 per cent more than President Dmitry Medvedev, says a Kremlin declaration.
In 2008 Putin earned 4.6 million rouble (94,000 pounds), 11 per cent more than the 4.14 million roubles declared by Medvedev, statement''s posted on their respective web sites showed.
Both men earn over 18 times Russia''s average wage of 230,000 roubles per year, reports The Telegraph.
Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin outlined a list of 2009 budget priorities to the Duma, the lower house of parliament Monday, including plans for the completion of an oil pipeline to China this spring.
The pipeline, made possible in the midst of a financial crisis thanks to a 25-billion-dollar loan from China, is supposed to deliver 15 million tons of oil a year, for a total of 300 million tons from 2010 through 2030.
Moscow - Russia's state railway RZD announced Friday that it has sent one-fifth of its workforce, 250,000 workers, on unpaid leave due the ongoing worldwide economic crisis. Quoted by the Interfax news agency, the 100-per-cent state-owned company reported a loss of nearly 50 billion roubles (1.5 billion dollars), its first major loss in years.
Moscow- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin requested greater investment by Russian firms in Iraq. According to the Interfax news agency, Putin agreed to help in the building of a "strong and independent Iraq."
Tbilisi/Moscow - Georgian President Miheil Saakashvili on Friday refused to quit, despite around 100,000 protestors nationwide demanding he leave his job. "The government is ready for a dialogue with all political powers, moderate or radical," Saakashvili said in a national television address.
Moscow, April 9 : A team at archaeologists, working at Egypt's Fayoum Oasis, have uncovered a number of mummies wearing golden masks, as well as other artifacts of historical value.
Moscow, Apr. 7 : As Russia''s Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, earns 11 per cent more than President Dmitry Medvedev, says a Kremlin declaration.
Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin outlined a list of 2009 budget priorities to the Duma, the lower house of parliament Monday, including plans for the completion of an oil pipeline to China this spring.
