Moscow- Russian investigators said Germany had handed them documents related to the 2006 murder by polonium poisoning of Russian spy defector Alexander Litvinenko in central London, news agency RIA- Novosti reported on Thursday.

German police were involved in the investigation when Russian businessman Dmitry Kovtun, now living in Germany, was found to have met with Litvinenko on the day his poisoning with radioactive polonium-210.

Moscow  - Russia said Thursday it opposes imposing deadlines on Tehran to force compliance with international efforts to halt its nuclear programme.

"We are of the view that there should be no artificial timeline, such as extreme deadlines of 'tomorrow or never,' just as there should be no endless dragging out of the process," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying on the sidelines of regional forum in Singapore.

Moscow, July 24: Archeologists have uncovered a unique funerary monument of the first millennium AD on the territory of Opolye, Suzdal, in Russia.

The discovery of this Finno-Ugric burial ground is a real event for archeologists.

In the excavation around 300 square meters large, there have been unearthed 11 tombs that make it possible to reveal the earlier unknown facts of ancient history.

The monument, dating back to the 3rd-4th centuries, has kept Finnish jewelry and is evidence of a rich militarized society, where cattle breeding played an important role.

All entombments are located in a row. Judging by their size at least four of them are children burials.

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called Monday for an end to the problems that have seen a drastic cut in the delivery of oil to the Czech Republic.

The Czech government has criticized a sudden reduction in the flow at the beginning of the month. Prague officials have raised the possibility of a link to the signing of a deal with the United States on a missile defence system.

"I call on you to ensure that disruptions do not occur," Putin told Russian oil officials and oil suppliers, according to a report by the Interfax news agency.

Beijing - China and Russia signed a final agreement on disputed border areas on Monday, with Russia reportedly conceding 174 square kilometres, including two small islands in a border river.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, signed the agreement after talks in Beijing.

"We just signed a protocol on the eastern part of the Sina-Russian border," Yang told reporters at a joint press conference.

"It means that 4,300 kilometres of border between us has been demarcated," he said.