The Peoples" Friendship University in Russia...

The Peoples" Friendship University in Russia marks its 50th anniversary on Friday.

MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - Saudi...

MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - Saudi Arabia wants to build a mosque and an Islamic culture center in Moscow, the Ambassador to Russia Ali Hasan Jafar told Russia"s top Muslim official on Thursday. Ravil Gainutdin, who heads the Russian Mufti Council, told the Saudi envoy that he believed such a project would strengthen ties between the countries. However, he told RIA Novosti that the location and construction date have yet to be agreed. "We would not want to hurry events, as the Saudi side has only declared its intention. The construction of any building, especially a religious one, is a controversial issue, which sometimes can be debated for years," Gainutdin said, adding that the Russian Muslim community is already discussing the issue.

MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s auto makers have competed their transition to the Euro 3 emission standard in vehicle production, the chief executive of the Association of Russian Auto Makers said on Wednesday. From January 1, 2008, Russia introduced Euro 3 exhaust emission standards, prohibiting production or imports of vehicles that fail to meet the requirements. Euro 3 standards were introduced in the European Union in 2000. "The transition was difficult for the auto industry but everything necessary has been done, and from January 1 we switched completely to the production of vehicles in accordance with the Euro 3 standard," Igor Korovkin said. The executive said the adoption of the Euro 3 standard raised prices by an average of 200 euros (about $300) for cars and 1,000 euros ($1,490) for trucks. Korovkin said Russian auto producers were now preparing for transition to the cleaner Euro 4 emission standards, adopted by EU states in 2005.