* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will pay a
working visit to Japan on May 11-13 for talks with his Japanese
counterpart, Taro Aso, the Russian government announced
* Russia's Admiral Panteleyev destroyer is escorting its
first convoy of merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden, the
Russian Pacific Fleet said
* Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a
brief working visit to Russia on May 16, the Russian government
announced
* The average price of Russia's benchmark Urals blend
crude was $44.79 in January-April 2009 against $96.50 in the
same period last year, the deputy head of the Finance
Ministry's customs department, Alexander Sakovich, said
* The Georgian opposition continued its peaceful protests
against the president and said it intended to set up new wooden
jail cells with volunteers inside near Tbilisi's City Hall
* Russia's leading automaker AvtoVAZ has introduced a
five-day holiday this week and will resume work on May 12, a
spokesman for the company said
* At least 28 people died when a bus carrying pilgrims
crashed into a building in western Iran, the state TV channel
said
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