MOSCOW: Russia and Libya are negotiating a deal under which Moscow would build nuclear research reactors for the North African state and supply fuel, officials said on Saturday. Russia earns billions of dollars each year by exporting its civilian nuclear expertise, but it has faced criticism from Western governments who say the nuclear technology could fall into the wrong hands. Officials said a document on civilian nuclear cooperation was under discussion at talks on Saturday between Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, on his first visit to Russia for 23 years, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Under the deal, Russia would help Libya design, develop and operate civilian nuclear research reactors and provide fuel for them, said a Reuters reporter who saw a draft of the document. A spokesman for Putin said the deal was under discussion. "The agreement has not yet been signed. Negotiations are under way," Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russia is in a three-way race with Europe and the United States to secure lucrative contracts with Libya after it emerged from international isolation by giving up its weapons of mass destruction programme. Putin said last month Russia was ready to consider building nuclear power plants for Venezuela, which under President Hugo Chavez has been a fierce adversary of the United States. Russia is also building a nuclear power station for Iran, suspected by the United States and others of seeking to build an atomic bomb under cover of its nuclear power programme. Tehran denies it has any such intention.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
Comments