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Two Russian Tu-95MS Bear strategic bombers...

Spokesman Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said the bombers spent about 12 hours in the air on Thursday and were accompanied by JAF aircraft, including the F-15 Eagle tactical fighter, F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighter, and F-4 Phantom interceptor/fighter.

He did not say exactly how many JAF planes performed the shadow mission.

Russian strategic bombers resumed patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans in August 2007, following an order from then-President Vladimir Putin.

All flights by Russian aircraft are performed in strict compliance with international law on the use of airspace over neutral waters, without intruding in the airspace of other states, the ministry said.

MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti)

Military preparation training should be...

Military preparation training should be reintroduced in all Russian schools to increase patriotism in youth, the country"s chief military prosecutor said in an interview with a Russian government daily to be published on Thursday.

MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s Central Bank has cut its investment in bonds with U.S. mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from $65.6 billion to $20.9 billion as of November 1, the bank"s chairman said on Wednesday."The amount of Bank of Russia investments has decreased as the securities have been repaid," Sergei Ignatyev said, speaking in Russia"s lower house of parliament. The banker said the U.S. Treasury move that saw both mortgage agencies come under U.S. government conservatorship in September 2008 guaranteed that they would honor their financial commitments. The Central Bank was not currently selling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds, nor had it signed any new deals with either of the two mortgage financiers, Ignatyev said. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin earlier said bonds held by the Central Bank in the two U.S. mortgage giants yielded over $1 billion in the first half of 2008. The U.S. government-sponsored firms, which together own or guarantee $5 trillion in U.S. mortgage debt or almost 40% of the market, were taken over by a federal regulator early in September to prevent their possible collapse amid the growing credit crunch. Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. residential mortgage financier, asked the U.S. Treasury last Friday to provide $13.8 billion after posting third-quarter losses of $25.3 billion.

U.S. President Barack Obama has finally...

U.S. President Barack Obama has finally brought America closer to European universal healthcare systems. It took him almost a year to persuade Congress to approve his healthcare reform. The House approved it by a majority of only seven votes (219 to 212) on March 21. The amended bill will be submitted to the Senate but this will be a sheer formality, since the Senate is dominated by Democrats and the endorsement procedure has already been agreed upon.

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