A Russian Proton-M rocket was launched into space Monday with three new satellites for Moscow's GLONASS navigation system, aimed at competing with US and European systems.

According to preliminary data, the profit of Russian companies climbed 14.2 percent in 2009 to RUB 4.3 trillion (approx. USD 143.57bn), from just RUB 3.76 trillion (approx. USD 125.96bn) in 2008, the Federal State Statistics Service reported.

According to preliminary data, the number of unemployed climbed 5.2 percent to 6.8 million people (or 9.2 percent of the economically active population) in January 2010 compared to the same month of 2009.

A criminal case against Russian blogger Dmitry Solovyov, who accused of inciting hatred in his blog entries, has been closed due to a lack of evidence, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

A working meeting on cooperation issues of PRIOR PRIOR NW and PRIOR NR in the sphere of culture informatization was held on 4 February, 2004 in St. Petersburg.