MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. The Roscosmos state corporation is studying the possibility of organizing tourist missions via Yuri Gagarin’s route and is conducting negotiations with potential partners, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with RBC.

Space tourism should not necessarily be connected with the International Space Station (ISS), he said. "Let’s say, orbital flights on Yuri Gagarin’s route is a good issue for tourists. We already started negotiations with potential partners, who are interested in this option," Rogozin reported.

10 Jan 2019; AFP: Almost 640 flights were cancelled in Germany Thursday as security staff went on strike at three airports, meaning disruption for around 100,000 passengers.

The number of flights blocked was more than half the 1,050 planned for Duesseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart.

Duesseldorf -- the country's third-largest airport -- said in a statement that 370 of Thursday's 580 planned departures had to be cancelled.

MOSCOW, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday slammed the recent statements of Japan on the peace treaty with Russia as an attempt to stir up tensions around four disputed Pacific islands.

The ministry said it had summoned Japanese Ambassador Toyohisa Kozuki and told him it had drew attention to Tokyo's recent remarks, in particular, those about the need to prepare the inhabitants for the transfer of the islands to Japan and about dropping a demand for compensation from Russia.

10 Jan 2019; AFP: Sri Lanka's prime minister said Thursday the country was struggling to pay back its ballooning foreign debt, blaming a recent political crisis for dealing a "death blow" to the economy.

Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government was scrambling to raise $1.9 billion to help service a first debt payment of $2.6 billion, that is due on Monday.

Sri Lanka faces $5.9 billion in foreign debt repayments in 2019, a record for the cash-strapped island.

10 Jan 2019; DW: Felix Tshisekedi has won Congo's presidential election, the election commission has announced. Tensions were high ahead of the delayed results from the long-anticipated vote to replace President Joseph Kabila.

10 Jan 2019; AFP: Delhi plans to create a special home for both elderly people and some of the Indian megacity's thousands of cows, in a new animal welfare blitz also aimed at reducing numbers of monkeys and stray dogs.

The local development minister Gopal Rai said as he unveiled the programme on Wednesday that "cows and senior citizens will co-exist, taking care of each other" in the planned pilot facility in southwest Delhi.

KIEV, January 9. /TASS/. Kiev will not allow Russian citizens to monitor the presidential election in March 2019, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin said on Wednesday.

Rahul: “PM got a woman (Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman) to defend him on Rafale.” (sort of saying that PM is hiding behind saree)

New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) The CPI and the AAP staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha Wednesday when the voting on the bill to give 10 per cent reservation to the general category poor was taken up in the House.

CPI leader D Raja said the party walked out in protest when the voting process started.

As soon as the bill was introduced in the House, DMK member Kanomozhi demanded sending the bill to a select committee for further scrutiny. Her demand was supported by members of several parties, including Raja.

Srinagar, Jan 9 (PTI) IAS officer Shah Faesal, who has been in the limelight since becoming the first Kashmiri to top the exam in 2009, resigned Wednesday, protesting the "unabated" killings in Kashmir and the marginalisation of Indian Muslims.

New Delhi, Jan 9 : CBI Director Alok Verma joined office Wednesday, 77 days after he was sent on forced leave by the central government through a much-criticised late-night order on October 23, 2018, which was set aside by the Supreme Court.

The October order sent Verma and his deputy Special Director Rakesh Asthana, booked by the agency on corruption charges, into exile in a first-of-its-kind move by the government in the agency's history.

Beed (Maha), Jan 9 (PTI) Quoting a book, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the Centre's crop insurance scheme was "as big a scam" as the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's frequent foreign tours, he said mere speeches and announcements will not help the public, and demanded that the BJP-led government solve farmers' problems before looking at alliance talks for the forthcoming elections.