Russia, China to hold 2nd joint training at Peace Mission exercise

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TAONAN RANGE TRAINING CENTER (Jilin province, China), July 19
(Itar-Tass) -- Russian and Chinese troops will hold a second joint
training with live fire practice during the Peace Mission 2009 exercise,
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Troops Lieutenant General
Alexander Studenikin told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
"We will hold the live fire practice using one third of the ammunition
allowance of the standard norm," he specified.
"All Russian troops, which are participating in the maneuvers,
including the air support group," will take part in the second joint
training, deputy commander of the exercise from the Russian side Igor
Konashenkov told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
"Some 54 paratroopers from the airborne assault company of the Far
Eastern military district will be dropped from two Russian military
transport airplanes Il-76," Konashenkov said.
He recalled that during the July 18 first joint training the Russian
side was represented by a reinforced motorized battalion, an airborne
assault company and a military transport airplane Il-76, which will
perform a landing operation dropping a unit of paratroopers on the firing
range. The Russian frontline and army aviation, which is involved in the
war games, will not participate in the second training. However, the crews
of airplanes and helicopters "practiced time schedules and tasks" on the
ground at the Qiqihar airfield near the city Baicheng. "In the first joint
training China involved all the troops, including the aviation,
participating in the war games," Konashenkov said.

.Russian presidential special envoy to leave Syria for Jordan.

BEIRUT, July 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian presidential special envoy and
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov, who is currently on a Middle
East tour, will leave Damascus for Amman after a meeting with Syrian
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. The Jordanian capital will be the third
stopover in the Middle East tour of the high-ranking Russian diplomat.
King Abdullah II of Jordan is expected to receive Saltanov and to discuss
with the latter prospects for resuming the peace process, particularly to
break the deadlock of the Palestinian-Israeli talks.
On Saturday, the Russian deputy foreign minister met with chairman of
the political bureau of the Hamas Palestinian movement Khaled Mashaal in
Damascus. The interlocutors discussed topical problems in the Middle East
and the situation in the Gaza Strip, where people are suffering from a
humanitarian disaster. Russia "calls for overcoming the split and
restoring the unity in Palestine as quick as possible," Saltanov said. He
praised highly the efforts that Egypt is taking in this issue and said
Russia is ready "to contribute to the rapprochement between Fatah and
Hamas." Meanwhile, the Russian diplomat urged the Palestinian leaders take
"national interests above all, as it is the only way to ensure the
implementation of legitimate intentions and achieve the creation of an
independent country."
Saltanov informed the Hamas leadership about Russia's steps "to give a
fresh impetus to the Middle East settlement." The Russian diplomat
believes that Hamas should not "limit to well-known intentions and develop
its positions taking into account new tendencies in the regional
situation."

.ILS, Telesat ink deal for Rus booster to orbit Nimiq-5 satellite.

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Itar-Tass) -- The International Launch Services
Company (ILS), most assets of which belong the Russian Khrunichev Research
and Production Space Center, concluded a new contract to put into orbit a
telecommunication satellite by a Russian booster Proton from the Baikonur
spaceport.
ILS signed the contract with the international consortium Telesat, the
world's fourth largest fixed satellite services operator. Telesat's
satellite Telstar, which is under development by the U.S. Corporation
Space Systems/Loral in California, will be put into orbit in the middle of
2011.
ILS has already orbited five satellites belonging to the Telesat
consortium. Telesat's sixth satellite Nimiq-5 is scheduled to blast off
from the Baikonur spaceport in 2009.
ILS is headquartered in Washington's neighbourhood, Reston (Virginia),
and promotes launch vehicles Proton and booster units Briz-M on the
international market of space services. The Khrunichev space center has
designed the foresaid spacecraft.
The Lockheed Martin Company, the Khrunichev State Research and
Production Space Center and the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation have
established the ILS joint venture in 1995. In 2006 Lockheed Martin
withdrew from the joint venture with its rocket Atlas, selling its
controlling stake to German businessman Mario Lemme, who founded the Space
Transport Company to hold his interests in ILS. The Khrunichev space
center has purchased this stake from the Space Transport Company in May
2008. ILS has launched 51 boosters Proton since 1996.
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