TEHRAN: Iran plans to open bank accounts for 36 million people, about half its population, to give them cash in compensation for higher food and energy prices when subsidies are phased out, media reported on Sunday. Parliament last month backed government proposals to end subsidies on basic goods ranging from gasoline to wheat and rice, a key plank of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s plans to reform the major oil producer’s economy. Subsidies have put a heavy burden on the budget but critics say removing them, even over a planned five-year period, will hurt the poor by pushing up inflation, now about 10 percent.
Russian plane crash claims 11
MOSCOW: A Russian heavy-lift military cargo plane crashed on takeoff on Sunday in Siberia, killing all 11 crew members on board, officials said. The crash was the second in less than a month to involve an Il-76, the mainstay of the Soviet and Russian air force since the 1970s. These and a string of other accidents have raised concerns about the condition of Russia’s aging fleet of Soviet-built aircraft. The cause of Sunday’s crash was not yet known. The four-engine plane had just taken off from Mirny in the Sakha Republic when it tilted to the right and was unable to gain altitude, said Vasily Panchenkov, a spokesman for the Interior Troops, which were flying the aircraft.
‘Corruption costs Spain billions’
MADRID: A Spanish newspaper said on Sunday it had calculated that money laundering, bribery, tax fraud and other sharp practices by politicians had cost the country 4.2 billion euros ($6.23 billion) in the last 10 years. El Mundo said it had calculated the figure based on court records and investigations of just 28 of the biggest such cases.
Sudanese vote
KHARTOUM: Enthusiastic Sudanese began on Sunday to register for their country’s first presidential, legislative and regional elections in 24 years, with the authorities facing a tough logistical challenge.Due to be held in April, the ballot comes at a crucial time for Sudan. The president faces an international arrest warrant for alleged crimes in the troubled western region of Darfur and tensions remain between the Khartoum government and the semi-autonomous, mostly Christian south, despite a peace deal struck in 2005 to end a 22-year civil war.
Russian missile
MOSCOW: Russia on Sunday successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine in the Barents Sea, Russian agencies said, citing the defence ministry. The missile was fired from the submarine, Bryansk, and the warheads reached their target at the correct time, agencies reported without giving any further details on the type of missile or its range.
Ship crew rescued
BEIJING: A rescue operation on Sunday airlifted 37 crew members from an Iranian-registered cargo ship that ran aground in heavy weather at the mouth of China’s Yangtze river, state media said.