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Russia's chief sanitary inspector Gennady Onishchenko has forbidden groups of Russian children from traveling to Britain because of the flu outbreak. It was not clear though, how he was going to implement this ban.

"England is the worst affected country in Europe in terms of the flu," Onishchenko told Vesti television on Monday.

According to those present at an AvtoVAZ suppliers' meeting today, Russia's largest carmaker may lay off almost a quarter of its employees, Vzglyad newspaper reports. That information was attributed to AvtoVAZ executive vice president Igor Komarov. Samara Region Governor Vladimir Artyakov was also present at that meeting.

Of 110,000 employees, 27,691 are to be affected. The Unity labor union, which represents the auto workers, stated that it will not strike in response to the move, but it will increase the demands it will present at a rally already scheduled for August 6.

The Iranian parliament has asked the government to avoid purchasing timeworn Russian-made passenger planes, after two air crash incidents shocked the country in recent days, an official at the transportation ministry Tuesday told a state news agency.

"The MPs reiterated in the meeting that the government can import new models of Russian-made planes only if these planes enjoy high quality and security standards," Deputy Transportation Minister Ahmad Majidi told FNA News referring to the Monday parliamentary meeting.

The British Council will return to Russia, after a lengthy, politically-motivated closure, NEWSru.com writes. "As a goodwill gesture, the Russian side is allowing the activity of the British Council in Moscow, it's open now," Russian Ambassador to Great Britain Yury Fedotov stated.

"We hold that there is not a sufficient legal basis for the activity of the British Council and an agreement on cultural centers should be signed, and there isn't one yet," Fedotov nonetheless added, echoing the language used to justify the closure of the Council's offices at the beginning of last year. That move came as Russian-British relations were at a post-Cold War low, after the poisoning death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London and Russia's refusal to extradite murder suspect Andrey Lugovoi to Great Britain.

Diego Maradona would prefer not to take his Argentina team to Russia for a friendly next month when he has a critical World Cup qualifier against Brazil on his mind.

Argentina is due to meet Russia in Moscow on August 12 but Maradona said in an interview published Monday that he does not see it as a useful warm-up for the home qualifier against Brazil on September 5.

"I don't like having to play with Russia. We must prepare the team for Brazil but in the middle we've got this match that is of no use," Maradona told the sports daily Ole.

Russian police have arrested a German businessman, who cut up his Russian mistress Elena with a kitchen knife and threw her out of the window from their rented Moscow apartment, Russian website Life.ru reports. Nilolaus Dortenbach was arrested at Domodedovo airport, while he was trying to run away to Germany.

The bloody drama was played out on Monday at about 11.00 Moscow time on Timiryazevskaya Street.

"At about 11.00 I noticed a blood-stained woman, lying on the ground in front of the building," an unnamed eyewitness told the police. "I called the emergency services and rushed to help her at once. She was still alive. I asked her, 'Who did that?' She could barely answer me that it was her husband Nikolaus. Not long after I saw a well-dressed men of about forty leaving the building, and in my opinion he was very nervous."

TNK-BP International, Russia's third-largest oil producer, announced Tuesday that net profit had more than halved to $2.01 billion in the first half of 2009, from $4.7 billion a year ago, due to cheaper oil prices.

The company said January-June 2009 revenues fell to $14.49 billion from $28.30 billion a year earlier. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were $3.84 billion, compared with $7.59 billion in the same period last year.

Maria Sharapova shook off some inconsistent play to beat Ai Sugiyama, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1 in the first round of the $700,000 WTA Premier Bank of the West Classic on Monday night.

The 62nd-ranked Sharapova, working her way back from right shoulder surgery, avoided losing her first match in a tournament since October 8, 2007, in Moscow to Victoria Azarenka. She has not lost a first round match since August 11, 2003 to Elena Likhovtseva in Toronto.