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Belarus and Russia have no immediate plans to adopt a joint currency, Belarus' strongman leader announced on Monday TALLINN, Estonia -- Belarus and Russia have no plans to adopt a joint currency in the near future, Belarus’ strongman leader announced on Monday. Speaking at a meeting with the head of Russia’s central bank, Alexander Lukashenko said that introducing the Russian ruble in Belarus would not be “an easy process,” and that the authorities in Minsk had no intentions so far of doing so. “When it comes to creating a single currency and so on, this is not an easy process and, probably, not (one) for today,” Lukashenko said on Monday during talks with bank governor Elvira Nabiullina. Lukashenko has for decades relied on subsidies from Moscow to keep Belarus’ Soviet-style economy afloat. The two countries signed agreements on the creation of a defense, monetary and customs union as early as in the mid-1990s, though differences have persisted between Moscow and Minsk regard...

Iraq’s prime minister announced plans for a $17 billion regional transportation project intended to facilitate the flow of goods from Asia to Europe IRBIL, Iraq -- Iraq’s prime minister on Saturday announced plans for a $17 billion regional transport ation project intended to facilitate the flow of goods from Asia to Europe. The announcement was made at a one-day conference in Baghdad that convened transport ministers and representatives from Iraq, the Gulf countries, Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Jordan. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the planned Development Road project would facilitate the movement of goods from the Gulf to Europe by way of the Grand Faw Port in Basra, in southern Iraq, which would be connected to Turkey, then to Europe, through a network of railways and highways. A centerpiece of the project will be the development of the Grand Faw Port and a “smart industrial city” adjacent to it, al-Sudani said. The planned project, which would involve the con...