Four times weekly service from Moscow-Chita-Moscow started on 27 October.
Brown coal in disused Soviet deposit burning at a temperature as high as 600C.
Angara Airlines, based in Irkutsk, has launched new flights from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk and diamond-mining Mirny in the Sakha Republic.
Irkutsk Airport seen as potential destination by major airlines at Routes Asia - 2014 forum in Malaysia.
New discovery of rare crystal Rosenbergite at 'burning ice' site where earth is hot despite temperatures of minus 35C.
An army of almost 3000 foreign workers combine with locals to get the city ready for the September APEC summit of world leaders.