Kremlin Spells Out Gas Link to WTO
By Stephen Boykewich 18 May 2006
A Kremlin spokesman for the first time explicitly links approval for Russia's bid to U.S. firms' participation in the Shtokman field.
Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters
A burned steering wheel lying at the site of a powerful car bomb explosion in the Ingush city of Nazran on Wednesday. Seven people were killed in the blast, including Ingushetia's deputy interior minister.
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Iranian Crisis a 'Win-Win Situation'
By Stephen Boykewich 18 May 2006
If ever there were a sign of a diplomatic breakdown, this seemed to be it: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejecting a European proposal before it had even been made.
NATO, Soviets Square Off on Ice
By Carl Schreck 18 May 2006
Bobby Fischer battling Boris Spassky, the United States' 1980 upset of the Soviet hockey team, the Soviets' 1972 defeat of the U.S. basketball squad -- during the Cold War, chessboards, ice rinks and arenas were proxy battlefields for the superpowers.
Duma Gives Nod to Bill Barring Party Jumping
By Francesca Mereu 18 May 2006
The State Duma tentatively approved a United Russia-sponsored bill Wednesday that would bar deputies from switching parties and parties from including candidates with other political affiliations on their voting lists.
More Minors Breaking the Law, Top Cop Says
By Francesca Mereu 18 May 2006
More minors are breaking the law, and their crimes are growing crueler, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told Duma deputies on Wednesday.
Judge Lambastes Beslan Defendant
The Associated Press
18 May 2006
The judge reading the verdict against the sole surviving alleged militant in the Beslan school hostage seizure said Wednesday that the defendant was one of the cruelest of the attackers.
Firms Are Swimming Naked, KPMG Says
By Anna Smolchenko 18 May 2006
The consultancy says many Russian firms pay little attention to contingency planning.
Scientists Seek Center to Develop HIV Drug
Combined Reports
18 May 2006
Scientists on Wednesday urged the government to set up an international center for developing a vaccine against HIV.
Foreign Banks Tipped to Acquire More Assets
By William Mauldin 18 May 2006
Executives at Raiffesen International, one of the leading foreign banks in Russia, predicted Wednesday that Western financial institutions would snap up Russian banks in the next year or so to take advantage of the rapid growth in consumer banking here.
Arms Trader Eyes St. Pete Shipyards
Combined Reports
18 May 2006
The owner of the country's two largest military shipyards has said the government wants to acquire both firms, and local media said on Wednesday that state arms trader Rosoboronexport was in talks to buy them.
Picking the Best Man to Lead
By Robert Bruce Ware
18 May 2006
Russian democracy has come under sharp scrutiny in the run-up to the Group of Eight summit, hosted this summer in St. Petersburg by President Vladimir Putin.
Good Food and Travel -- All in a Day's Work
By Alastair Gee 18 May 2006
At the age of 15, Thomas Koessler was desperate to become a dental technician. He loved sculpting, and all he wanted to do was spend his days perfecting people's teeth.
Parade Politics of Fear
By Masha Gessen
18 May 2006
Let's get some things straight. Why would anybody want to go out into the street and tell people about her sexual orientation? Or let's start earlier. What is the point of telling others about your sexual orientation?
Do Not Drink the Water
By Boris Kagarlitsky
18 May 2006
We are no longer going to drink Borjomi mineral water. And Georgian and Moldovan wines are out too. We're going to drink vodka with patriotically named beer chasers.
For Refugees, There Is No Place Like Andijan
By Ethan Wilensky-Lanford
18 May 2006
One year ago last week, hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed by Uzbek authorities in the eastern city of Andijan, eyewitnesses say.
Soviet Renaissance
By Brian Droitcour
12 May 2006
A major exhibition in St. Petersburg looks back at both official and unofficial art from the post-Stalin era.
Longing for America
By Aaron Hamburger
12 May 2006
Son of Russia's 1,238th-richest man, the unlikely hero of Gary Shteyngart's irreverent second novel has everything one could want - except that all he wants is to immigrate to New York.
Kinky Love Triangle
By Tom Birchenough
12 May 2006
In Ivan Dykhovichny's moody art-house drama "Inhale-Exhale," a couple breaks up after the woman leaves her man for a lesbian lover at the dacha.
Cheburashka's New Adventures
By Alexander Bratersky
12 May 2006
After stealing hearts at the Turin Winter Olympics, the famed Soviet cartoon charater is about to become a movie star in Japan.
French Visit
By Alastair Gee
12 May 2006
Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris go on display at the New Tretyakov Gallery.
Wanted
By Kevin O'Flynn
12 May 2006
The slot machines are the basic kind, more slot than machine. One is the classic kind you'd find in a cheap arcade at the end of a Moscow metro line.
Global Eye
By Chris Floyd
12 May 2006
The Iraq war represents nothing but a crude, brutal and no doubt temporary marriage of convenience between old-fashioned religious extremism and old-fashioned elitist greed.
