The Russian Navy is continuing discussions on whether to purchase a French warship, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
The chief of the General Staff said on Tuesday that Russia would decide by the end of 2009 whether to purchase a Mistral class amphibious assault ship from France.
"Specialists at different levels are currently studying the Mistral's specifications, as well as infrastructural and basing requirements for this class of warship," a ministry official told RIA Novosti.
He said training operation, service and maintenance personnel following the ship's integration into the Russian Navy would demand extra attention.
He also said that a final decision should be based on "a thorough assessment of the effectiveness of [French] technology in the framework of domestic shipbuilding program."
Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said in late November that Russia could build its own helicopter carrier on a par with the French Mistral-class warship, and that the Defense Ministry could contract the United Shipbuilding Corporation to build it.
The Russian military earlier announced that it was considering buying one of the Mistral-class ships, worth 400-500 million euros (around $600-$750 mln), and potentially building three or four vessels of the same class in partnership with the French naval shipbuilder DCNS.
A Mistral-class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 vehicles including 13 battle tanks, and 450 soldiers. The vessel is equipped with a 69-bed hospital and can be used as an amphibious command ship.
Many Russian military and industry experts have questioned the financial and military sense of the purchase.
Russia's current arms procurement program through 2015 does not provide for construction or purchases of large warships, so the acquisition of a French warship is more likely under a new program, through 2020, which has yet to be developed.
MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091209/157173276.html
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will attend the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen on December 17-18, the Kremlin press office said on Thursday.
The conference, which puts together about 15,000 participants from 192 countries, including the heads of state and governments, opened on December 8 and will run until December 18.
The UN climate change conference in the Danish capital was expected to result in a new international document intended to replace the Kyoto Protocol, some elements of which expire in 2012.
Although the conference had just started, there were already signs of disagreements between the negotiating parties, Oleg Shamanov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department of global environmental problems, said on Tuesday.
"Disagreements in the positions of developing and developed countries are especially obvious," Shamanov said.
He said that "developing countries vigorously refuse to undertake any binding obligations," adding that they were demanding developed states undertake additional obligations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases after 2012, while refusing to cut their own emissions.
Shamanov said Russia seeks to reach a "common, universal, international binding agreement," which would include all climate-related issues and involve all countries. The world's main carbon gases emitters, be they developed such as the U.S., or developing such as India, China and Brazil, should be involved in the agreement, he said.
Some experts believe the summit is more likely to just outline principles and directions for a post-Kyoto framework.
MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091210/157185279.html
A RIA Novosti deputy editor-in-chief urged on Thursday traditional media outlets to pursue aggressive policies on new content platforms.
Maxim Filimonov addressed the second, final day of the Fourth European and Asian media forumunderway in Moscow. He said the audience was currently getting increasingly independent of such traditional outlets as newspapers, news agencies and radio stations amid what he described as a media revolution.
"We are seeing a new step towards making information more accessible through... the development of the Internet and cellular communications," Filimonov said.
Filimonov said journalists were currently losing their monopoly as the only mediators between the government and society as a variety of new formats were evolving. He also pointed to the degradation of journalistic skills as the media market was being diluted with large numbers of incompetent information suppliers.
"It is impossible to face the competition from new media outlets other than by improving the quality of one's own products, which is possible through thoroughly studying the audience's needs," Filimonov said.
MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091210/157186050.html
The latest test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the White Sea in northern Russia ended in failure, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
Wednesday's test was Bulava's seventh failure, according to official reports. Russia hopes the submarine-launched missile will be a key element of its nuclear forces.
"The first two stages functioned smoothly, but the flight faltered at the third stage. There was a technical failure in the third stage engines rendering them unstable," the ministry said in a statement.
The statement came after media reports on a mysterious light in the form of a spiral over Norway's northern areas several hundred kilometers from the launch site on Wednesday. Norwegian media suggested it could be a Russian missile spinning after a faulty launch.
Only five out of 12 Bulava launches have been reported successful. The previous failure occurred in July, when the missile self-destructed after its first stage malfunctioned. The latest launch had since been delayed several times.
But some analysts suggest that in reality the number of failures has been considerably greater. According to Russian military expert Pavel Felgenhauer, of the Bulava's 11 test launches, only one was entirely successful.
The future development of the Bulava has been questioned by some lawmakers and defense industry experts, who have suggested that all efforts should be focused on the existing Sineva SLBM.
But the military has insisted there is no alternative to the Bulava and pledged to continue testing the missile until it is ready to be put in service with the Navy.
The Bulava (SS-NX-30) SLBM carries up to 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles). The three-stage solid-propellant ballistic missile is designed for deployment on Borey class nuclear-powered submarines.
The Bulava, along with Topol-M land-based ballistic missiles, is expected to become the core of Russia's nuclear triad.
MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti)
Europe will have enough gas this winter provided Ukraine observes the agreements it has signed, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.
"If our Ukrainian partners show a sense of responsibility, everything will be alright. Europe will have enough gas, as well as other energy supplies," he told a European and Asian media forum hosted by RIA Novosti.
Medvedev said he was categorically against any review of gas agreements with Ukraine.
"I regard the proposal to review these agreements as absolutely irresponsible," he said.
Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz agreed in November to reduce Russian gas deliveries by 35% in 2010, from the previously contracted 52 billion cubic meters to 33.75 bcm.
The Russian gas monopoly said on Monday Ukraine's reduced demand for gas will cost it $1.3 billion in 2009.
Instead of 40 bcm of gas contracted for 2009, Ukraine will buy less than 25 bcm. But Russia has said it will not fine Kiev for falling short of contracted volumes due to the ex-Soviet state's difficult economic situation.
Russia, which supplies around one quarter of Europe's gas, briefly shut down supplies via Ukraine's pipeline system at the start of the year amid a dispute unpaid bills and new prices.
The conflict was resolved in January, when Putin and Tymoshenko reached a deal on imports and transit for 2009.
Ukraine transits around 80% of Russia's Europe-bound gas.
MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti)
Police and other security forces have prevented 81 terrorist attacks in Russia's volatile North Caucasus this year, the head of the Federal Security Service said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a session of the National Antiterrorism Committee, FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov said 42 antiterrorist operations and a series of reconnaissance and search operations had been carried out in the region so far in 2009.
"As a result, 81 terrorist crimes were prevented, 782 members of illegal armed groups were detained, more than 1,600 small arms, 490 self-made bombs and over 5.5 tons of explosives were discovered and confiscated," Bortnikov said.
Russia's mainly Muslim and ethnically diverse North Caucasus republics have been swept by an upsurge of violence recently.
Moscow announced an end to its decade-long antiterrorism campaign against separatists in Chechnya in April, but has since had to step up the fight against militants as skirmishes and attacks on police and other officials have continued.
Violence has also swept neighboring regions, where hundreds of people have been killed in militant attacks and skirmishes between security forces and gunmen.
Ingushetia's president was severely wounded and rushed to Moscow for treatment after a suicide bomber attacked his motorcade in June. Also in June, the interior minister was shot dead in Dagestan.
In the most recent incident, Islamists claimed responsibility for the November 26 explosion that derailed a speed train en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing 26 people and injuring more than 90.
Bortnikov pledged to continue the fight against terrorists echoing the prime minister's statement earlier this month.
Vladimir Putin vowed a "ruthless fight" against militants in the North Caucasus, but said a new war is not expected in the region. Putin also acknowledged a need to tackle unemployment, organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption as causes of the ongoing violence in the region.
MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti)
Moscow will be the host of the fourth European and Asian media forum on December 9-10, bringing together more than 150 of the world's top media managers.
Journalists from the CIS and Baltics will be able to meet their Russian colleagues, representatives of government institutions, well-known politicians and public figures during plenary sessions, panel discussions, round tables and sectional work in various media spheres. This year's forum was organized by state-run Russian News & Information Agency RIA Novosti.
"There is a long-felt need for open and professional dialogue," RIA Novosti Editor-in-Chief Svetlana Mironyuk said. "In the CIS, processes develop dynamically and society has the right to demand a quicker reaction from us," she said, adding that RIA Novosti is not just an information agency but also a new medium which provides a range of channels to consume information and to broadcast news.
"We became pioneers and masters in multimedia technologies and have felt all the positive aspects of our 'reset,'" she explained. "It's time we hold open professional dialogue because we have something to share with our partners, and we have the chance to become somewhat of a super computer for the journalistic society."
MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091208/157156660.html
Iran may help Russia to restore the population of Anatolian leopards in Russia's Caucasus, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources' press service said on Tuesday.
The issue was discussed during a meeting between Russian Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Igor Maydanov and Iran's Ambassador to Russia Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi.
"The two leopards given to Russia by Turkmenistan are currently acclimatizing at Sochi National Park," Maydanov said.
The leopards were brought to the Russian Black Sea resort from the ex-Soviet republic in September.
"To restore the leopard population, at least two pairs of cats are required," the deputy minister said, adding Russia had asked Turkmenistan and Iran to provide two female leopards.
The Iranian negotiator said in his turn he was ready to discuss the issue with the country's wildlife protection authorities.
During an annual televised question-and-answer session with Russians last week, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for the conservation of endangered animals, including leopards, in the country.
Putin is taking active part in programs to study and preserve endangered animals, including the Amur tiger and the white whale.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are only 870-1300 Anatolian leopards left in the world. In Russia, the Anatolian leopard is only found in some remote areas of the Eastern Caucasus.
MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti)
Russia will decide whether to join the WTO individually or as part of a customs union after completing talks with the U.S. in 2010, Kremlin economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich said on Tuesday.
The presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia signed a package of deals on November 27 to create a customs union with common tariffs, paving the way for a single economic space.
"I believe the U.S. has the intention to complete negotiations next year," Dvorkovich said, adding that the talks with the U.S. were slow as some disagreements still persisted.
Russia has been attempting to enter the WTO for over 16 years. Russia is the only major economically sustainable country that has so far not received membership. Other countries such as Cuba and some ex-Soviet states are already members.
In June 2009, the heads of governments of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus decided to notify the World Trade Organization of their intention to join the world trade club as a customs union. The three ex-Soviet republics suspended their bilateral negotiations on the WTO entry to hold consultations on a common position on the customs union.
In October 2009, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus announced they would resume talks on WTO accession separately but on harmonized positions.
MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti)
Russia will start tests of its fifth-generation fighter in 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Tuesday.
"The trials will begin in 2010," Ivanov said. Earlier reports said test would start before the end of this year.
Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin has said the fighter, which has been under development since the 1990s, will enter service with the Air Force in 2015.
Russia's one known fifth-generation project is Sukhoi's PAK FA and the current prototype is the T-50. It is designed to compete with the U.S. F-22 Raptor (the world's only fifth-generation fighter aircraft) and F-35 Lightning II, but has yet to take to the skies.
The T-50's maiden flight has been repeatedly postponed since early 2007 for unspecified reasons.
However, in August 2009, Russian Air Force Chief Alexander Zelin said that there were problems with the engines and research was ongoing.
The PAK FA is believed to possess advanced avionics, stealth capability, a ferry range of 4,000 to 5,500 km, and endurance of 3.3 hrs; it is armed with next-generation air-to-air, air-to-surface, and air-to-ship missiles, and has two 30-mm cannons.
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, December 8 (RIA Novosti)
Climate change talks in Copenhagen are likely to end in a "roadmap" for future talks, with no legally binding agreement concluded, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said on Tuesday.
The 15th UN climate change conference, a result of two-year international talks on a binding treaty to cut the global emission of greenhouse gases, opened on Monday in Copenhagen.
"There will be no legally binding agreement," he said. "It is likely to be a political statement, a number of state-level obligations and a roadmap of the negotiation process."
During the two weeks of talks, states are to agree on three main climate change points, including urgent measures to tackle climate change, obligations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and general ways to cut harmful emissions.
Dvorkovich said that the Russian delegation at the talks would be led by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.
Alexei Kokorin, the head of WWF Russia Climate and Energy Program, earlier said on the sidelines of the Copenhagen conference that countries negotiating a new climate change deal are unlikely to strike a detailed agreement and are now primarily negotiating the status of future talks.
MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti)
Energy efficiency and energy saving are the key to reducing the human imprint on climate change, a Russian expert said on Monday.
The 15th UN climate change conference, a result of two-year international talks on a binding treaty to cut the global emission of greenhouse gases, opened earlier on Monday in Copenhagen.
Oleg Pruzhnikov, deputy director of the Tariff Regulation, Infrastructural Reform and Energy Efficiency Department at the Economic Development Ministry, said energy efficiency "is about reducing consumption of fuel per unit of output."
He said it could best be achieved by introducing new technology on the one hand, and addressing various organizational and energy-saving issues, on the other.
"Organizational measures primarily involve improvement of the operation of the housing and utilities sector," he said, adding this sector could help save 30% of energy.
Pruzhnikov said new technology was especially important in the power generation sector, in particular in increasing the efficiency of power plants.
He said another area was the production of cement and cement products.
The Copenhagen conference is expected to agree a new international document to replace the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, some elements of which expire in 2012.
The document, if signed, will see Russian natural gas exports drop by 180 billion cubic meters by 2020, said Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency. If the document is not signed, Russia is expected to export up to 240 billion cubic meters of gas in the reported period.
Global gas consumption is forecast to grow 37% by 2020 if the new treaty is signed, and by 65% if it fails.
Many world leaders have pledged on the eve of the summit to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help keeping global warming under control.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would target a 25% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020 instead of 15% cuts projected earlier. U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce a 17% emissions cut at the climate summit.
MOSCOW, December 7 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091207/157144000.html
Russian and U.S. diplomats held a second session of a bilateral working group on arms control and international security on Monday to discuss joint efforts in nuclear non-proliferation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The meeting was attended by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and U.S. Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher and focused on the forthcoming 2010 Non-Proliferation TreatyReview Conference to be held in late May 2010 in Vienna.
"In addition, issues of further reduction of strategic nuclear weapons and measures to counteract the proliferation of nuclear technologies were also discussed," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the core of Russian-U.S. nuclear disarmament, expired on Saturday. Officials in Moscow and Washington expressed the hope that the document would be signed by yearend.
The working group on arms control and international security is one of the 13 working groups of the Russian-U.S. presidential commission, established by the leaders of the two states during their July summit in Moscow.
The group's first session was held in the Russian capital in October.
MOSCOW, December 7 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091207/157145430.html
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko will visit Russia on December 10 for a session of the ruling body of the union state the two ex-Soviet neighbors are trying to build, the Kremlin said Monday.
Lukashenko will make a working visit to Russia at President Dmitry Medvedev's invitation for a session of the union state's Supreme State Council, the Kremlin said.
Russia and Belarus have sought to form a union to ensure greater political, economic and social integration since 1996, but the process has stalled recently over a series of disputes.
Lukashenko reiterated his commitment to boosting ties with Russia last week, but also pledged to improve relations with Western Europe.
Medvedev visited Belarus's capital Minsk late last month, when he and the leaders of Belarus and Kazakhstan signed a package of deals to create a customs union with common tariffs, paving the way for a single economic space.
MOSCOW, December 7 (RIA Novosti)
The test launch of Russia's new Angara carrier rocket, which had been scheduled for 2011, have been put back by one year due to lack of financing, space agency Roscosmos said on Saturday.
Engine trials were completed earlier this week. The Angara is intended mainly for launch from the Plesetsk space center to reduce Moscow's dependence on Kazakhstan's Baikonur, the main launch facility for the current generation of Russian rockets.
Agency chief Anatoly Perminov said the Defense Ministry has had to reduce financing for the project, being developed by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, resulting in delays to the construction of launch facilities.
The family of Angara rockets will complement, and eventually replace, the existing line of Rockot and Proton launch vehicles. It will be available in a range of configurations capable of lifting between from 2 to 24.5 metric tons into low-earth orbit, and its creators say it will have a low environment impact.
The rockets will be used for military and civilian purposes, specifically to put into orbit satellites as part of the Federal Space Program, as well as joint international space projects.
The Khrunichev center recently asked the government to allocate an additional 10 billion rubles (about $290 million) over the next three years to finish the development of the rocket.
MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti)
Russia's emergencies minister, Sergei Shoigu, Health Minister Tatyana Golikova, and Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, arrived on Saturday in the Urals city of Perm, where over 100 people died during the night in a nightclub blaze.
Their plane landed in Perm at 06:30 Moscow time.
The blaze occurred during an indoor firework show. The cafe burned out almost completely with fire spreading to the area of 400 square meters.
Some 130 people were injured, at least 85 of them are said to be in critical condition, suffering from severe inhalation burns and carbon monoxide poisoning. A total of 61 people are on a life support breathing machine.
MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091205/157107726.html
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko offered her condolences on Saturday to the families of over 100 people killed in a nightclub fire in the Russian Urals city of Perm.
The blaze broke out in the city's Lame Horse nightclub during an indoor firework display at around 01:00 a.m. local time, killing at least 102 people and injuring over 130 more.
"This is a terrible tragedy for all of us, as Ukraine recently experienced a similar disaster. It is sad that a tragic accident has claimed the lives of young people, full of energy, who had their whole lives ahead of them," Tymoshenko said in a message to Russian premier Vladimir Putin, posted on the Ukrainian government website.
"I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who have died, and I wish a quick recovery for those injured," she said.
The owner and manager of the club, Anatoly Zak and Svetlana Yefremova, have been arrested for breaching fire safety rules, and face jail terms of up to seven years.
Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told RIA Novosti that four other suspects are wanted in the case.
Regional security minister Igor Orlov earlier told Russian media that the club's plastic ceiling caught fire during the indoor fireworks display, held during a celebration of the venue's seventh anniversary.
The health ministry has said that the injured are being flown to Moscow, to be treated in the city's best hospitals.
Investigators have so far identified 10 of those killed in the fire.
The venue, which covers an area of 500 square meters, was almost completely destroyed by the blaze.
KIEV, December 5 (RIA Novosti)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accused the management of a nightclub in the Urals where a fire killed 103 people of gross negligence, and called for harsh punishments.
A fire broke out in the Lame Horse club in the Urals city of Perm during an indoor fireworks display soon after 01:00 a.m. local time. Over 130 people are injured.
Emergencies minister Sergei Shoigu said during a video conference with the president that the club's owners had received two previous fines for breaching fire safety regulations, and were due for an inspection on Monday.
Medvedev said: "They have no brains and no conscience. They showed complete indifference to what was going on... They must face full punishment."
The owner and manager of the club, Anatoly Zak and Svetlana Yefremova, have been arrested, and face jail terms of up to seven years. Four other suspects are wanted in the case.
Medvedev said the sentences the culprits face under current laws are far too mild.
"We must think about the laws on such events. They should be much stricter, and failure to abide by them, including breaches of fire safety regulations, should be much more severely punished," the president said.
Regional security minister Igor Orlov told Russian media that the club's plastic ceiling caught fire during the indoor fireworks display, held as part of a celebration of the venue's seventh anniversary.
The venue, which covers an area of 500 square meters, was almost completely destroyed by the blaze.
The club is known to have held several indoor fireworks displays in the past, shown in the image gallery on the Lame Horse website www.clubxl.ru.
The site still displays an advert for last night's party marking "the birthday of our favorite club", saying "guests dressed as new-born babies are admitted free until midnight."
The site offers "a bright lively disco with energy and drive with modern dance music - and at 1:00 at night the show begins." The club, with capacity of 450, says its guests are subject to "face control".
Perm Territory Governor Oleg Chirkunov has announced three days of mourning as of today.
"During the three days of mourning, Russian flags and Perm Territory flags will be flown at half mast. TV and radio stations and cultural establishments are asked to cancel all entertainment events and broadcasts during these days," the governor's press service said.
The health ministry has said that the injured are being flown to Moscow, to be treated in the city's best hospitals.
MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti)
The death toll from a horrific fire that engulfed a nightclub in Russia's Urals early on Saturday has risen to 109, local investigators said. The fire broke out at the Lame Horse club in the city of Perm during an indoor fireworks display soon after 01:00 a.m. local time. "During the fire, 102 people died. Seven more have died in hospital," an Investigation Committee spokesman told RIA Novosti. The health minister earlier said that dozens of people were being kept alive with medical ventilators. Tatyana Golikova said that most of the injured have burns covering more than 50% of their bodies. Several of them are being flown to Moscow for treatment. "Unfortunately, the burns are quite serious... There are 130 people in hospital, of whom 88 are in a serious condition. Of these, 59 have been put on medial ventilators," the minister, currently in Perm along with other cabinet ministers, told President Dmitry Medvedev in a video linkup. Emergencies minister Sergei Shoigu told the president that 34 of the bodies have been identified. He said the club's owners had received two previous fines for breaching fire safety regulations, and were due for an inspection on Monday. "The fire broke out in a place where pyrotechnics should not have been used under any circumstances," he said. The venue had a suspended ceiling, which allowed the flames to spread rapidly. "The power shut off immediately, and panic broke out," Shoigu said. Eyewitnesses said the venue had only one exit, and a stampede ensued. Russian TV channels have shown footage filmed by clubgoer with a digital camera, showing the flames spreading over a ceiling decorated with twigs, in an apparent barn theme. The owner and manager of the club, Anatoly Zak and Svetlana Yefremova, have been arrested, and face jail terms of up to seven years. Four other suspects are wanted in the case. President Medvedev accused those running the club of gross negligence, and called for harsh punishments. "They have no brains and no conscience. They showed complete indifference to what was going on... They must face full punishment," he said. The president said the sentences the culprits face under current laws are far too mild. "We must think about the laws on such events. They should be much stricter, and failure to abide by them, including breaches of fire safety regulations, should be much more severely punished." The venue, which covers an area of 500 square meters, was almost completely destroyed by the blaze. The club is known to have held several indoor fireworks displays in the past, shown in the image gallery on the Lame Horse website www.clubxl.ru. The site still displays an advert for last night's party marking "the birthday of our favorite club", saying "guests dressed as new-born babies are admitted free until midnight." The site offers "a bright lively disco with energy and drive with modern dance music - and at 1:00 at night the show begins." The club, with capacity of 450, says its guests are subject to "face control". Perm Territory Governor Oleg Chirkunov has announced three days of mourning as of today. "During the three days of mourning, Russian flags and Perm Territory flags will be flown at half mast. TV and radio stations and cultural establishments are asked to cancel all entertainment events and broadcasts during these days," the governor's press service said. MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091205/157111489.html
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia still faced a threat from internal terrorism.
"We have done a lot to break the backbone of terrorism, but the threat has not yet been eliminated," the prime minister said during his annual question and answer session.
On the recent attack on a Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed train, which claimed 26 lives, Putin said that it was necessary "to act in a tough way" against the terrorists responsible.
The blast has raised fears of a resurge of terrorist attacks in the Russian capital and other major cities. Russia was hit hard by terrorism in the 1990s and the early years of this decade, but violence has largely been confined to the volatile North Caucasus region since 2004.
MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
A temperature of 8.2 degrees Celsius (46.76 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in Moscow on Thursday, the highest ever for December 3, a spokesman for the Moscow meteorological bureau said.
"As of 9.00 a.m. [06:00 GMT], the temperature in Moscow was 8.2 degrees above zero, which is 1.6 degrees higher than the previous 6.6-degree temperature record set on December 3, 2008," Alexei Lyahov said.
He said the temperature in the Russian capital was expected to rise.
The unusually warm weather has seen mushrooms growing in forests near Moscow.
MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
Russian police have released identikit images of three men and one woman thought to have been involved in last Friday's deadly attack on a high-speed Moscow-St. Petersburg train.
The attack on the Nevsky Express took the lives of 26 people and left over 90 injured.
"These are images of four people who were in a hideout near the crash site," north-west Russia's acting police chief, Vadim Kashirin, said.
The Nevsky Express derailed after a bomb equivalent to 7 kg (15 lbs) of TNT detonated on the track. A second, weaker bomb exploded at the site on Saturday, and is believed to have targeted investigators. No one was seriously injured.
Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigation Committee, told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday that some 400 witnesses had already been questioned and preliminary results of the investigations would be announced in 10-12 days.
The blast has raised fears of a resurge of terrorist attacks in the Russian capital and other major cities. Russia was hit hard by terrorism in the 1990s and the early years of this decade, but violence has largely been confined to the volatile North Caucasus region since 2004.
ST. PETERSBURG, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091203/157082556.html
Vladimir Putin said the Cold War-era Jackson-Vanik Amendment that restricts U.S. trade with Russia was an "anachronism" hindering Russia's World Trade Organization accession bid.
Speaking during an annual question-and-answer session with Russians on Thursday, Prime Minister Putin said the country continues to seek accession to the WTO, but "we have an impression that for some reason some countries, including the United States, are hindering our entry to the WTO."
Russia, the only major economy outside the WTO, has been seeking membership for 16 years.
Putin said the 1974 amendment that tied trade relations to emigration rights in the Soviet Union has been used by lobby groups in the U.S. Congress pursuing their own tapered interests. "We have to live with that," he added.
Putin reiterated that Russia could seek membership in the WTO together with Belarus and Kazakhstan, with which it has agreed to create a customs union with common tariffs, paving the way for a single economic space, or separately, but taking into account the ex-Soviet states' common interests.
"The chief priority to us is post-Soviet integration, and we welcome the process taking place in the Customs Union," he said.
MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091203/157083132.html
Police crime must be dealt with relentlessly but there should be no discrediting of the force, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
"I think it is inadmissible to tarnish all police officers, but responses to negative occurrences in the sphere should be harsh, rapid and tough," the Russian premier said during an annual televised question-and-answer session with Russians.
Putin was asked to comment on calls to carry out Interior Ministry reform in connection with recent high-profile cases of police crime, including this April's supermarket shooting spree which left three people dead.
"Both society and the Interior Ministry should actively fight these occurrences, and if people with [police] epaulets break the law, they should face strict punishment for these violations," Putin said.
On April 27 Denis Yevsyukov, who then was a police major, took a taxi to the Ostrov supermarket in southern Moscow shortly after midnight, where he shot the driver dead, before walking into a store and killing two more people and wounding six.
The April incident prompted the dismissals of a number of top police officials. The government has pledged checks of officers and other measures to improve police discipline.
Putin said the Interior Ministry now employs over 1 million people, more than Russia's armed forces.
MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has criticized Russia's super-rich for their ostentatious spending habits, and urged them to use their wealth to benefit their country.
During his annual TV and radio phone-in, the premier was asked about a recent scandal involving the son of a Russian billionaire in Switzerland. The 22-year-old was arrested in Geneva after crashing a Lamborghini into a pensioner's car, severely injuring him, while drunkenly racing with friends.
"In Soviet times, people in certain levels of society demonstrated their wealth by having artificial gold teeth. Lamborghinis and other luxury items are like gold teeth," Putin said.
The crash late last month has sparked a media frenzy in Switzerland and Russia. Along with the driver, Ziya Babayev, three other Russians were arrested in the incident, two of them sons of tycoon Telman Ismailov.
Answering a question about Ismailov, who was able to open a sprawling luxury hotel on Turkey's Mediterranean coast this summer despite the credit crunch in Russia, Putin said investing abroad is not a crime, but businessmen should invest domestically.
"If there are resources to invest, they would better be invested in Russia. They could be invested in the construction of hotels in Sochi ahead of the 2014 Olympics, for example," he said.
Azerbaijani-born Ismailov was previously an owner of the Cherkizovsky wholesale market in Moscow, which was shut down in September after raids targeting contraband goods from China.
Asked about the possible involvement of Ismailov's brother, a Moscow district official, in the market scandal, Putin said any suspicions must be proved in the courts, but pledged more measures to fight corruption.
The premier was earlier reported to have criticized authorities for failing to make arrests after the Cherkizovsky raid.
MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
The Russian Armed Forces must keep up with modern challenges to reliably ensure national security, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
In a televised phone-in, he said military reform was crucial to making the military leaner and meaner, enabling it to deal with any conflicts that could arise.
"New types of arms, new equipment and new methods of waging war are necessary for that," he said.
He stressed the importance of making military units more mobile to be able to cope with their missions.
Putin said a key element to military reform was the reorganization of the command and control system.
Command and control optimization aims to eliminate superfluous elements, in particular by moving away from a four-tier (military district - army - division - regiment) to a three-tier system (military district - operation command - brigade).
In accordance with the reform concept, the division is considered to be too large for local armed conflicts in the modern world.
Putin also said Russia would continue to rely on its own defense industry to develop and produce new weaponry, adding, however, that domestic arms manufacturers should be aware of competition, including foreign competition.
He said Moscow was yet to decide whether to buy a Mistral-class helicopter carrier from France but would keep its options open.
If the deal is signed, the Mistral will be the largest vessel Russia has ever bought. The Mistral, worth 400-500 million euros (around $600-$750 mln), is capable of transporting and deploying 16 helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 vehicles, including 13 battle tanks, as well as 450 military personnel. The vessel is equipped with a 69-bed hospital and can be used as an amphibious command ship.
MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday he had no plans to quit politics and had yet to decide whether to run for president in 2012.
Asked during an annual televised phone-in question and answer session whether he would like to quit politics and start living his own life, Putin said: "Don't hold your breath."
Commenting on whether he will run for presidency in 2012, Putin said: "I will think - there's still plenty of time."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who was in Rome for Russian-Italian talks on Thursday, said there was the same possibility on his part.
"I would like to say I also could [run in 2012 election]," Medvedev told journalists.
Both politicians faced a similar question at a Valdai International Discussion Club meeting in September. Medvedev then refused to rule anything out, while Putin told the forum that the two would not be rivals for the post.
Putin described as good relations with Medvedev, something that he said helped them work well together.
The Medvedev-Putin ruling tandem was established after Medvedev was inaugurated in May 2008. Medvedev made Putin, his predecessor in the post for two consecutive terms, prime minister the following day.
"We have long known each other, and have worked much together, graduated from the same university and were educated by the same teachers who taught us both knowledge and principles. These common principles help us work effectively today," Putin said.
In October, jailed Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky mocked the Medvedev-Putin ruling team as 'tandemocracy.'
MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
London's Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday adjourned hearings into Russia's extradition request for Yevgeny Chichvarkin, the former CEO of cell phone retailer Euroset, until August 2, 2010.
The businessman is wanted on suspicion of involvement in the 2003 abduction of Euroset's shipping agent, who allegedly stole large quantities of mobile phones.
Chichvarkin's defense cited the need to have 29 volumes of case files translated into English, as well as the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, as the reason for the delay.
The Crown Prosecution Service had no objections, saying the decision to adjourn had been agreed on by the prosecution and defense.
A Chichvarkin lawyer said a list of witnesses and experts for the defense was yet to be drawn up, the deadline being August 2.
Speaking to reporters after the court session, Chichvarkin expressed hope that "independent British justice will be fair with regard to me."
Chichvarkin was arrested in London on September 7, but released the same day on bail of 100,000 pounds ($163,000).
Russia sent Britain a formal extradition request for the businessman in June.
Chichvarkin earlier said his life would be in danger if he lost the extradition case.
Last September, Chichvarkin and his business partner Timur Artemyev sold Euroset to the ANN investment company for $1.25 billion. Euroset has more than 5,000 outlets in 1,464 cities in Russia and several former Soviet republics. The company's sales grossed $5.61 billion in 2007.
LONDON, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
NATO has refused to set up a Russia-NATO working group on Afghanistan and will not allow Moscow to participate in its internal discussion of the situation, Russia's NATO envoy said on Tuesday.
"They want to get everything from us without clarifying the political and military aspects of the NATO operation in Afghanistan," Dmitry Rogozin said after a Russia-NATO meeting at the level of ambassadors prior to a ministerial meeting on December 4.
According to Rogozin, Russia wants NATO "to transform its idle curiosity over our possibilities into concrete and well-coordinated cooperation when partners share common goals and balance their contributions [to the cause]."
Rogozin said Russia has proposed setting up a working group to discuss on a permanent basis with NATO the development of the situation in Afghanistan, the fight against terrorism and drug-trafficking in the country.
He reaffirmed that Russia could play an important role in supporting NATO operations in Afghanistan, not only by allowing transit of NATO military cargo and personnel into the war-torn Central Asian country, but also by training personnel for the country's police forces and even delivering small arms and light weapons for Afghan police.
The Russian envoy to NATO earlier accused Canada and some other NATO members of blocking the preparation for the upcoming Russia-NATO Council meeting in Brussels, which had the situation in Afghanistan as a key issue on the agenda.
BRUSSELS, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
Russia's Black Sea Fleet has terminated counterintelligence operations in Ukraine's Crimea and is sending all 'special service' officers to other posts, a Russian intelligence source said on Tuesday.
Ukraine earlier ordered 19 Federal Security Service (FS
officers to leave Sevastopol, where the fleet is based, before December 28.
"The special service command has already left Sevastopol," the source said. "Black Sea Fleet counterintelligence officers will be moved from Sevastopol to Novorossiisk."
He said the Russian counterintelligence officers had been based in the Crimea with the permission of Ukraine, which had sought cooperation in fighting terrorism and extremism.
However, after the August 2008 war in Georgia, Valentyn Nalivaichenko, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, said the FSB presence was unnecessary.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko pledged last Monday to force Russia's Black Sea Fleet to leave the Crimea before 2017.
Russia's Black Sea Fleet uses a range of naval facilities in the Crimea, including the Sevastopol base, as part of a 10-year lease agreement signed in 1997.
Yushchenko has led calls for Russia to pack up and pull out of Ukraine when the lease expires in 2017, although Russia hopes to extend it.
MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
Canada has blocked the adoption of all documents to be considered at an upcoming Russia-NATO meeting, the Russian envoy to NATO said on Tuesday.
"Representatives of the Canadian delegation blocked today the adoption of all documents prepared for the upcoming ministerial meeting of the Russia-NATO Council," Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with Vesti television.
The meeting of the Russia-NATO Council's foreign ministers has been scheduled for December 4 in Brussels.
The upcoming session, the first official talks to be held since the August 2008 armed conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, is aimed at drafting a "roadmap" for improving relations between Russia and the Western military alliance.
Rogozin said there were factions in NATO that still regard Russia as a "Cold War" rival and oppose any "reset" of relations.
"Feeling the need for assistance from Russia, they [these factions] nevertheless refuse to discuss issues that are vital to Russia's national interest, primarily, improving European security and the creation of a more balanced situation globally and on the European continent," the Russian diplomat said.
He added that the attitude of several NATO members has hampered concrete steps toward the improvement of Russia-NATO relations, as all decision-making processes in the alliance are based on consensus, and even a single member can block progress in dialogue with Moscow.
Rogozin urged NATO partners to return to the negotiating table and "start doing business rather than continue getting caught up in bureaucratic rhetoric."
During an informal ministerial meeting in Greece in June, Russia and NATO agreed to renew cooperation on security issues, which was frozen after Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war in August over the former Georgian republic of South Ossetia, after which Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another former Georgian republic.
Relations have also been strained by Russia's resistance to Georgia and Ukraine's bids to join NATO.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in October that "Russia is ready to harmonize relations with the United States and other Western partners, including constructive cooperation with NATO in solving common tasks."
BRUSSELS, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
Russia is to deploy another five air-defense battalions equipped with advanced S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems next year, the Air Force commander said on Thursday.
"So far we have two S-400 battalions," Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said, adding both were deployed just outside Moscow.
"In 2010, we are due to get enough S-400s to equip another five battalions."
He said, however, that would depend on "our industry's capabilities."
Gen. Nikolai Makarov, the chief of General Staff, said in August Russia had deployed S-400 air systems in the Far East to counter the potential threat posed by N. Korea's missile tests.
However, to date, his statement has not been confirmed. Some military commentators have suggested the general "jumped the gun" and "was trying to pass off his wishful thinking for reality."
The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) is designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at distances of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles), twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and two-and-a-half times that of Russia's S-300PMU-2.
The system is also believed to be able to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and is effective at ranges of up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and speeds of up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second.
A regular S-400 battalion comprises at least eight launchers with 32 missiles and a mobile command post, according to various sources. The new state arms procurement program until 2015 stipulates the purchase of enough S-400 air defense systems to arm 18 battalions during this period.
MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti)
Russian police have seized nearly 10 tons of black market salmon caviar, a police spokesman said on Thursday.
According to police, the caviar was supplied to Moscow Region chain stores.
The spokesman added that an investigation is ongoing.
"The caviar was packed in unsanitary conditions," he said, adding that all the caviar had been destroyed. Police also seized a canning machine.
Salmon caviar, or red caviar, is not as highly prized as black caviar from sturgeon.
MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti)
The Russian government approved on Thursday a national energy strategy until 2030 that envisages raising oil output up to 530-535 million metric tons from last year's 488 million.
It also envisages increasing natural gas production to 885 bcm -940 bcm from 664 bcm in 2008 and pushing electricity exports to 45-60 billion kW/hr from 17 billion in 2008.
The strategy also aims to reduce Russia's energy dependence by boosting a faster growth of sectors consuming less energy and using the technical potential of energy saving.
Under a government resolution, the new energy strategy will replace the previous one valid until 2020.
The ministries of Energy, Economic Development and Natural Resources as well as state-run nuclear power corporation Rosatom have been instructed to secure the implementation of measures under the new strategy and make annual reports to the government.
MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will pay a brief working visit to the Vatican on December 3 for talks with Pope Benedict XVI, a Kremlin spokesman said on Thursday.
Medvedev said in July that Moscow planned to improve ties with the Vatican, which have been strained in recent years over claims the Roman Catholic Church was trying to convert believers and spread its influence in former Soviet states following the collapse of the U.S.S.R.
The late Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexy II refused to meet with then Pope John Paul II, and said outstanding disputes needed to be resolved before any meeting could go ahead with the current Catholic Church leader, Benedict XVI.
When Alexy II died in December at the age of 79, the enthronement of Russia's new church leader, Patriarch Kirill, who was seen as a liberal in the largely traditionalist church, was welcomed by the Vatican.
In March 2007, then Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Pope Benedict XVI during a visit to the Vatican, and pledged to help in reconciling the two divided Churches.
Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who heads the Russian Orthodox Church's external church relations department, said in early October that though no arrangements were currently being made for a meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Benedict XVI, the two could theoretically meet "on neutral territory."
MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti)
www.rian.ru
Russia could soon stop issuing biometric passports due to technical problems, a newspaper reported on Tuesday citing the head of the Federal Migration Service.
A letter from Konstantin Romodanovsky to Communications Minister Igor Shchegolev obtained by the respected Kommersant daily, warns that the system for issuing the passports is overloaded, with computers storing the data already 90% full, and an inter-agency data center not yet up and running.
Federal Migration Service figures show 1.3 million biometric passports have been issued this year, against 700,000 old-style documents, but the letter states half of the new passports have problems with the digital facial image.
As of the fourth quarter, more than 4 million applications had been received for the new passports, which cost 1,000 rubles ($35). The non-biometric passports cost 500 rubles.
Romodanovsky also warned that a bill going through the lower house of parliament that would extend the duration of Russian passports from five to 10 years could further complicate the process.
The bill, which has been passed on first reading by the State Duma, envisions introducing the changes on January 5. It would also increase the cost of the biometric passports to 2,000 rubles.
A migration service spokesman told Kommersant the problem was a lack of money to test the system, while a Communications Ministry spokeswoman said budget funding for development of the new system was a fraction of what was required.
Biometric passports have been introduced around the world, with governments saying they improve security by making forgeries almost impossible, although privacy advocates and some security experts oppose their use.
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti)
The launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket carrying the European Eutelsat W7 satellite has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, a spokesman for Russia's Khrunichev space center said.
"The state commission has made a decision to carry out the launch on Tuesday at 17:19 Moscow time [14:19 GMT]," Alexander Bobrenev said.
At the same time, Bobrenev said he had no information on whether Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov, who is on an official visit to Hong Kong, had signed a government resolution on the launch.
The launch was earlier scheduled for Monday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan but was postponed due to organizational disagreements between the Russian and Kazakh space agencies Roscosmos and Kazcosmos.
Kazcosmos on Monday accused Russia's space agency Roscosmos of constantly changing launch plans from the Baikonur space center, which led to the postponement of the Proton-M carrier rocket launch.
Roscosmos, however, said that it had submitted all necessary documents to its Kazakh partners on time.
Russian-American joint venture International Launch Services (IL
had signed a contract with the Eutelsat satellite operator to launch the Eutelsat W7 to upgrade its existing satellite grouping.
The launch is expected to be the eighth Proton launch in 2009 and the 349th overall for the famed Russian carrier rocket.
Eutelsat W7 was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space on a Spacebus 4000C4 platform.
The 5.5-ton satellite features up to 74 Ku-band transponders (12 kW) and has a lifetime of about 15 years (up to 2024).
It will provide digital broadcasting for customers in Europe, including Russia, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Eutelsat W7 is designed to replace the SESAT 1 satellite, which has been in orbit since 2000.
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti)
About 7,000 people, mostly women, leave Russia annually to marry foreigners, official statistics show. But this figure does not include the large number of women who leave Russia using visitor, student or work visas, and then register their marriage abroad.
Russian men, however, are not particularly pleased with this “marriage emigration” trend. Asked what they thought of women who wish to marry abroad, 59 percent of male respondents to the SuperJob poll called them “traitors” and declared that “our women should live where they were born.” Younger men appear to be slightly more tolerant. Most of those under 35 year said that “every person should have the right to choose where to live and whom to marry.”
However, “marriage emigration” remains an almost exclusively female phenomenon. Marriage and dating agencies do not work with Russian male clients who wish to emigrate. Even male émigrés from the former-Soviet countries who live in Western Europe, the United States or Canada prefer to date female compatriots. “I used to date a British girl,” said Victor, who has lived in the UK for more than ten years, “but she always asked me to go out and never did any housework. Now I only date Russian and Ukrainian girls.”
But while Russian men abroad may not be too keen on foreign girls, male immigrants to Russia are more than happy to marry locally. Thousands of marriages between foreign men and Russian women were registered in Moscow in 2008, according to the Moscow Civil Registry Office. Most of the bridegrooms were from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. 
http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Culture+%26+Living&articleid=a1258481496
This post was modified from its original form on 23 Nov, 1:42
Many Russian Women Still See Marriage as a Ticket to Life in the West, but Their Male Compatriots Prefer to Seek Spouses At Home
A recent poll has dispelled the stereotype of the Russian mail order bride after finding only a small percentage of Russian women interested in marrying a foreigner. However, dating agencies dispute the claim that the popularity of foreign husbands is falling, and say that the number of Russian women seeking marriage abroad has grown since the financial crisis set in.
The results of the poll, conducted by the recruitment Web site SuperJob, surprised sociologists and the public by debunking the myth of “the foreign prince.” Only seven percent of Russian women aged 18 to 60 said “yes” to the question of “would you like to marry a foreigner?” However, 23 percent of respondents said “no” because they are already married to a Russian, and others said they do not want to marry at all, regardless of their suitors’ nationality.
Women over 55 are the most interested in marriage to foreigners, according to the poll. Twenty five percent of women in this age group would like a foreign husband. This trend is probably explained by the shortage of Russian men of the same age: the average life expectancy for Russian males is just 60 years.
Young women are far less likely to embark on the search for a “foreign prince,” saying that “foreigners have another culture and mentality,” or that they did “not want to marry at all.” Those women who do want to marry a foreigner mostly cite economic reasons - “residents of Western countries are more successful than Russians.” Others, however, said they were simply “looking for a decent husband.”
The dating agencies that specialize in introducing Russian women to foreign – which almost always means Western – men, dispute the findings, however. “These statistics seem to be controversial,” said Andrew Sokolov, the director of a Moscow marriage agency Semeyniy Uyut. “We have a lot of female clients aged 18 to 65 who are looking for foreign husbands.” And the number of Russian women who are interested in marriage to a foreigner has grown during the crisis, according to Sokolov. “Women are looking for safety and security. When the country is going through hard times, a happy marriage is a good solution to many problems,” he said.
Semeyniy Uyut’s clients include women of varying incomes and social backgrounds. “We have a lot of businesswomen who are ready to leave their business and the country to move to the European Union or the United States,” Sokolov said. “All our clients are interested in places like Western Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia,” he said. “Nobody wants to marry men who live in Latin America or Africa.”
Semeyniy Uyut helps to arrange about 100 marriages to foreigners each year. It usually takes around 12 months from registering with the agency to finding a husband. “The search time depends on the woman’s needs,” Sokolov explained. “Residents of big cities are interested in husbands who have an annual income of more than $100,000. So girls from Moscow and St. Petersburg have to wait much longer than women from small towns.”
Girls from small Russian towns and villages are much less choosey. Poverty, domestic violence and lack of good marriage and job prospects push them to emigrate as soon as possible. Normally it takes them three to six month to find a foreign husband, according to Semeyniy Uyut’s statistics. Often, that means agreeing to marry the first foreigner who is ready to buy them a ring.
Sokolov is proud of his agency’s work and his clients. “Russian women are still popular spouses. Millions of European and American men are interested in wives from Eastern Europe,” he said.
Olga Nasarova, the head of the London-based Harmony dating agency, agrees. “Girls from the former Soviet countries are in high demand,” she said. The Harmony agency holds “Lubov Red” parties in London twice a month to help Eastern European women and British men meet each other in person. The women at these events are nationals of former Soviet states who already live, work or study in the UK, or who have traveled to London especially for the party.
And the men? “We have three basic types of males who use our service,” Nasarova explained. Firstly, she said, there are those who regularly travel to Russia on business, like Russian culture and tradition and admire Russian women. Then there are men who have friends or relatives married to Russians, and, having seen the benefits of family life with an Eastern European woman, want to find a spouse with those characteristics of kindness, tolerance and ability to care for a husband and children.
The last group includes men who have difficulties in relationships with British women. Finding British women too selfish and feministic, they are interested in building a relationship with a girl from a different background. “Most of our male clients are successful professionals,” Nasarova said. “All they need is love.”>>>
This post was modified from its original form on 23 Nov, 1:41
Russian Victoria Radochinskaya has won the Mrs World 2009 beauty pageant, which took place in the Vietnamese city of Vung Tau.
Seventy-eight participants, aged between 19 and 41, competed for the title of the world's most beautiful married woman. Vietnam, the host country, was represented by two contenders.
The final round of the competition took place on Sunday.
Victoria Radochinskaya, 31, became the 15th winner of the contest since it was first held in 1985. The PR specialist received the $150,000 jewel-studded crown from last year's winner, Ukrainian Natalya Shmarenkova.
First runner-up was Mrs America Andrea Robertson, a professional model.
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti)
www.rian.ru
http://en.rian.ru/video/20091119/156900517.html
Closed water reuse cycles and waste-free production are normal practices in developed European countries. RIA Novosti found out which companies operating in Russia use these technologies to ensure they are environmentally friendly.
www.rian.ru
http://en.rian.ru/video/20091118/156886062.html
Russian designers have created a new vehicle for off-road fans, an amphibian air jeep, easily capable of crossing snowdrifts and bodies of water.
www.rian.ru
http://en.rian.ru/video/20091117/156876686.html
U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle discusses an upcoming exhibition on his father's WWII experiences fighting for the U.S. and the Soviets, and says the countries' joint war against fascism should serve as a model for future cooperation.
Ukraine starts to lift a question on gas and contracts at approach of Christmas. It is simply surprising.
If Ukraine lifts a question on gas, the Christmas close means!
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has asked Russia to amend the existing natural gas supply contract as soon as possible, to avoid problems with gas transit to Europe.
In an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev posted on his official website on Thursday, Yushchenko criticized the gas contract signed between Ukraine's Naftogaz and Russian energy giant Gazpromat the start of 2009.
"For Ukraine, honoring its commitments is too burdernsome due to the non-market principles that the contracts are built on," the Ukrainian leader said.
Yushchenko said the price of Russian natural gas for Ukraine has almost trebled over the past three years, and now exceeds the average price for European Union consumers. He said the price of gas transit via Ukraine was three times lower than that charged by EU gas transiting countries.
He also complained that the gas contract envisages fining Kiev for failure to honor commitments, while no potential sanctions could be imposed on Russia in a similar scenario.
Yushchenko also blamed the contract for Naftogaz' budget shortfall of over $4 billion this year.
"Unless the contracts remain unchanged, the Ukrainian state-run company will not be able to prepare for the winter season and therefore potential threats will arise concerning the security of gas supplies to Ukraine and its transit to other European countries," he said in the letter.
He proposed establishing a bilateral working group to consider the proposed amendments, which include symmetrical responsibility for risks and fines for Russia and Ukraine, an improved transit price formula, and a commitment not to fine Ukraine for under-importing gas in 2009.
Russia and the European Union signed on Monday a memorandum on an early warning mechanism to protect the EU from potential energy supply cuts in case of a gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine at the start of the year.
KIEV, November 19 (RIA Novosti)
www.rian.ru
And in Baltic also Ken(((
Russia's Constitutional Court prolonged on Thursday a moratorium on the death penalty, which was due to expire on January 1, until it is banned completely.
Russia imposed the moratorium after it joined the Council of Europe in 1996 and signed the European Convention on Human Rights, but it has not ratified the document yet.
"This decision is final and shall not be appealed," court chairman Valery Zorkin said reading out the ruling.
Zorkin said the moratorium on executions will be in place until Russian parliament ratifies Protocol 6 to the European Convention banning the death penalty.
He said an "irreversible process to abolish capital punishment" is going on in Russia, which is in line with its international commitments and global tendencies.
The speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said on Thursday the convention is unlikely to be ratified this year. "A decision to ratify Protocol 6 in December is unrealistic," Boris Gryzlov said.
Gryzlov earlier cited strong public support for the resumption of executions behind the failure of the parliament to ratify the convention.
Observers have explained the public's opposition to abolishing the death penalty by high crime rates and people's dissatisfaction with police performance. Reflecting public sentiment, nationalist politicians even called for extending capital punishment to more crimes like drug-related abuses.
Speaking to reporters earlier on Thursday, Deputy Justice Minister Yury Kalinin said the moratorium must be extended and executions abolished eventually, citing numerous judicial errors in the country and its obligations to the Council of Europe.
The court held hearings on whether to restore capital punishment as it was to expire in January, and the last Russian region, Chechnya, is to introduce juries as an alternative to panels of judges, removing the formal obstacle to reinstating the death penalty by firing squad.
The Constitutional Court's 1999 ruling declared that the death penalty could not be applied until trial by jury had been introduced in all Russian regions.
MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti)
www.rian.ru
I didn't catch it all but there was something on our news tonight about the CIA building a place where they tortured prisoners in Ukraine. They were allowed to build in Ukraine because of the US promising to get them into NATO. They also brought up how the government wasn't functioning very well because of all the manipulation. Gee, I wonder where they learned that manipulation stuff????
The creation of a Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian peacekeeping brigade is an attempt by the West to woo former post-Soviet countries while not formally admitting them to NATO, a Russian analyst said Tuesday.
The Ukrainian, Polish and Lithuanian defense ministers on Monday signed a letter stating their plans to form a joint peacekeeping brigade, LitPolUkrBrig.
Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine, said "the Europeans and Americans do not want to alienate Ukraine, Georgia and other countries, and they are looking for options intended to symbolize engagement" now that the issue of their admission to NATO has been frozen.
Polish Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Komorowski annouced the creation of a joint brigade at the seventh Informal High-Level NATO-Ukraine consultations with the participation of defense ministers and other senior officials from Ukraine and NATO countries.
"We have signed a letter spelling out our plans to form a Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian brigade. Lithuanian Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene, Polish Defense Minister Stanislaw Komarowski and I have signed it," Ukraine's acting defense minister, Valeriy Ivaschenko, told the media in Brussels.
Media reports said other countries were free to join the trilateral agreement.
"It is a kind of military analogue of Eastern Partnership in the trade and economic sphere," Lukyanov said. "This brigade is an attempt to show, 'we cannot admit you to NATO, but we remember you.'"
"Such organizations tie the Ukrainian elite even closer to all sorts of Euro-Atlantic structures," he said.
Ukraine has been pursuing NATO membership since pro-Western Yushchenko was inaugurated in January 2005.
Ukraine and Georgia's NATO bids were strongly backed by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, but were turned down due to pressure from Germany and France at a 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest.
However, NATO has stated that the two countries will join at an unspecified date in the future.
Both countries have also been included in the alliance's Partnership for Peace program, aimed at allowing "partner countries to build up an individual relationship with NATO, choosing their own priorities for cooperation."
MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti)
www.rian.ru
MOSCOW, November 18 (RIA Novosti) - Over 200 enterprises will take part in an all-Russian exhibition, Russian Producers and Armed Forces Logistics, opening Wednesday, the Armed Forces said in a statement.
The exposition, held for a ninth time, will last until November 20. According to the Defense Ministry, over 50% of participants will show their products for the first time this year.
"The exhibition's chief aim is to develop mutually beneficial cooperation and business partnership between domestic producers and Armed Forces, as well as to demonstrate achievements of industry and the modern condition of military administration agencies who deal with logistics support," the statement said.
Besides Russian producers from 41 regions, specialists from Belarus and Germany are expected to attend.
www.rian.ru
MAKHACHKALA, November 18 (RIA Novosti) - The son of the mayor of the town of Buinaksk in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan has been kidnapped, police said Wednesday.
"At about 22:00 Tuesday, unknown assailants clad in camouflage uniforms abducted the son of the town's incumbent head Gusein Gamzatov," a police spokesman said.
The spokesman said the two men forced Gamzatov's son who was at his construction site into a Vaz-21099 car and drove away.
An investigation is underway.
Militant attacks and clashes remain common in Russia's North Caucasus, even though the Kremlin campaign to fight separatists and terrorists in Chechnya has officially ended.
Violence often spills over into nearby republics, in particular Ingushetia, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria.
www.rian.ru
A Russian Pacific Fleet task force returned on Monday to its base in Vladivostok after completing an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.
www.rian.ru
MOSCOW, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's first nuclear power plant, developed by Russia in Bushehr, will not be launched this year as planned, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on Monday.
"We expect major results by the end of the year, but the launch will not take place," Shmatko said citing technical reasons.
Shmatko said earlier the $1 billion plant in southern Iran would be launched in 2009.
Russia has frequently delayed the launch of the plant in the Islamic Republic, citing financial or technical problems. Iran is in the center of an international dispute over its nuclear ambitions and subject to UN sanctions.
However, Shmatko said that "Russia is committed to its obligations to Iran."
Russia completed nuclear fuel deliveries for Bushehr in January 2009, a process usually carried out six months before the launch of an atomic power plant.
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There was a show on TV about Iran. A young woman from the country stated it best when it comes to war Lidiya. She said, "Wars are for governments. We don't pay any attention to wars.
In another post I brought up how our US will nurture the guy, who killed thirteen people at Fort Hood army base, back to health, then put him on trial and then kill him. Hmm, maybe our country just doesn't know any better. It sure gets tiring living this way.
GAZA STRIP, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Palestinian authorities are preparing to ask the UN Security Council to endorse the independent Palestinian state, the chief Palestinian negotiator has said.
"Under the initiative of the head of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization seeks to enlist support of Arab states, Europe, Russia, China and other international groups, in order to have an opportunity to apply to the UN Security Council a resolution for the recognition of the independence of the Palestinian state in its June 1967 borders," Saeb Erekat told journalists.
Erekat said the Palestinians were losing faith in the peace talks with Israel.
Nimer Hammad, advisor to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, was quoted by the Israeli Maariv newspaper as saying Palestinians will only address the UN "when proper guarantees will be given" to provide success of the initiative.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the move by the Palestinian authorities and insisted on negotiations toward a full peace accord. He warned Israel would retaliate to any unilateral Palestinian steps.
"There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and any unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us and will only bring unilateral steps from Israel's side," Netanyahu was quoted by the Haaretz website as saying in his address to the Saban Forum in Jerusalem on Sunday.
The Palestinians claim an independent state be established on the territories of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Gaza Strip has been the subject of an almost continuous Israeli blockade since radical Islamic group Hamas took control of the enclave in the summer of 2007, and an Israeli air and ground offensive at the turn of the year killed some 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians.
The issue of Jewish outposts construction in the West Bank is the main obstacle to reviving peace talks with the Palestinians, and a sticking point in relations with the United States, Israel's main strategic ally.
Under the internationally agreed roadmap for Middle East peace, Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement construction activity, and remove unauthorized outposts built since 2001 from the Palestinian territories.
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WASHINGTON, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President Barack Obama said he intends to visit Indonesia together with his family next year.
"I am very excited about our prospects for deepening relations in the future, and I want to make sure that everybody knows that I intend to be visiting Indonesia next year," he said after a bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Singapore, where the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit took place on the weekend.
"I'm hoping to be able to take Michelle and the girls as well so that they can take a look at some of my old haunting grounds," the president, who attended local schools in the ndonesian capital, Jakarta, from age six to ten, said.
In his turn, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono welcomed Obama's intention to visit the country.
"President Obama is a friend of Indonesia. He knows Indonesia very well, and he is well respected in Indonesia," he said, adding "I look forward to welcoming President Obama to Indonesia next year, and he will be warmly welcomed by the Indonesian people."
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SINGAPORE, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow still hopes that the Iran nuclear problem will be resolved through political and diplomatic means, the Russian foreign minister said after a meeting between the Russian and U.S. presidents on Sunday.
"Our position remains unchanged: we believe there still is time and want to resolve the problem by political and diplomatic means, without employing levers the [UN] Security Council has, at least at the early stage," Sergei Lavrov told journalists.
Medvedev said Sunday that Russia and the United States could use 'other means' if the talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program yielded no results.
"The aim of the negotiation process with Iran is to secure clear-cut guarantees from Tehran on the transparency of its nuclear program that does not cause concern of the international community," Medvedev said after talks with Obama on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore.
Medvedev said that if that plan failed, "other options remain on the table, in order to move the process in a different direction." He did not specify, however, what these options might be.
October talks in Vienna between Iran, the UN, the U.S., Russia and France on the Islamic republic's nuclear program ended with a deal involving Iran shipping out its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France.
Under the deal, the uranium would be enriched in Russia and then sent to Franceto prepare it for use in an Iranian reactor. Iran subsequently said it wanted more talks on the deal, including fuel delivery guarantees, and also stated it would like to buy directly enriched material.
The Islamic Republic has consistently denied it is seeking to make nuclear weapons and has insisted on its right to a peaceful program aimed at generating electricity.
Russia has consistently supported Iran's right to civilian nuclear power, and has almost completed the country's first nuclear power plant in Bushehr.
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MOSCOW, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - The Serbian government declared a three-day national mourning period starting Monday after the country's Orthodox Church leader, Patriarch Pavle, died at 95 on Sunday.
President Boris Tadic called the death of the patriarch "a huge loss" and said Pavle "united the nation." Pavle called for peace and reconciliation in the 1990s during ethnic conflicts that resulted in the breakup of Yugoslavia.
The patriarch, who was elected to head the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1990, died Sunday of cardiac arrest during his sleep after having been hospitalized for two years in the Belgrade Military Hospital, doctors said.
In the year 2000, the Serbian Church called on Slobodan Milosevic, then president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, to resign, after NATO air raids put an end to his crackdown on Kosovo Albanians.
A deputy head of the Russian Orthodox Church external church relations department, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, said Patriarch Pavle was "a righteous man of our time."
Balashov said he symbolized "the spiritual unity of the Serb nation" and added that Pavle was "a big friend of the Russian Orthodox Church."
Patriarch Pavle will be buried in the Rakovica Monastery in the capital Belgrade on Thursday, local news agencies said after a meeting of the Church's Holy Synod.
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WASHINGTON, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the United States will not ratify a new treaty on strategic arms reductions by the time the previous treaty expires, the U.S. president's chief advisor on Russia said Sunday.
"We won't have a ratified treaty in place by December 5th. That has to go through our Senate, through their [lower house] Duma," National Security Council Senior Director for Russia Mike McFaul told U.S. journalists in Singapore.
However, he said: "In parallel, we have a bridging agreement that we also are working with the Russians. I fully suspect we'll be able to get that in place by December 5th."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed hope on Sunday that Russia and the United States would be able to sign a new nuclear arms reduction deal in December.
"We, indeed, devoted most of the time to discussing a treaty on the reduction of offensive armaments and recognized the need to provide additional impetus to these negotiations," Medvedev said after talks with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama at the summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member states in Singapore.
The chief of the Russian General Staff said earlier that the ongoing arms cuts talks between Russia and the U.S. had seen differences on inspection and verification procedures.
Moscow and Washington are negotiating a replacement for the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), the basis for Russian-U.S. strategic nuclear disarmament, which expires on December 5.
An outline of the new pact was agreed during the Russian and U.S. presidents' bilateral summit in Moscow in July and includes cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.
START I commits the parties to reducing their nuclear warheads to 6,000 and their delivery vehicles to 1,600 each. In 2002, a follow-up strategic arms reduction agreement was concluded in Moscow. The document, known as the Moscow Treaty, envisioned cuts to 1,700-2,200 warheads by December 2012.
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SARAJEVO, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Kosovo has held its first local elections since Serbia's ethnic-Albanian-dominated province unilaterally declared its independence in 2008.
The elections were held in 36 municipalities on Sunday, with more then 1.5 million people eligible to vote for mayors and local council members.
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu said the elections "were considered a 'democracy test' in the country."
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci described the poll as "historical", adding "today the country begins a new stage of European integration."
The elections were monitored by 22,096 observers, with several international organizations, including a delegation of the European Parliament, involved.
EU special representative in Kosovo and head of the International Civilian Office Pieter Feith expressed his satisfaction with the Serb turnout.
"Stakes are high for the Serb community", the Serbian B92 news network quoted him as saying.
However, Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic said a "small number of Serbs voted in the illegitimate local elections called in the province by the temporary institutions", the news network reported.
"All those who participated in the elections must be aware of the fact that they can in no way represent the Serbs in Kosovo," Bogdanovic was quoted as saying in a statement by the Serbian Beta news agency.
Kosovo Serb politician Rada Trajkovic, who supports local elections in Kosovo, said "participation in the elections does not mean the recognition of Kosovo's independence, which was unilaterally declared and was not recognized by the majority of members of the international community."
A total of 62 countries, including major Western powers, have recognized the independence of Kosovo, declared in February 2008. The rest of the world, including Russia, China and India, considers Kosovo to be part of Serbia.
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BRUSSELS, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - The first meeting of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum will take place on November 16-17 in Brussels, a spokesman for the European Commission said.
About 240 public organizations, trade unions and noncommercial foundations from six Eastern Partnership member states will take part in the conference, jointly organized by Sweden, which holds the EU rotating chair, the European Commission and The European Economic and Social Committee, the spokesman said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner and President of the European Economic and Social Committee Mario Sepi will attend the meeting, the spokesman added.
The Eastern Partnership program, adopted by 27 EU countries in 2008, includes Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova and Georgia and aims to bring these countries in line with EU standards without formal admission to the EU.
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BRUSSELS, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the European Union will hold on Monday a new round of talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, a spokesman for the Russian Permanent Mission to the EU said.
"WTO accession remains on our agenda: we hope to conclude talks in 2010," Medvedev said in his article for The World in 2010, the Economist's annual printed edition, published on Friday.
Russia has been attempting to enter the WTO for over 16 years. Russia is the only major economically sustainable country that has so far not received membership. Other countries such as Cuba and some ex-Soviet states are already members.
In October, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus will launch a Customs Union on January 1, 2010, and turn to the WTO for acceptance. The three post-Soviet countries agreed in early June to form a customs bloc. Its Customs Code will be presented for approval to the heads of the three states on November 27.
The three countries earlier announced that they would seek to join the World Trade Organization simultaneously, with a joint bid through their Customs Union.
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SINGAPORE, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian energy giant Gazprom may become an exclusive supplier of liquefied natural gas to Singapore after the expiry of a current contract with the British Gas company, head of Singapore's Keppel company said on Monday.
"In the future, Gazprom will become a supplier of energy carriers to Singapore, and we will try to provide it exclusive rights [to supply energy carriers to the country] when [our] cooperation with British Gas ends," Choo Chiau Beng said at a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Singapore.
In his turn, Gazprom's deputy head Alexander Medvedev expressed his readiness to start energy supplies.
"We possess [sufficient] volumes of liquefied natural gas, and we are ready to discuss with [our] colleagues possibilities to supply gas both for Singapore and for the whole region," he said, adding marketing and trading operations were expected to start in Singapore in 2010.
The Sakhalin II project, in which Gazprom holds a controlling stake, earlier estimated reserves of 150 million metric tons (1.1 billion barrels) of oil and 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
Sakhalin II comprises an oil field with associated gas, a natural gas field with associated condensate, a pipeline, a liquefied natural gas plant, and an LNG export terminal.
Earlier, Gazprom said it was ready to start gas deliveries to China in 2010.
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VLADIVOSTOK, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian icebreaker with 105 passengers on board has been trapped in ice during a cruise in the Arctic, a Russian Far East marine cruise official said on Monday.
The Captain Khlebnikov will need to wait one or two days to resolve the situation, and the official said the passengers are in no danger.
"The icebreaker's crew is waiting for the weather to change and then the ship will resume its course. This will require one or two days. The passengers are in no need of assistance," the spokesman told RIA Novosti.
Most of the passengers on board the icebreaker are Brits. A film crew from the BBC is also on board filming material for a film called Frozen Earth.
www.rian.ru
Yes Ken, unfortunately politicians of it do not understand.
They play lives of people, as figures on a chessboard.
My heart fades with horror when (that surprisingly women) with such ease speak American policies about war with Russia, that the frost runs on my leather. It seems to me they not absolutely understand, that is such Russia.
Also, that this war about which they so easily speak, will not bring a victory to anybody.
We cried with Gala when looked video "Remember me".
How many lives it is necessary to throw down on an altar of the ambitions that to understand, that each life is important.
To me it is thought, that all the countries (you forgive me for it!) see threat not there where it exists really. It not Russia.
It is ECOLOGY!
It is not necessary to declare war. War will declare itself. People will start to be at war for each drop of water and meal!!!
In the article about NATO giving up its eastern expansion it mentions Western selfish interests and in other news I read how the US was using NATO as If it were the UN, Lidiya. That fit in with the article about Obama staying with the Bush agenda. Sure it's nice to see NATO not expand which had been promised to Russia but what is NATO going to do to prevent the damage that was done with that selfishness in the future.
SINGAPORE, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - One trillion rubles ($35 billion) were needed to transform Russia's national development bank Vnesheconombank from a state corporation into a joint-stock company, the bank's chief said on Saturday.
In his state-of-the-nation address to both houses of parliament on Thursday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that state corporations had outlived their usefulness, had no future and should be reorganized and later privatized.
"To this end we must increase the bank's capital by slightly more than one trillion rubles, according to our estimates," VEB chief Vladimir Dmitriev told journalists.
Government corporations were established under the presidency of Vladimir Putin to exercise the powers of the government in certain areas of the economy.
At present there are seven state corporations in Russia - Vnesheconombank (VE, Russian Technology (Rostekhnologii), Rosnano, the Deposit Insurance Agency (ASV), the Fund for Reforming the Housing and Utilities Sector, the Rosatom nuclear power corporation, and Olimpstroi, which is building facilities for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
In addition, a law was passed in July on the establishment of a state company, Russian Highways (Avtodor), to develop the country's highway network.
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PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - A coast guard vessel towed a Russian fishing trawler in distress to a nearest port in the Bering Sea, a coast guard spokesman said on Saturday.
"The vessel in distress was taken to the port of Ossora on the northeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula early on Saturday," Andrei Orlov said.
On Thursday night the Fortuna trawler with 16 crewmembers sent a distress call saying it had lost power due to a fuel system malfunction and was drifting in the Karaginsky Gulf about 142 kilometers [88 miles] off the coast.
The crew failed to repair the fuel system and restart the engine. The malfunction was presumably caused by water in fuel.
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MOSCOW, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - The fire at a military depot in the Volga area city of Ulianovsk has been put out, a spokeswoman for the regional emergencies service said on Saturday.
"The blaze at three ammunition depots was completely extinguished at 0:30 Moscow time [21:30 GMT]. According to the [regional] emergencies ministry's data two people are listed as missing. The rescuers have no information on deaths," she said.
An investigation team is currently working at the scene to establish the cause of the fire.
A blaze, followed by a series of blasts, started at about 1:00 p.m. GMT at an ammunitions depot belonging to the Russian Navy. According to previous reports, at least two people were killed and 11 were listed as missing. About 3,000 people were evacuated from the "danger radius."
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MOSCOW, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Singapore on Saturday for a two-day economic summit of Pacific Rim countries focusing on post-crisis development and stronger regional ties.
Medvedev will speak at a business summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The leaders of the APEC economies will meet later in the day with members of the APEC Business Advisory Council.
Later in the day he will hold bilateral meetings with his Chinese and Vietnamese counterparts, Hu Jintao and Nguyen Minh Triet.
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MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Modernization of the Russian economy is an issue for the country's survival in today's conditions, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
"We must start modernizing and technologically upgrading the entire production sphere. This is an issue of our country's survival in today's world," Medvedev said in his state-of-the-nation address to both houses of Russia's parliament.
Medvedev said Russia had to act promptly while lessons had to be learned from the global economic crisis.
While global prices grew, there were illusions that Russia could delay structural reforms. Proposals were made to build up the growth of the old raw material-based economy while decisions on developing a new economy were isolated and few, Medvedev said.
Now Russia has made a decision to raise its development to a new technological level and will also develop new medicinal and space technologies, as well as "radically increase energy efficiency," he said.
He said it is also time for Russia to eliminate its dependence on raw material exports as the country's major revenue base.
"We have to admit that in previous years we failed to do enough to solve problems inherited from the past. We have failed so far to dismiss the economy's primitive structure, the humiliating raw materials dependence and reorient production to peoples' real needs," Medvedev said.
Medvedev added that the habit of living at the expense of raw materials exports continues to inhibit the country's innovation development.
Medvedev also instructed the government to work out measures to improve the country's financial system to meet the needs of the economy's modernization.
Medvedev said ineffective companies must leave the market.
"We are rendering direct support to Russian companies amid the crisis. The volume of this aid has topped 1 trillion rubles [$35 billion]. Further on, we'll support only those companies that have explicit plans to raise efficiency and implement high-tech projects," Medvedev said.
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MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is ready to support and join a new agreement on climate change that could be adopted in December in Denmark, but on two key conditions, the Russian prime minister said on Monday.
The Copenhagen summit in December aims to negotiate a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, some elements of which expire in 2012.
"Yes, we are ready to do this. But we believe it necessary to observe at least two issues," Vladimir Putin said.
Putin said one of the conditions is that all countries without exception join the agreement and the second is that the new document fully accounts for the capacity of Russian forests to absorb hydrocarbon gas emissions.
"Everyone without exception must sign this document, otherwise it would be deprived of all sense. Russia will also be insisting that it fully accounts for the capacity of Russian forests to absorb hydrocarbon gas, something that was not done in full volume in the Kyoto protocol," Putin said.
The overwhelming consensus of climate change experts, environmental groups and organizations is that the climate change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions due to human activity, which is causing significant damage to the Earth, although a minority argues that the possible impact has not yet been proven.
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MOSCOW, November 11 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian woman, who lost her son in Chechnya in 2000, has filed a $1.5-million suit against Russia, Russian media said on Wednesday.
A respected Russian business daily Kommersant said Dina Chugunova had requested the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to award her 1 million euro in compensation for financial and moral damages.
Chugunova had earlier filed similar suits to courts in St. Petersburg, but her appeals were rejected on the grounds that the statute of limitation had expired.
The woman says, however, that Russia's actions are in breach of the European convention on Human Rights.
According to Kommersant, more suits from women, who lost their sons during the two separatist wars in Chechnya, might follow.
Russia has lost the majority of cases brought against it in the Strasbourg court. In 2008, the court ruled against Russia 245 times. Overall, around 20% of all complaints made to the Court in the past decade have involved Russia.
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MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has backed a new candidate to serve as governor of the Sverdlovsk Region in the Urals, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
The regional legislature in Yekaterinburg will vote on the candidacy of deputy transport minister Alexander Misharin, to replace the incumbent Edward Rossel, the Kremlin press service said.
Misharin is one of three candidates put forward by the ruling United Russia party for the post, along with Rossel and the regional government chairman, Viktor Koksharov.
Rossel has served as governor since 1995, making him one of the country's longest-serving local leaders. His third term expires on November 21, but he earlier said he planned to remain in office until 2015.
The last two prominent, long-serving governors to leave their posts were Konstantin Titov in the Samara Region in 2007 and Yegor Stroyev in the Oryol Region this year.
Misharin is a member of the United Russia Party.
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MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - Mikhail Kalashnikov, the creator of the AK-47 assault rifle who turned 90 on Tuesday, has received Russia's highest honorary title.
President Dmitry Medvedev awarded him the Hero of the Russian Federation medal at a ceremony in the Kremlin.
"The Kalashnikov is today one of the best-known Russian words... Such shining creative achievements move our country forward," Medvedev said during the ceremony.
He described the AK-47 as "an excellent model of Russian weaponry" and "a national brand that makes each citizen proud."
Accepting the award, Kalashnikov voiced regret that his creation, the world's most widely used rifle, has been often misused.
"I created a weapon to defend the fatherland's borders. It is not my fault that it was sometimes used where it shouldn't have been. This is the fault of politicians."
As a WWII soldier Kalashnikov was inspired to design the weapon after being wounded in 1941. While his first attempts were unsuccessful, he was given a position in weapons development, and by 1947 he had perfected his masterpiece.
Since then, the AK-47 has become the most widespread and famous assault rifle. Used by some 50 armies around the world, as well as countless urban guerrilla movements, it is also featured on the flag of Mozambique.
However, despite estimated sales of 100 million, Kalashnikov, who lives in the Western Urals city of Izhevsk, claims not to have profited from the AK-47 and receives only a state pension.
A deputy director of Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said earlier: "Without doubt, Mikhail Kalashnikov is the world patriarch of small arms and light weapons."
Igor Sevastyanov told RIA Novosti that Russia had signed a contract with an unnamed North African state for 500,000 AK-103-2s, a newly modified version of the AK-47 capable of firing three-round bursts.
He also said 10 countries have applied for licenses to construct plants to produce Kalashnikov assault rifles.
However, despite his global fame, or notoriety, Kalashnikov takes no pleasure in the destructive power he unleashed all those years ago.
"I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists," he said on a visit to Germany in 2002. "I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work - for example a lawnmower."
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MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that the government will continue measures to overcome corruption, and pledged to improve existing legislation.
"The battle against corruption requires the utmost attention," he said at a ceremony marking Police Day at the Kremlin.
"For this, as you know, a legal base has been formed, and we are only now beginning to use it - it is not ideal, but we must learn to work with it."
"I can tell you openly that this work will continue," he said, pledging to approve amendments swiftly when necessary.
He also called on the police force to help fight corruption.
"The irreproachable behavior of police officers is needed to prevent violations of law and improve law-abiding culture among our citizens," he said.
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MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - The current round of arms reduction talks in Switzerland are centered largely on technical issues, the chief of the Russian General Staff said on Tuesday.
The work on a new draft treaty "is very intensive. There are problems that require synchronization. These are mainly technical issues because there are some parameters that have to be agreed," Gen. Nikolai Makarov told reporters.
He expressed hope that a new treaty would be ready by the time the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), the basis for Russian-U.S. strategic nuclear disarmament, expires on December 5. The current round of talks near Geneva began on Monday.
"I hope that a new treaty will be drafted by that time," he said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama will meet on the sidelines of this year's gathering of APEC leaders, hosted by Singapore on November 14-15.
An outline of the new pact was agreed during the presidents' bilateral summit in Moscow in July and includes cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.
START Icommits the parties to reduce their nuclear warheads to 6,000 and their delivery vehicles to 1,600 each. In 2002, a follow-up strategic arms reduction agreement was concluded in Moscow. The document, known as the Moscow Treaty, envisioned cuts to 1,700-2,200 warheads by December 2012.
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Ken, you are right, speak one, then another, and do the third(((
MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - Ten countries have applied for licenses to construct plants to produce Kalashnikov assault rifles, a deputy CEO of Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said Tuesday.
Rosoboronexport is currently fulfilling a 2005 contract to build a Kalashnikov plant in Venezuela.
"In the past few years, ten foreign states have applied to Russia for the creation of facilities on their territories to build licensed Kalashnikov AK-100 series assault rifles," Igor Sevastyanov said.
Sevastyanov did not specify which countries had applied, noting only that they included Latin American and Middle East states. He said some clients want plants built from scratch and others want production upgraded.
Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, turned 90 on Tuesday.
Then-Soviet soldier Kalashnikov was inspired to design the weapon after being wounded in 1941 during WWII. While his first attempts were deemed unsuccessful, he was given a position in weapons development, and by 1947 he had perfected his masterpiece.
Rosoboronexport chief Anatoly Isaikin earlier noted the huge number of unlicensed Kalashnikov rifles produced all over the world.
"There are about 100 million Kalashnikov assault rifles worldwide, of which half are counterfeit, i.e. produced without licenses, patents or intergovernmental agreements," he said.
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MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - NATO countries have realized that they will not benefit from taking on new members from the post Soviet space in the foreseeable future, Russia's envoy to the alliance said on Tuesday.
Moscow has strongly opposed ex-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine's plans to join NATO.
"I believe that at last NATO states have come to an understanding that from the point of view of entirely Western selfish interests, the further expansion of NATO to the East is of no benefit to the West, at least for the next 10 to 15 years," Dmitry Rogozin told Vesti 24 TV channel.
However, he said that the reluctance to admit new members is not due to Russia's protests, but to complications within the alliance.
NATO admitted three former Eastern Bloc countries - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - in 1997, and seven other Eastern European states, including the three ex-Soviet Baltic countries, in 2004.
In expanding eastwards, NATO has "acquired countries with almost zero military potential, which cannot make any useful contribution to the military operations of NATO. On the other hand, these countries are politically unstable... As a result, NATO has lost out - it has not become stronger in military terms, but has spread its belly to encompass this zone of instability, taking on responsibility for this instability," Rogozin said.
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Political activist Noam Chomsky says that although President Obama views the Iraq invasion merely as “a mistake” or “strategic blunder,” it is, in fact, a “major crime” designed to enable America to control the Middle East oil reserves.
“It’s (“strategic blunder&rdquo probably what the German general staff was telling Hitler after Stalingrad,” Chomsky quipped, referring to the big Nazi defeat by the Soviet army in 1943.
“There is basically no significant change in the fundamental traditional conception that if we can control Middle East energy resources, then we can control the world,” he said.
In a lecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London Oct. 27th, Chomsky warned against expecting significant foreign policy changes from Obama, according to a report by Mamoon Alabbasi published on MWC News.net. Alabbasi is an editor at Middle East Online.
“As Obama came into office, (former Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice predicted he would follow the policies of Bush’s second term, and that is pretty much what happened, apart from a different rhetorical style,” Chomsky said.
Chomsky said the U.S. operates under the “Mafia principle,” explaining “the Godfather does not tolerate ‘successful defiance’” and must be stamped out “so that others understand that disobedience is not an option.”
Despite pressure on the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq, Alabbasi reported, Chomsky said the U.S. continues to seek a long-term presence in the country and the huge U.S embassy in Baghdad is to be expanded under Obama.
“As late as November, 2007, the U.S. was still insisting that the ‘Status of Forces Agreement’ allow for an indefinite U.S. military presence and privileged access to Iraq’s resources by U.S. investors,” Chomsky added. “Well, they didn’t get that on paper at least. They had to back down,” Alabbasi quotes him as saying.
Chomsky said Middle East oil reserves are understood to be “a stupendous source of strategic power” and “one of the greatest material prizes in world history.”
Concerning Iran, Chomsky said the U.S. acted to overthrow its parliamentary democracy in 1953 “to retain control of Iranian resources” and when the Iranians reasserted themselves in 1979, the U.S. acted “to support Saddam Hussein’s merciless invasion” of that country.
“The torture of Iran continued without a break and still does, with sanctions and other means,” Chomsky said. According to Alabbasi, Chomsky “mocked the idea” presented by mainstream media that a nuclear-armed Iran might attack nuclear-armed Israel. Iranian leaders would have to have a “fanatic death wish” to attack Israel, which reportedly has 200 nuclear weapons or more.
“The chance of Iran launching a missile attack, nuclear or not, is about at the level of an asteroid hitting the earth,” Chomsky said. He said the presence of U.S. anti-missile weapons in Israel are really meant for preparing a possible attack on Iran, not for self-defense, as they are often presented.
Chomsky is professor emeritus of linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Fort Hood killings is up to fifteen and thirty wounded. Controversy in our country seems to bring up the fact that he was a Muslim. It was first reported he was killed but then later reported he's still alive. As I'm into suicide issues the man to me had that intention in this matter.
Gorbachev warning about walls of mistrust is fitting at the present. It's almost like the question is what can be trusted now days. The last line about Russia being strong and self-sufficient I think is what's needed. It's like a relationship where becoming independent is necessary to become interdependent.
As for Poland I have an article which mentions Obama is carrying on with the Bush policies.
Funny thing is Israel tells the UN to look at Iran smuggling arms and then another article tells how Israel captured a ship smuggling arms from Iran. From following things like this Israel and our US never let's up on Iran as they keep the focus on conflict going constantly.
Thanks for sharing the news
MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti) - As Germany and the rest of the world prepare to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned against creating new barriers between nations.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Gorbachev, who presided over the breakup of the Soviet Union, said 1989 was a turning point in world history, which saw the wall's collapse and velvet revolutions that toppled communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe.
"Those events and their peaceful nature were possible after changes that began to take place in the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s," Gorbachev, the architect of sweeping reforms known as glasnost and perestroika, said in an article published by the official Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily on Friday.
Gorbachev said the U.S.S.R. then abandoned its domineering policy toward Soviet-bloc states leaving them to decide their future, which helped avoid bloodshed during ensuing revolts, the paper reported.
However, Gorbachev said nations failed to create viable security arrangements after the end of the Cold War and new "separation lines" appeared in Europe, which was rocked by bloody wars.
"Mistrust and old stereotypes have been preserved. Russia is suspected of malicious, aggressive, imperial intentions," Gorbachev said, condemning the policy of confrontation with Russia pursued by former communist-bloc states and attempts to draw a parallel between the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
"Those who want to build a new wall of mutual mistrust and hostility in Europe are doing a disservice to their countries and Europe as a whole," Gorbachev said.
The former Soviet leader also said the European Union had rushed to expand, admitting former communist states without forging a clear model of relations with Russia and other states outside the alliance.
He also criticized the attitudes of certain Western politicians to Russia's rebirth after the chaotic post-Soviet years.
"In Europe, unfortunately, there is no lack of politicians who would like to see an unequal model of relations with Russia - one of the teacher and the student, the prosecutor and the accused. Russia will not accept this model. It wants to be understood. We are for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation," he said.
"What Russia do you need?" he asked. "A strong, entirely self-sufficient one or a simple supplier of resources that knows its place?"
www.rian.ru
MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's health minister warned the media against spreading panic over a swine and seasonal flu outbreak and said the situation was under control.
Tatyana Golikova said in an interview published by the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government daily on Friday that the amount of people suffering from flu and respiratory illness in the country was not so far exceeding figures for the past two years.
"The data we have been receiving shows that the A/H1N1 virus mortality has not exceeded seasonal flu mortality rates. Medics have been taking extensive preventive measures," Golikova told the paper.
Despite this, shop assistants and pedestrians wearing medical face-masks have become a common sight in Moscow and other Russian cities.
A total of 15 people have died in Russia of swine flu and 3,122 other cases have been confirmed as the A/H1N1 virus as of November 3. Swine flu cases in Russia began growing considerably in October, traditionally the time for a seasonal flu outbreak. The country's first swine flu deaths were reported on October 27.
Golikova acknowledged that the problem was serious, but said there was no reason to panic.
"The problem is serious, but the way it is addressed in the media has fueled ungrounded fears among people. I want to appeal to people and journalists - do not spread panic, there are no grounds for it," Golikova said.
She also said that medical authorities were paying particular attention to risk groups.
"We are keeping special track of the situation in risk groups - children and pregnant women," she added, also saying that the health ministry would inform the public weekly of the latest figures and developments.
The panic has caused a shortage of medical masks and antiviral medicines in clinics and retail drug stores. Authorities in big cities have prolonged the fall holidays in schools.
Golikova said the ministry had stepped up control of drug stores' supplies and prices.
The minister also confirmed that mass swine flu vaccinations would begin on November 9, not in December as was earlier planned.
www.rian.ru
MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow is surprised at media reports that Poland is seeking to host U.S. troops to protect it from Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski was reported to have urged the United States and NATO to deploy troops in Central Europe. His comments came after media reports claimed Russia and Belarus had simulated nuclear strikes on Poland during massive war games in September.
"I know Radoslaw Sikorski," Lavrov said. "He has always given the impression of being a man who has experience and an understanding of the processes going on in Europe."
"If he did say that, I am astonished, as we have discussed in detail European security problems that need to be tackled," he said, referring to Russia's position on U.S. missile defense plans for Europe and a new European security treaty.
President Barack Obama recently scrapped plans for Poland and the Czech Republic to host missile shield elements to counter possible strikes from Iran. The plans were fiercely opposed by Moscow as a security threat.
Poland said it was willing to take part in a reviewed missile defense program, under which the U.S. would deploy sea-based interceptors first and then land-based defenses.
www.rian.ru
Main news of November 5
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