|
|
|
 St. Petersburg retailers are removing Estonian goods from the shelves of their stores as part of a protest against the removal of the Soviet-era World War II memorial in Estonia, as the chilling severity of the Kremlin’s rhetoric against the neighbor state continues to grow. |
|
MOSCOW — Russia, brushing aside European protests, called on Estonia to stop “provocative action” on Thursday as a political crisis over the removal of a Soviet war memorial from central Tallinn worsened. |
|
While many still argue that the building of Gazprom’s skyscraper in St. Petersburg will destroy its low historic skyline, another plan to build another tower received permission from the city’s planning council Apr.13, Fontanka news agency reported. The 35 million euro glass and steel “Petersburg Spire” is intended to serve as an observation structure and represents a giant doughnut-shaped capsule that goes up, down and around the 121-meter steel shaft. |
All photos from issue.
|
|
|
|
|
MOSCOW — Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II appeared in public on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing medical treatment and said his opponents were spreading rumors he had died. The absence of the 78-year-old patriarch from the funeral last week of former President Boris Yeltsin sparked speculation that Alexy, who was undergoing treatment in Switzerland, was dead. |
|
MOSCOW — Media freedom in Russia is comparable to that in Azerbaijan and the Democratic Republic of Congo and growing worse, two U.S.-based media watchdogs said ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Thursday. |
|
MOSCOW — Construction of a museum featuring the archive, belongings and personal library of the former President Boris Yeltsin could begin this year in Filyovsky Park in western Moscow, Vedomosti reported Wednesday. The Yeltsin Foundation, an organization founded by people close to the former president with the aim of “creating the necessary conditions for young people to reach their creative potential,” expects construction of the museum to begin this year, the newspaper said. |
|
MOSCOW — Tolyatti’s mayor has been detained on suspicion of demanding a multimillion-dollar bribe, prosecutors said Wednesday, the latest in a string of mayors and governors to be targeted for corruption. |
|
|
|
|
MOSCOW — Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest nickel miner, on Thursday bid C$5.3 billion ($4.8 billion) to take over Canada’s LionOre, topping a rival offer by London-listed Xstrata. Norilsk said in a regulatory filing it had bid 21.50 Canadian dollars a share for LionOre. |
|
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has awarded Andrei Patrushev, the 26-year-old son of Federal Security Service director Nikolai Patrushev, a medal of honor for his many years of service in the economic sphere, the Kremlin said in a decree posted online Wednesday. |
|
ST. PETERSBURG — Russia’s top oil producer Lukoil plans to raise fuel oil and vacuum gas oil exports from its Baltic Sea terminal of Vysotsk in May, but diesel shipments will fall, a port source said on Wednesday. Total shipments in May are expected to reach 1. |
|
MOSCOW — The country’s major oil firms will keep a lid on gasoline rises this year despite rising wholesale prices in order to avoid irritating the Kremlin before the 2008 presidential elections, traders said Wednesday. |
|
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin signed a decree approving the merger of five air carriers on Wednesday, amid government efforts to boost the country’s struggling aviation industry. But don’t hope for lower ticket prices anytime soon. The new airline, AirUnion, is not expected to start competing against flagship airline Aeroflot for at least a couple of years. |
|
MOSCOW — Oil exports jumped by more than 6 percent in April to their second highest ever despite a decline in output, as higher oil prices and refinery maintenance prompted oil firms to send more crude abroad, Industry and Energy Ministry data showed Wednesday. |
|
MOSCOW — Russia’s economic growth slowed slightly in March but still set a blistering pace led by a construction sector that benefited from unseasonably mild weather. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by an estimated 7.4 percent in March, year-on-year, compared to a revised February estimate of 7. |
|
MOSCOW — Russia’s largest bank, state-controlled Sberbank, on Wednesday reported a 25.8 percent increase in 2006 net profit as its loan portfolio grew rapidly. |
|
MOSCOW — Magnit, the Russian food retailer that floated last year, said on Wednesday that its 2006 sales rose by 59 percent to $2.51 billion while earnings growth lagged slightly. Net profits rose by 55 percent to $56.9 million, while earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) gained 54 percent to $122. |
|
MOSCOW — Russia will increase its oil export duty by 28.3 percent in June-July following a rise in global oil prices, a Finance Ministry official said Wednesday. |
|
|
|
 What mutual understanding there might have been between Russia and the West is gradually being replaced by increasing mutual irritation, suspicion and even confrontation. The two sides no longer seem to speak the same language, nor do they care much for listening to each other. |
|
Russia has once more affirmed its status as a great power and bolstered its authority in the world on President Vladimir Putin’s watch. Shortly after the State Duma condemned the relocation of a World War II memorial in Tallinn, the valiant defenders of the Bronze Soldier provided us with a textbook example of how to fight injustice. |
|
|
|
|
A one-act shock opera, that blends antique tragedy with Freudian overtones and prompted psychoanalyst Carl Jung to identify a father-daughter version of the Oedipus complex, returns to the Mariinsky Theater after an absence of nearly 100 years. Richard Strauss’s fourth opera, set to a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and based on a Sophocles’ tragedy, “Elektra” premieres at the Mariinsky on Sunday with performances on Monday and May 25. |
|
The Skatalites, the ska band that was due to perform at Orlandina on Saturday, canceled its concert at short notice for unknown reasons. Fans who arrived at the place to see the Jamaican legends listened instead to Markscheider Kunst, the local Afro-rock/ska band that is co-promoting The Skatalites’ brief Russian tour. |
 Russian 20th-century classical music takes center stage in Los Angeles this month, as Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic launches a series of concerts in Los Angeles under the title “Shadow of Stalin.” The series, which runs through the end of June, opens with a concert on May 25 at Los Angeles’s prestigious Walt Disney Concert Hall, with Salonen leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program including Gavriil Popov’s Suite No. |
|
 To coincide with May 9 — when Russia commemorates the end of World War II — a new film depicting the struggles of a Soviet soldier returning from the front went on general release on Thursday. |
 People who pay the least attention to classical music probably know Mozart’s clarinet concerto and quintet, two indelibly beautiful works. But how many remember the name Anton Stadler? He was Mozart’s fellow Freemason in Vienna, a clarinetist for whom the works were written. |
|
Literary endeavor being so unpredictable an enterprise, its successes akin to capturing lightning in a bottle, the notion of writing a sequel to a classic novel is always a risky one. |
|
When Russian pop stars get together, they probably like to discuss length, performance and whose is best at impressing the groupies. Of course, I am talking about stretch limos, which were in the news this week thanks to two crooners, Filipp Kirkorov and Nikolai Baskov, who choose not to cut any corners with their rides. |
|
Teatro 2 Ulitsa Glinki Open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight Major credit cards accepted Menu in English and Russian Dinner for two without alcohol 2,190 rubles ($85) With the recent opening of Sadko just a stone’s throw away and now Teatro on the corner of Ulitsa Dekabristov and Ulitsa Glinki, the area surrounding the Mariinsky Theater is clearly hotting up. |
 Does life imitate art or art imitate life? There is no right or wrong answer. But when art tries to reflect a non-existent reality that serves the needs of propaganda, this isn’t just wrong: it is a crime against art. Let’s imagine a world where students quit modern languages departments for two years of good times in the military, where corrupt policemen who also happen to be pimps are actually the nicest and most charmingly charismatic personalities you could ever come across and where hookers are connoisseurs of classical music and then you get a pretty good picture of what’s going on in “May,” a Russian film which ended its run in St. |
|
|
|
 MILAN — AC Milan is desperate to beat Liverpool in the Champions League final to erase the memory of its nightmare defeat at the hands of the Merseysiders in the Istanbul final two years ago. Milan set up the chance for revenge with a superb 3-0 semi-final, second leg victory over Liverpool’s Premiership rivals Manchester United here on Wednesday for a 5-3 aggregate victory. |
|
SHEFFIELD — Former champions Shaun Murphy and John Higgins were joined by Stephen Maguire and qualifier Mark Selby in the semi-finals of the world championship on Wednesday. |
 MADRID — Clay court king Rafael Nadal has admitted he was worried “the battle of the surfaces” against grass court master Roger Federer would turn out to be a fiasco. But the 20-year-old Mallorcan, who got the better of the world number one in a closely fought three-set battle on a specially constructed half-grass, half-clay court, said he was now looking forward to repeating the challenge. |
|
SYDNEY — After a slow start, the Super 14 is building up to an extraordinary climax with seven teams still in contention for the semi-finals heading into this week’s final round. |
|
SAN FRANCISCO — Law enforcement officials have charged baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda with possessing marijuana and other drugs, a California Highway Patrol official said on Wednesday. Cepeda, 69, who now works as a community representative for the San Francisco Giants speaking to children about the dangers of drugs, was stopped on Tuesday while driving 83 mph on a major highway with a speed limit of 65 mph northeast of San Francisco. “When the officer made contact with Mr. Cepeda, she smelled the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle,” said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Wulf Corrington. “This prompted her to do a search of the car and during that search she found marijuana. |
|
 MYTISHCHI, Russia — Defending champions Sweden rolled past Switzerland 6-0 to close out preliminary round play at the ice hockey world championship unbeaten on Wednesday while Canada put aside growing controversy to advance with a 5-4 win over Slovakia. |
|
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds hit his 743rd career home run to move within 12 of Hank Aaron’s Major League record, helping the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Wednesday. The 42-year-old smashed a Jeff Francis fastball into the right field stands to give the Giants a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, then supplied two more runs in the eighth with a bases-loaded single that rallied the team from a 3-2 deficit. Barry Zito won his third game in four starts, giving up four hits and two runs in seven innings, striking out four and walking three. “It was great to have Barry Zito go out there, pitch the way he has and put us in a place to win and give him the support to win the game,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. |
|
 NEW YORK — The Phoenix Suns eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers from the playoffs with a 119-110 home win in Game Five of their Western Conference best-of-seven series on Wednesday. |
Temp: -2°C moderate or heavy snow showers
Issues Archive