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MOSCOW — The government reacted immediately Sunday to Kosovo’s declaration of independence, calling for a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the move, while former Soviet breakaway regions, long fostered by aid from Moscow, rejoiced at improved prospects of international recognition. The Foreign Ministry promptly issued a stern warning after the parliament of the former Serb province unanimously embraced a declaration of independence Sunday afternoon. “We expect the United Nations’ and NATO’s mission in Kosovo to fulfill their mandate swiftly ... and annul the decision of the Pristina organs,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its web site. |
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 Swiss tennis star Roger Federer and Belgian tennis player Justine Henin were named the world’s best sportspeople of the year at the ninth Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony 2008 — the Oscars of the sporting world — in St. |
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STEPANAKERT, Nagorno-Karabakh — “What is Kosovo, and what do you eat it with?” quipped Yuan Go, a Chinese cook living in Nagorno-Karabakh. Yuan, who speaks the Karabakh dialect of the Armenian language fluently and goes by the Armenian name of Gurgen, moved to this de facto independent republic more than a year ago. |
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OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain has accused President Vladimir Putin of preparing to lead a puppet government. The Arizona senator, long critical of Putin, had harsh words for the president as he prepares to give up the Kremlin to a hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, and then take on the post of prime minister. |
All photos from issue.
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 MOSCOW — As President Vladimir Putin sang the praises of a resurgent Russia late last week, the country’s human rights ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin, criticized the treatment of prisoners in his annual report. The 16-section report, which summarizes human rights violations reported during 2007, outlined a total of 28,617 complaints — a 12 percent drop in comparison with 2006. |
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German members of the European parliament Rebecca Harms of the Greater Green Alliance party and Gisela Kallenbach, a member of the Group of Greens and the European Free Alliance, who spent last week in meetings with St. |
 Lambskin berets, “Top Gun”-style bomber jackets and honor guard uniforms harking back to the Napoleonic Wars could soon appear in the wardrobes of the Russian armed forces. The Defense Ministry last month unveiled the results of a half-year project to develop new military uniforms, the most sweeping redesign since a 1990s makeover that prompted widespread criticism from soldiers and officers. |
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 Becar Realty Group has acquired unfinished production facilities in the Nevsky district which the company plans to reconstruct over the next seven years before opening the largest B-class business center in the city. The building, located on 3rd Rybatsky Proezd, was projected as an aluminum plant. |
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Local engineers have vowed to take St. Petersburg into the advanced world of information technology by unveiling an ambitious 8-year construction plan for an IT park in the city center last week. |
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MOSCOW — Russian high-tech firm Sitronics said on Monday it would pay $116.9 million to raise its stake in subsidiary Kvazar-Micro to 87 percent, and would later take full ownership of the IT firm. Sitronics, which currently owns a 51 percent stake in Kvazar-Micro, said in a statement it would buy the shares from Melrose Holding Company and finance the acquisition with a combination of cash and its own stock. |
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LONDON — Most voters in five major European countries are wary of Russia as a supplier of their energy needs, according to a poll published Monday. The Financial Times/Harris survey also found that, despite their unease, those same west Europeans were opposed to paying more, if at all, to switch to renewable sources. |
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Betting Zone Approved MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov approved the creation of a gambling zone in Siberia’s Altai region, the third of four to be established by next year, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Friday. The “Siberian Crown” will need at least 30 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) to create infrastructure, the newspaper said, citing Mikhail Schetinin, the region’s deputy governor. Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH may be interested in setting up operations there, he said. Gazprom Mulls France MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Gazprom is ready to consider Gaz de France SA as a second partner in the South Stream pipeline, RIA Novosti reported, citing Gazprom Foreign Relations Director Stanislav Tsygankov. |
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 MOSCOW — Dmitry Medvedev, likely the country’s next president, laid out a liberal-leaning economic program on Friday, urging economic liberty and a crackdown on corruption in his first major speech on the subject just two weeks ahead of the presidential vote. |
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Cases of monopoly abuse, improper advertisement and corrupt state purchases multiplied over the last year, according to the local branch of the Federal Antimonopoly Service. Despite improvements in legislation, many companies that behave questionably are still immune to controlling bodies. “Last year was very difficult. Statistics revealed a dramatic increase in law infringements in all areas,” Oleg Kolomiichanko, head of the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast branch of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, said at a press conference at Interfax on Friday. Last year the branch investigated 916 complaints, of which 613 cases were proved to be violations of the law. |
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 MOSCOW — Rosneft, the country’s largest oil producer, announced plans Friday to build several gas-fired power plants across the country before 2020 as part of an effort to recycle the country’s wasteful associated gas and protect the environment. |
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MOSCOW — State nuclear contractor Atomstroiexport said Thursday that it would double staff at Iran’s first nuclear power station over the next year, as Moscow prepares to start up the reactor at the plant, RIA-Novosti reported. Russia has already delivered nuclear fuel under a $1 billion contract to build the Bushehr plant, on the Gulf coast in southwest Iran, and Iranian officials say the reactor is likely to be started up in mid-2008. |
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MOSCOW — The country’s largest business lobbies have called on the government to reduce the value-added tax to 10 percent, following President Vladimir Putin’s call for an unspecified cut from the current 18 percent last week. |
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WASHINGTON — A California meatpacker accused of animal cruelty is making the largest U.S. meat recall on record — 143 million lbs, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Sunday. Most of the meat, raw and frozen beef products, probably has already been consumed, said USDA officials at a briefing. |
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LONDON — Investors cheered the impending end of a format war for next-generation DVDs on Monday, pushing up shares of both Toshiba, on the verge of abandoning its HD DVD technology, and Sony, the leader of the rival Blu-ray camp. |
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 To observers of Russia’s election campaign, one thing is clear: The Kremlin’s political operatives do not want to leave anything to chance. Of eight would-be opposition candidates, all but three have been driven out, having been either disqualified or discouraged from running. |
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It seems both timely and premature to assess President Vladimir Putin’s eight years in office. Timely because he is coming to the end of his two-term presidency and premature because his likely upcoming stint as prime minister can do much to alter his legacy. |
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How the next U.S. president plans to handle the disastrous Iraq war is the most important foreign policy question of this year’s campaign. But it is not the only foreign policy question that voters need answered. President George W. Bush’s mismanagement reaches far beyond Iraq. |
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Americans on Monday are observing Presidents’ Day, another Western holiday Russians may want to adopt. In early 2012, when there will be enough former Russian presidents to make a selective Top-Two list, we could see Sovereign Presidents’ Day proudly proclaimed here. |
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 Nine experienced cross-country skiers hurriedly left their tent on a Urals slope in the middle of the night, casting aside skis, food and their warm coats. Clad in their sleepwear, the young people dashed headlong down a snowy slope toward a thick forest, where they stood no chance of surviving bitter temperatures of around minus 30 degrees Celsius. |
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Key dates in Kosovo’s decades-long — and often bloody — drive to gain independence from Serbia: 1968: First pro-independence demonstrations by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, when it was part of Yugoslavia; many arrested. 1991: As Yugoslavia implodes, separatists proclaim Kosovo a republic, which is recognized by neighboring Albania. |
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Land: Kosovo covers about 10,900 square kilometers, roughly the size of Belgium, and borders Albania and Macedonia. The central area around the capital, Pristina, is lowlands, with mountains elsewhere. |
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MARSEILLE, France — British number one Andy Murray won his second title of the year when he beat Croatia’s Mario Ancic 6-3, 6-4 in the Marseille Open final on Sunday. World number 11 Murray, who won the Qatar Open last month, served and returned superbly to seal his fifth career title after an hour and 44 minutes of high quality tennis. |
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COLUMBIA, Missouri — Natalie Coughlin broke the women’s 100m backstroke world record here Sunday, clocking 59.21sec in preliminaries at the Grand Prix of Missouri long course swimming meeting. |
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LONDON, — Liverpool faces a daunting challenge from runaway Serie A leaders Inter Milan in the Champions League at home Tuesday only three days after their FA Cup humiliation by Barnsley. Having gone down 2-1 at Anfield against the Championship (second division) side on Saturday, five-times European Cup winners Liverpool must call on their vast experience if they are to win the opening leg of the first knockout round tie. |
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PARIS — International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said he respected film director Steven Spielberg’s decision to quit his Beijing Olympics role because of China’s policies in Sudan. |
Temp: -2°C moderate or heavy snow showers
Issues Archive