LOCAL NEWS

NEARLY ALL BELARUSSIAN DAIRY GOODS PROHIBITED

The Federal Consumer Protection Service doubled a list of banned Belarussian dairy products to about 1,200 products on Tuesday amid assurances from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the decision was not politically motivated.

The watchdog banned the first 600-odd items on Saturday, following a weeklong exchange of unpleasantries between officials in both countries.

PUTIN DITCHES UNILATERAL BID FOR WTO ENTRY

MOSCOW — Russia’s 16-year quest to join the World Trade Organization took a wild turn Tuesday when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan would abandon their separate accession talks in favor of a bid to enter as a single regional bloc.

OLIGARCH, MATVIYENKO ROCK THE BOAT WITH 'CAPITALIST ORGY'

The Leningrad military district prosecutor has opened an investigation into a banquet held aboard the famed cruiser Avrora during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum by Russian multi-billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Russian Pioneer magazine.

“I can confirm that we opened an investigation after we saw a TV report about the banquet.

FINNISH DIPLOMAT BARRED FOR 'KIDNAP'

A Finnish diplomat has been declared persona non grata for helping a Finnish man illegally spirit his son, who also has Russian citizenship, out of the country last month, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.

NATIONAL NEWS

MARIINSKY-II COMPETITION TO OPEN WITHIN 45 DAYS

An architectural competition to design a second stage for the world-famous Mariinsky Theater will be announced within the next 45 days, and the winner will be chosen within the coming six months, said Valery Gutovsky, head of the board for construction, reconstruction and restoration in the northwest.

PRESIDENT BLAMES FOREIGN 'FREAKS'

MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev blamed foreign “freaks” for violence in the North Caucasus during a visit Tuesday to Dagestan, where the region’s top police official was assassinated last week.

LOCAL BUSINESS

NO WEEKEND HOLIDAY FOR PIKALYOVO

PIKALYOVO, Leningrad Oblast — Pikalyovo residents won’t celebrate the Russia Day holiday with an extended weekend with the rest of the country. They will celebrate by going to work.

The three Pikalyovo factories, whose closure prompted protests and a personal visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, agreed on Tuesday to reopen this weekend and signed off on production plans for the rest of the year.

HSBC TARGETS THE RICH WITH NEW RETAIL BANKS

HSBC will open five retail branches in Russia this month, including one in St. Petersburg, as part of a $200 million program to expand its local operations, bank executives announced Tuesday at a news conference in Moscow marking the first branch’s opening.

OPINION

HISTORY UNDER LOCK AND KEY

The only way to fight a real battle against the falsification of history — something that President Dmitry Medvedev has made a priority after creating a special commission to handle this issue — is to keep government archives as open as possible for historians.

THE WAHHABI RULE DAGESTAN

Dagestani Interior Minister Adilgirei Magomedtagirov was killed by a sniper on Friday. He had been attending the wedding of the daughter of his friend, the chief of the local Interior Ministry’s economic crimes department.

CULTURE

LABOR OF LOVE

“Anna Karenina” has long been a favorite subject for filmmakers. The latest director to bring Leo Tolstoy’s timeless novel to the big screen is the Russian director Sergei Solovyov, whose film premiered at St. Petersburg’s Mikhailovsky Theater on May 31 after fifteen long years of work on the movie, and is to be shown in tandem with another film about the shooting of “Anna Karenina.

CHERNOV’S CHOICE

With the St. Petersburg Economic Forum having been and gone, Duran Duran, which played an outdoor concert on Palace Square last week, now seems to be a better choice as a “gift from the Forum to guests and residents of St.

TAJIKISTAN’S DISCO DANCER

KOLOMNA — Baimurat Allaberiyev, a diminutive native of Tajikistan who has herded sheep, picked cotton and toiled in construction, hardly looks like Russia’s latest musical sensation.

But Allaberiyev’s remarkable talent sets him apart from the millions of Central Asians who come to Russia to escape crushing poverty at home.

TEA FOR TWO

Nestled on the second floor of the iconic building opposite Kazan Cathedral that formerly housed the Singer company and is now home to the popular bookshop Dom Knigi, this hidden gem is a refreshing change from the monotonous franchises found elsewhere on Nevsky.

WORLD

Israeli Woman Junks $1 Million Mattress by Mistake

JERUSALEM — An Israeli woman mistakenly threw out a mattress with $1 million inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfill sites, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

The woman told Army Radio that she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise on Monday and threw out the old one, only to discover that her mother had hidden her life savings inside.

SPORT

KAKA AIMS FOR NEW ERA WITH REAL MADRID

ROME — Brazil’s 2007 world footballer of the year Kaka completed his transfer from Serie A side AC Milan to Real Madrid late on Monday, both clubs announced.

The 27-year-old signed a six year contract with the Spanish giants for a reported fee of 65 million euros which both clubs refused to confirm.

CHELSEA MAKE OFFER FOR ATLETICO ACE AGUERO

LONDON — Chelsea have made an offer of 50 million euros for Atletico Madrid’s highly-rated Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero, according to English media reports on Wednesday.