|
|
|
|
MOSCOW — Russia on Wednesday signed a deal to build a Russian military base in the breakaway Georgian republic of Abkhazia, a move likely to further stoke tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi and further strengthen Russia’s influence in the region. Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and his Abkhaz counterpart, Mirab Kishmaria, signed the agreement on military and technical cooperation Wednesday in the Kremlin. |
|
MOSCOW — A U.S. delegation of White House officials, technology executives and social media enthusiasts arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for a weeklong visit with their Russian counterparts to discuss innovation. |
 The latest exhibition to open at the State Russian Museum this week puts the extraordinary wartime experiences of one U.S. soldier into the broader context of U.S.-Russia relations. “A Hero for Two Nations” celebrates the life of “Jumpin’ Joe” Beyrle, who is believed to be one of just a handful of U. |
|
MOSCOW — Businessman Telman Ismailov and his son, Sarkhan, have returned to Russia and are investing in Chechnya, the republic’s press service said in a statement. |
All photos from issue.
|
|
|
|
|
Russian scientists have 100 meters of ice left to drill in order to reach the waters of the unique subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica. The scientists expect to reach the lake in 2010-2011. To make future research more effective, they have made a three-dimensional map of the shore and bottom of the lake, said Valery Lukin, head of the Russian Antarctic Expedition. The scientists have also developed new equipment to ensure that their entrance into the lake’s sterile waters will not result in external contamination, which has been a source of concern among the international scientific society, Lukin said. |
|
CITY HEROES
Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
Siege veterans on Thursday receiving a state award to mark the 65th anniversary of victory in World War II. The veterans queued for the award in the foyer of a business center opposite Smolny. |
|
MOSCOW — A police officer slammed his car into a female pedestrian on a central Moscow sidewalk while driving drunk, injuring the woman, senior police officials said Wednesday. Police major Alexander Razumnykh, a senior officer with the Basmanny district precinct, was drunk when he ran over the woman with his Mercedes at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Moscow traffic police chief Sergei Kazantsev said in a statement.
|
|
|
|
|
MOSCOW — The struggling Greek economy may get a boost from oil and gas pipeline projects with Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Greek counterpart said Tuesday, signaling a new urgency for the projects to start up. Moscow and Athens vowed to achieve progress with the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline in the near future, even as Bulgaria, another partner in the plan, has suspended its participation for additional scrutiny. |
|
MOSCOW — A list of state-owned companies set to be privatized will be announced within a few weeks, but the government will wait until the economy returns to full health before carrying out any of the sales, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said Tuesday. |
|
MOSCOW — The government nearly quadrupled the amount of aid that it gave to poor countries in 2009, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Wednesday, bringing Russia closer to its OECD peers in terms of foreign development assistance. “Russia allocated $800 million from the federal budget, according to preliminary estimations, in order to provide aid to developing countries,” Kudrin said Wednesday. |
|
|
|
 It has become customary in recent decades to blame the United States for every catastrophe afflicting the planet — from tsunamis to revolutions. Before the United States, it was the Jews who were blamed for the world’s problems. In medieval Europe, for example, Jews were said to have spread the plague — and, ironically, the accusations were most virulent in those regions where Jewish people didn’t even live. |
|
A couple of days ago, I was sitting in a restaurant with an acquaintance who had started his government career working with Anatoly Chubais and Yegor Gaidar and who is now a high-ranking bureaucrat. |
|
|
|
 A charity concert to aid political prisoners in Russia scheduled for Friday was on the brink of cancellation on Thursday, when the venue’s administration called the promoter to say that the planned concert could not take place due to an unspecified plumbing or roof leak. |
|
January saw the demise of several popular local hangouts: A2, Mod, Achtung Baby and BubbleBar all closed their doors due to differences with the owners of their premises, and are now busy either looking for new locations or, like Mod — which has already found rooms just around the corner from its former location — repairing new premises to reopen some time in the spring. |
 Already famous for its rich art collection, the State Hermitage Museum also appears to be overflowing with original ideas at present. A performance by Finland’s Tapiola Sinfonietta chamber orchestra under the baton of Oleg Snetkov will herald the opening of the Seventh International Musical Hermitage Festival on Saturday. Running through the end of February and fusing jazz, belcanto and baroque music in its playbill, Musical Hermitage encompasses a series of chamber concerts and jazz evenings in the Hermitage Theater, as well as in the Glinka Chamber Philharmonic Hall and the State Academic Cappella. |
|
 Last week, The New York Times web site wrote about a Belarussian sitcom — not two words you often see together — that the makers of a U.S. show say ripped off their ideas without buying the rights. |
|
Considering the size and diversity of St. Petersburg’s dining scene, Indian cuisine is disappointingly underrepresented in the city. Furthermore, the city’s only two real Indian restaurants — Tandoor and Tandoori Nights — are located in the same building at the beginning of Voznesensky Prospekt, geographically limiting the availability of one of the most delectable cuisines in the world even further. |
|
|
|
 LONDON — Britain and Ireland called in Israel’s envoys Thursday over the use of fake passports by the killers of a Hamas chief last month, as Dubai’s police chief said he was sure Mossad was behind the murder. Israel’s ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, was called in for talks with a senior official at the Foreign Office, the day after Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded an “full investigation” into the row over the passports. |
|
|
|
 For St. Petersburg residents and tourists alike, a trip to Moscow can be a great way to experience Russian culture at its heart. With the capital’s historic sights and contemporary attractions just a train ride away, even a weekend trip will allow for ample sightseeing. And with the Defenders of the Fatherland national holiday on Tuesday adding an extra two days onto this weekend, what better time to head for the onion domes and Stalin-era skyscrapers of the biggest city in Europe? As well as the usual year-round tours of the Kremlin and St. |
|
|
 SAO PAULO — Originally it was the Brazilian models — Gisele Bundchen, Caroline Ribeiro, Adriana Lima — who sparked an interest in the country as a fashion destination. When fashion experts who research emerging trends started travelling to Brazil, however, they quickly noted Sao Paulo as an emerging international fashion Mecca. |
Temp: -1°C clear 
Issues Archive