LOCAL NEWS

TWO SENIOR POLICEMEN FIRED OVER KIDNAPPING

MOSCOW — Two top Moscow police officials were fired Wednesday after officers under them were accused of kidnapping a Belarussian businessman and his son for ransom, sending what the Kremlin hopes is a stiff warning to police chiefs nationwide that they will be held accountable for the wrongdoings of their underlings.

Moscow police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev dismissed Colonel Vyachaslav Yakovlev and his deputy, Colonel Andrei Sidorenko, from their leadership of a department in the city’s police criminal task force, or MUR.

The officials were fired for their “weak organization of work with subordinates,” police spokesman Viktor Biryukov told reporters.

PRIME MINISTER THREATENS TO FINE 4 TYCOONS

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin scolded generating companies and threatened to fine four wealthy owners for failing to invest in new capacity during a visit to the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Station on Wednesday.

Putin said the giant energy holdings, which bought most of the country’s generating assets after they were sold off to private investors, have failed to live up to their end of the bargain by investing in increased generating capacity.

New Custody Dispute Flares Up in Finland

Finnish police have opened criminal proceedings against Russian mother Inga Rantala, accusing her of assaulting her seven-year-old Russian-Finnish son Robert, who has been put in a children’s home by Finnish social workers.

The case of Rantala, a native of the Leningrad Oblast who is married to a Finn and lives in the Finnish town of Turku, was widely reported in the Russian media on Thursday, with reports broadcast on national television channels.

NATIONAL NEWS

NON-COMBAT DEATHS PLAGUE RUSSIAN ARMY

Fifty-eight young men died as a result of non-combat-related causes in the military detachments of the northwestern district in 2009, Igor Lebed, chief military prosecutor of the Leningrad Military District, said Thursday.

Nationwide, the figure totaled 273 deaths, according to the country’s Defense Ministry.

RUSSIA, EU LOOK TO LIFT VISAS

MOSCOW — A daunting amount of work is necessary to achieve visa-free travel between Russia and Europe, but Moscow is promising maximum cooperation with Brussels on that issue, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and new EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Wednesday.

GROZNY TO STAGE STREET-RACING CONTEST NAMED AFTER KADYROV

MOSCOW — A street-racing tournament named after Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov will be held in Grozny next weekend, the Chechen government said Wednesday.

More than 30 drivers have applied to participate in the one-kilometer race on Saturday night, which is open for everyone to participate in or watch, the Chechen government said in a statement.

ACCIDENT IN IRKUTSK CAUSES PUBLIC OUTRAGE

MOSCOW — Irkutsk police said Wednesday that a driver who showed more concern about her car than two women whom she critically injured in a crash in December faces possible criminal charges.

OPINION

THE 2ND SUPERPOWER

Few people around the world foresaw the collapse of the Soviet Union or the demise of communism. But back in 1981, Robert Tucker, a prominent neocon and an old-school U.S. isolationist, surprised our graduate seminar at an international affairs school by suggesting not only that the Soviet empire might be on its last legs, but that if and when it crumbled it would not be such a great thing for the United States.

THE OLYMPIC SWEATSHOP

I don’t like human rights, environmental activists or the Olympic Games. You might call me crazy for this belief. After all, these three things are beneficial to mankind, and most of their participants don’t make a lot of money.

CULTURE

GOING SOLO

Laetitia Sadier is striking out on her own. With Stereolab — the seminal British-French band she fronts — on hiatus, and Monade — her own spin-off French outfit — disbanded, she has recorded a solo album called “The Trip,” to be released later this year.

CHERNOV’S CHOICE

Sting made the news on Sunday, when information about him accepting between $1.5 million and $3 million to play in Tashkent for Uzbek president Islam Karimov’s glamorous daughter and heir was picked up by the press.

ART IN THE ARCTIC

Russian viewers will have to wait till April 1 to see Alexei Popogrebsky’s Arctic thriller, “How I Ended This Summer,” which won two prizes at the Berlin Film Festival, a spokesperson for the film said last week.

Actors Sergei Puskepalis and Grigory Dobrygin shared the Silver Bear for Best Actor, and Pavel Kostomarov won a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for his cinematography at the festival last week.

FRANCE’S FINEST

Upon entering the French restaurant Gavroche on a Saturday afternoon, we immediately felt very at home in what appears to be a bustling authentic French bistro, which is at once laid-back and busy.

Giant Elephants Take to the Ring at City’s Circus

Enormous elephants, bears driving cars, and more traditional acrobatics performed at dizzying heights are all elements of “The mystery of the giant elephants” — the latest show to premiere at St. Petersburg’s Bolshoi State Circus on Feb. 12.

“It is definitely a success,” said Alexander Chervotkin, the new show’s director.

WORLD

Pakistan and India Resume Negotiations

NEW DELHI — India and Pakistan held their first formal talks for 14 months Thursday, seeking to put their volatile relationship back on track after it was derailed by the devastating 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir met for three hours in New Delhi for talks that offered little hope of a breakthrough but carried vital importance for regional peace and stability.