The 29-year-old Londoner landed a handful of big left-right combinations in the early rounds that troubled the towering Russian, who could not pin the quick Haye to the ropes.

Moscow remains beholden to the Russian economic boom, which in turn directly depends on oil prices, and if they fall again in coming months, the city's real estate bubble may burst spectacularly.

Even the most seemingly trivial factor can spark a historical event.

Yevgeny Skripelev also said his client had been motivated by personal animosity and was not linked to any ultranationalist groups.

Vedomosti says RusAl and its lawyers are bombarding its reporters with threatening phone calls and e-mails after an Oct. 26 article.

Medvedev needs to decide whether he wants to make his regular smart speech or go for the jugular and ask Russians to sacrifice for their country to bridge the “modernization divide” with leading powers.

The finance minister also said he was concerned that asset price bubbles might materialize because of massive rapid capital inflows.

A Gazprom spokesman declined to comment on whether the payment had been received, saying only that the money was expected by Monday.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, however, insisted that there would be no delays and the country would get a new president Jan. 17.

Rigla, the retail unit of drug wholesaler Protek, said Tamiflu revenue jumped fourfold between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30.