The Moscow Times

Business: RenCap Cuts RTS '08 Target to 2,350
Renaissance Capital on Monday slashed its year-end forecast for the benchmark RTS Index from 3,000 to 2,350 and increased its equity risk premium for the country from 4 percent to 5.5 percent in a sign of continued investor jitters.

News

Ivanov Calls for New Nuclear Arms Regime
By David Rising / The Associated Press The United States and Russia should set aside Cold War arms-control treaties and replace them with new, multilateral agreements to combat nuclear proliferation, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Sunday at a security conference in Munich.

Putin Sees Lower Taxes, Fewer Bribes
By Anna Smolchenko / Staff Writer With three months left in his presidency, Vladimir Putin on Friday called for tax cuts, a downsizing of bureaucracy and less state involvement in the economy -- reforms that he said should allow Russians to live longer and better.

Speech Suggests Best Is Yet to Come
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer President Vladimir Putin extolled the successes of his eight years in office in a speech Friday that politicians and analysts said indicated his desire to remain the country's premier political figure for years to come.

Georgia Says It's Prepared to Lift Sanctions on Abkhazia
Reuters Georgia is prepared to lift an economic blockade on its breakaway territory of Abkhazia, the minister leading negotiations with the state's separatist regions said Friday.

In Rare Criticism, Newspaper Scolds Nazarbayev
Reuters A leading Kazakh newspaper criticized President Nursultan Nazarbayev's state of the nation address on Friday, a rare voice of dissent in the Central Asian state's tightly controlled media.

U.S. Disturbed by Iran Nuclear News
Reuters An Iranian rocket launch and reports that Iran is testing an advanced centrifuge are ""deeply disturbing"" and strengthen the case for a third UN sanctions resolution against Tehran, a top U.S. official said Friday.

U.S. Funds Institutes Building Iran Reactor
By Matthew L. Wald / NEW YORK TIMES SERVICE The U.S. Energy Department is subsidizing two Russian nuclear institutes that are building important parts of a reactor in Iran whose construction the United States spent years trying to stop, according to a House of Representatives committee.

News in Brief
Tver Activist Stuck in ClinicEx-Spy Frightened in U.K.Gas Explosion Hits KievAfghans Get Turkmen Aid

Lukin Criticizes the Courts
The Moscow Times Human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin said his efforts to defend citizens' rights was being hampered by courts that lack independence and that issue poor rulings.

Liberal Opposition Will Meet in Search of Unity
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer Representatives of the fractured liberal opposition will meet next month to discuss the creation of a broad liberal alliance and the development of a coordinated political platform, opposition leaders said Friday.

U.S. Pastor to Be Held for 2 Months
By David Nowak / Staff Writer A Moscow court has ordered a U.S. pastor to remain in detention for two months while prosecutors investigate him on suspicion of smuggling ammunition into the country, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said Sunday.

Council of Europe to Send Observers
Reuters, AP But the top observer from the council's Parliamentary Assembly says the campaign shows signs of unfairness.

Belgrade Suggests It May Try to Keep Serb Areas in Kosovo
The Associated Press Serbia's minister for Kosovo suggested Saturday that Belgrade would seek to keep control over Serb-populated areas after the predominantly ethnic Albanian province declares independence. Slobodan Samardzic, Serbia's minister for Kosovo, said Friday that Belgrade had information indicating that Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence on Feb. 17.

Fires Blaze in London Landmark
The Associated Press Firefighters dug through the wreckage of London's famous Camden market Sunday, trying to find out what started a large blaze that seriously damaged the market and surrounding buildings.

Obama Sweeps Clinton in 4 Contests
The Associated Press The candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination has his best campaign night so far.

Ivanov Agrees to Global Warming Talks
Reuters Japan and Russia have agreed to start talks on fighting global warming, including possible greenhouse gas emissions trading that would help Tokyo to meet its goals under the Kyoto Protocol, Japanese media reported Sunday.

U.S. Air Force Notes Russia's Spending
LOS ANGELES TIMES The Air Force's top officer has presented a new strategic plan for the service that warns the United States cannot ignore ""ascendant powers"" seeking to challenge U.S. military superiority as it fights low-intensity wars elsewhere.

Students Back British Council
The Associated Press As students demonstrated in St. Petersburg on Friday in support of the British Council, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown renewed his criticism of Moscow's decision to order the council to suspend operations in the city and Yekaterinburg.

Japan Says Bomber Violated Airspace
AP, Reuters NATO, meanwhile, asks Moscow to give advanced warning of military exercises.

Aleksanyan Transferred to Clinic
AP, MT Vasily Aleksanyan, the former Yukos executive suffering from AIDS-related cancer and tuberculosis, has been moved from jail to a specialized clinic, his lawyer and a prison spokesman said.

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