The Moscow Times

Market Matters: Struggling Stocks Spur New Record Oil Prices
Oil hit another record of just under $143 as global stocks tumbled last week, with the Dow briefly dipping into bear market territory as investors sought safety in gold, government debt and the Swiss franc.

News

Immersing Themselves in a Chilly Tradition
By Alexander Osipovich / Staff Writer It was below freezing, and many of the worshipers had been standing for hours in a poorly heated 17th-century church.

Bush Asks Burns to Leave U.S. Embassy
By Kevin O'Flynn / Staff Writer U.S. Ambassador William Burns is leaving Moscow after a three-year stint for a promotion to the No. 3 spot in the U.S. State Department, where he will be in charge of the country's strategy on Iran.

South Stream Signed After Night Out
By Anna Smolchenko / Staff Writer A visit to one of the Bulgarian president's favorite bars plays a role in clinching the pipeline deal.

Cold War Chess Legend Dies at 64
By Kristin Arna Bragadottir / Reuters Bobby Fischer, the eccentric genius who became the United States' only world chess champion by humbling the Soviet Union's best but who spent his last years as a fugitive from U.S. authorities, has died at 64.

Opposition's NATO Protests Paralyze Ukrainian Parliament
The Associated Press Opposition lawmakers blocked the Ukrainian parliament's work on Friday, protesting the government's latest efforts to seek NATO membership for the ex-Soviet republic.

Search On for Patarkatsishvili in London
Reuters Georgian officials are in London pursuing a multimillionaire who prosecutors have charged with plotting a coup, a source in Georgia's Interior Ministry said Friday.

Belarussian Editor Gets Jail Time
Reuters, AP Belarus on Friday jailed for three years an editor of an independent newspaper that reproduced cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that first appeared in Denmark in 2005 and caused mass demonstrations across the Muslim world.

Saakashvili Talking Up Conciliation
By Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili / The Associated Press Mikheil Saakashvili was sworn in to a second presidential term Sunday, pledging to mend fences with Russia, push Georgia closer to the West and bring prosperity to a republic troubled by a divisive election that opponents claim was rigged.

Georgian Army Switches to U.S. Rifles
Reuters Soldiers from NATO aspirant Georgia switched their Soviet-era Kalashnikov rifles on Friday for U.S.-designed M4 models in part of a drive to distance themselves from their Russian-dominated past.

4th Nuclear Fuel Shipment Arrives in Iran
The Associated Press A fourth Russian shipment of nuclear fuel arrived in Iran on Sunday, destined for a power plant being constructed in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Moscow's Women Like German Men
The Moscow Times Moscow's women appear to exercise a special attraction on German men, as they topped the list of foreign nationals taking local brides in the capital last year. There were 147 marriages registered between Russian women and German men in 2006.

Germany Sends Violent Teen to Siberia
AP, MT A troubled German teen is spending nine months in remote Siberia as part of efforts to turn him away from violence, officials said.

Baluyevsky Warns of Nuclear Defense
By Steve Gutterman / The Associated Press The country's top military officer said Saturday that Moscow could use nuclear weapons in preventive strikes to protect itself and its allies, the latest aggressive remarks from increasingly assertive Russian authorities.

Sword-Toting Gunman Nabbed Near Capitol
Reuters A man carrying a sword and a shotgun was arrested a block from the Capitol on Friday, but there were no shots fired or injuries, police said.

Ethnic Fighting Escalates in Kenya
The Associated Press Renewed ethnic fighting broke out in Nairobi Sunday where residents said several people hacked to death with machetes and homes were set ablaze in more violence stemming from the disputed presidential election.

Cubans Vote Amid Talk of Transition
Reuters Cubans voted in parliamentary elections on Sunday that could start a transition to a post-Castro government in Cuba after half a century of rule by the Communist revolutionary.

McCain, Clinton Claim New Victories
The Associated Press John McCain on Sunday called the Republican presidential contest ""still very competitive,"" but said his South Carolina win gave him momentum heading into the next big battle in Florida. The Democrats looked ahead to a showdown in their party's South Carolina primary after Hillary Rodham Clinton edged out Barack Obama in Nevada.

2nd Round Likely in Serbian Elections
By Ellie Tzortzi / Reuters Serbs voted on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that could decide future ties with the West after the expected loss of its breakaway Kosovo province.

Appeal Over Yukos Executive's Health
Reuters Rights group Amnesty International on Friday urged Russia to provide proper treatment for a jailed Yukos executive who has AIDS and says he could die if he is not moved to a specialized hospital.

Reporter Declared Security Threat
Reuters Russian diplomats said journalist Natalya Morar had been expelled from Russia because she was a national security risk and that she was banned from returning.

Investigation of Activist's Killing Called Too Slow
The Associated Press Opposition leaders accused prosecutors Friday of dragging their feet in the investigation into the killing of a National Bolshevik activist found unconscious hours after telephoning friends to say he was being followed by police.

Father Who Killed Controller Named to Government Post
The Associated Press An architect who killed a Swiss-based air traffic controller for a plane crash in which his wife and children died was appointed Friday to a senior government post in North Ossetia.

Kasyanov Says State Derailing Kremlin Bid
Reuters Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said Saturday that the Interior and Justice ministries were conducting a coordinated campaign to prevent him from running for president.

British Council Offered an Out
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer The Foreign Ministry hinted Friday that the British Council's regional offices might be allowed to reopen if Britain resumed cooperation with the Federal Security Service and expressed a willingness to ease visa rules for Russians.

Business

Wal-Mart Seen in Russia in 2 Years
Reuters Wal-Mart Stores, the world's biggest retailer, could expand its reach into Russia within the next 24 months, according to a research note from UBS.

Prokhorov Criticizes Norilsk Management
Bloomberg Mikhail Prokhorov, a billionaire investor in Norilsk Nickel, accused management Friday of using the ""company's resources"" to favor Vladimir Potanin, another billionaire shareholder, escalating a dispute between the business partners.

Kudrin to Attend Davos With Little-Known Aide
By Gleb Bryanski / Reuters Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin will join a sovereign wealth funds discussion at the Davos forum accompanied by a little-known official while his deputy remains in jail, sources said Friday.

Only One of 9 Firms Sells at UES Auction
Reuters Unified Energy System failed to auction off eight out of nine of its supply firms Friday, it said in a statement, throwing doubt on its ambitious schedule of company sell-offs.

Tajiks Hope Plant Ends Energy Crisis
Reuters Tajikistan, its utilities paralyzed by the coldest winter in decades, on Sunday opened a new Russian-built power plant hailed by the authorities as a step toward solving an energy crisis.

Serbian Prime Minister Backs South Stream Pact
By Ellie Tzortzi / Reuters Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Friday publicly backed a Russian offer of an energy pact that could see Serbia included in the South Stream pipeline in return for Gazprom getting a stake in Serb oil monopoly NIS.

Mitvol's Resignation Rejected
By Catrina Stewart and Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writers Oleg Mitvol, the state environmental inspector who led aggressive campaigns against foreign energy companies, abruptly resigned Friday to protest the possible appointment of a new head to his agency.

Sports

Volleyballers Through
The Associated Press The Russian women's volleyball team beat Poland in five sets Sunday to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Russia Sets Up Agency to Catch Drug Cheats
Reuters Russia has created an independent anti-doping agency, RusADA, in an effort to boost the fight against performance-enhancing drugs, the head of the country's Federal Agency for Physical Culture and Sports said Friday.

City Wise

Sparking a Chain Reaction
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer From humble beginnings, Merab Elashvili has built a sprawling restaurant network.

Business in Brief

Business in Brief
Ukraine's Bird Flu OutbreakBan Lifted on Polish GoodsBekaert to Build PlantDeripaska's Deal With IteraSistema Gets Shyam Telelink

Obama, King and Pushkin
By Mark Teeter How should Americans explain to curious Russians the groundbreaking presidential candidacy of Illinois Senator Barack Obama? I'd say skip the lecture on caucuses and primaries and go straight to the candidate's three bullet points: change, hope and dreams.

Brews With Fine Views
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Dubinin is not your typical beer restaurant. There are no tacky knickknacks strewn about the place, no fireplace in the corner. And the wait staff doesn't wear lederhosen or any other cutesy national costumes.

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey The recently opened second Bocconcino (pictured), located in the Vremena Goda shopping center on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, has brought in a new pizzaiolo to man the pizza oven. Abramo Fornari hails from Forte Dei Marmi and has worked in numerous restaurants across Tuscany.

News in Brief
Spain Extradites SuspectDomodedovo Airport GlitchAzeri Editor Gets 18 MonthsBorder Gunbattle Kills One2 Dead in Suspected Leak

A New Hope For Imedi After Saakashvili Wins
By Matthew Collin When I switch to Channel 14 on my television, all that is visible is a test signal. The station that used to broadcast there, Imedi, is in a self-imposed shutdown, a casualty of these long months of political crisis in Georgia. The flamboyant tycoon who founded Imedi is in virtual exile; he is wanted on charges of plotting a terrorist attack and a coup. If you are looking for a story of moral heroics with a reassuring conclusion, don't read on.

Sprint Finishes Follow Marathon Day
By John Pye / The Associated Press Quick results were the norm at the Australian Open on Sunday following the longest day in Grand Slam history.

Sweet 16
By Richard Lourie Some anniversaries go unmarked and are all the more significant for that. Maybe it was the excitement when President Vladimir Putin named First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his successor, while Putin was named Time magazine's Person of the Year. At the same time, the 16th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union on Dec. 25 was neither mourned nor celebrated by public or pundits.

Appointments

Market Matters

Exchanges Succumb to Global Downturn
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer Investors received a nasty shock last week as Russian markets finally succumbed to the downturn on global exchanges, as the RTS posted a five-day slump of 7.7 percent.

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