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BP to Pull 88 Foreign Staff From TNK-BP
By Miriam Elder / Staff Writer BP has decided to withdraw 88 foreign employees assigned to its troubled joint venture TNK-BP, the company said Wednesday, in recognition that the Russian-British firm’s escalating shareholder dispute shows no signs of nearing a resolution.

Kremlin to Cede Power to Fight Graft
By Anna Smolchenko / The Moscow Times President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday that Moscow had to cede some of its powers to regional governments if it is to be successful in rooting out the corruption he described as having become a “way of life” in the country.

Mystery Shrouds Shchekochikhin's Death
By Nabi Abdullaev, Svetlana Osadchuk / Staff Writers Five years on, the circumstances surrounding the death of Yury Shchekochikhin, a liberal State Duma deputy and one of the country’s most fearless investigative journalists, remain an enigma.

Toilets Hijack Bastrykin Site
The Moscow Times The personal web site of Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin has been occupied by an apparently defunct company selling bathroom fittings.

Foreign NGOs Lose Tax Status
The Moscow Times Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a decree reducing the number of international organizations allowed to issue tax-free grants from 101 to just 12, Interfax reported Wednesday.

News in Brief
Unknown Duma Warns Lithuania9 Dead in Helicopter CrashPoliceman Frees Prisoners

Deputy Accuses Top Investigator of Illegal Business
By Nikolaus von Twickel / The Moscow Times State Duma Deputy and muckraking journalist Alexander Khinshtein has accused Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin of illegally running a real estate business in the Czech Republic.

Norwegian Found Dead in Astrakhan
By Yelena Shuster / Special to The Moscow Times A Norwegian engineer and his Russian wife have been found dead with gunshot wounds in their Astrakhan apartment, and two suspects have been detained, investigators said Wednesday.

2 Killed in Explosion At Sochi Apartments
By Matt Siegel / Staff Writer An explosion ripped through an apartment building in Sochi on Wednesday morning, killing two people and injuring more than 30 in the city scheduled to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, police and emergency services said.

Ombudsman Seeks Probe Of Suspected Mass Grave
Reuters Chechnya’s ombudsman is demanding an investigation into a suspected mass grave where he said federal soldiers buried up to 300 civilians they had killed in an attack.

Chechnya to Start Teaching Math in Chechen Language
The Associated Press Chechnya's schools will start teaching mathematics in the Chechen language, officials said -- the latest move by President Ramzan Kadyrov to broaden the region's autonomy.

Reporter's Kin Slams Media Leaks
Reuters, MT The family and colleagues of murdered reporter Anna Politkovskaya on Wednesday demanded an inquiry into leaks to the media that they said risked scuppering efforts to prosecute her killers.

Korean Autoworkers Strike Over Beef
The Associated Press Tens of thousands of South Korean autoworkers went on strike Wednesday to oppose resumed U.S. beef imports and the pro-business policies of new President Lee Myung-bak, joining anti-government protests that have raged for weeks.

Palestinian Takes Loader on Rampage
The Associated Press A Palestinian driving an enormous construction vehicle went on a deadly rampage on a busy Jerusalem street Wednesday, plowing into a string of cars, buses and pedestrians, killing at least three people and wounding at least 45 before he was shot dead by security officers.

Tsvangirai Rejects Unity Talks
Reuters Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday rejected talks on a unity government, saying President Robert Mugabe must first stop violence and accept him as the rightful election winner.

Election Riots Kill 5 In Mongolia
Reuters A riot in Mongolia’s capital over alleged election fraud has killed five people, dampening hopes for a period of stable government to develop the mining sector and tackle inflation.

EU Challenge to GPS to Be Launched
Reuters The European Commission launched a procurement program on Tuesday for the bulk of its Galileo satellite project, which will include 30 satellites and is aimed at rivaling the U.S. Global Positioning System.

New Pictures of Solar System Show Image of Dented Circle
The Associated Press When viewed from the rest of the galaxy, the edge of our solar system appears slightly dented as if a giant hand is pushing one edge of it inward, far-traveling NASA probes reveal.

'Doomsday' Collider Elicits Controversy, Lawsuit
By Douglas Birch / The Associated Press The most powerful atom-smasher ever built could make some bizarre discoveries, such as invisible matter or extra dimensions in space, after it is switched on in August.

Business

Oil Tax Cuts Passed In Key 2nd Reading
By Maria Levitov / Bloomberg The State Duma approved tax cuts for oil producers to encourage exploration and development in a crucial second reading Wednesday.

Oil Output Has First H1 Fall in Decade
By Tanya Mosolova / The Moscow Times National oil output edged up 0.3 percent in June from the previous month, but was down almost 1 percent in the first half of the year, casting further doubts over the government's goal to sustain growth this year.

PIK Buys $640M of Land in Rostov
Bloomberg PIK Group said Wednesday that it bought land in the Rostov region to build a 15 billion ruble ($640 million) residential and commercial complex as it expands outside Moscow.

Business in Brief
Unknown Yevroset Quits Baltic StatesChubais Sells Off UES ChairCisco Lays $60M 'Anchor'Bill to Delay Gambling BanMySpace-MTS PartnershipProkhorov Won't Take BetFor the Record

Fitch Voices Concern Over Inflation
Reuters Fitch confirmed Russia's investment grade rating Wednesday but said it was worried about economic overheating and inflation.

Prokhorov Touts New Innovations
By Nadia Popova / The Moscow Times Businessmen and Gryzlov tell a business conference that the time has come to invest in science.

Investor Signed Up For Tourist Spaceship
By Simon Saradzhyan / The Moscow Times The Federal Space Agency has signed an agreement with an investor to secure financing for an additional ship to help the country cash in on the growing space-tourism boom.

Campbell Says Russians Love Its Soup
The Associated Press The Campbell Soup Co. said Tuesday that it was persuading Russian shoppers to cook with Campbell products.

Exxon Balks at Sakhalin-1 Gas Offer
Reuters ExxonMobil is dissatisfied with an offer from Gazprom to sell gas from its Sakhalin-1 project for half the domestic market price, a source close to the discussions said Wednesday.

Opinion

Why the Kremlin Is So Scared of Ukraine
Russia and the West are losing each other yet again. The magnetic attraction and repulsion between the two has been going on for centuries. Indeed, historians have counted as many as 25 of these cycles since the reign of Tsar Ivan III.

It's Time to Float the Ruble
It is often argued that Russia should quote its oil price in rubles because it would reduce oil companies' volatility of revenues and thus facilitate investment planning. Perhaps it would also strengthen the ruble exchange rate and promote its status as an international transaction currency.

Georgy Bovt: The Price of Rotten Stability
Stability has become the catchword of the Putin era. The country's political life is now so predictable that most people no longer take any interest whatsoever in politics. It's indeed all very dull and boring.

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