Church insiders said the attack, which happened late Thursday in southern Moscow, could have been the work of radical Islamists.

In his clearest reference yet to the massive allegations of fraud in last month’s regional elections, Medvedev said the party must learn to win fairly.

Putin offered mild praise to the governing party, which had just met with a harsh rebuke from President Dmitry Medvedev, and promoted government programs in his first major domestic policy speech since the president’s state-of-the-nation address.

The Alrosa, a diesel-electric submarine, was on a training exercise when the problem occurred.

The game, which has attracted widespread criticism for its violent content, puts the player in a world where the Russian government has been taken over by ultranationalists intent on provoking a war with the United States.

Workers want a guaranteed yearly raise of 8 percent, a 40-hour work week and two weeks of discretionary vacation instead of one week.

Russians seem to like density. Even in uncrowded places, people leave each other no space.

Putin announced that the neighboring countries would revise their gas trade contract to meet Ukraine’s requests and preserve the fragile delivery arrangement.

Gazprom wants to take over GdF Suez's 5.3 percent stake in VNG, in exchange according GdF a participation in the planned Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea.

In less than two decades, Russia has created a wide range of legal rules and regulations appropriate to a 21st-century economy.