Jan Koller scored in the fading minutes of the first half Tuesday as Borussia Dortmund beat new Russian champion Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1 in Group C of the Champions League.

U.S. President George W. Bush spared the first female turkey in the history of White House Thanksgiving turkey pardons Wednesday, an act that was apparently so unfamiliar that Bush twice referred to Katie, a 3.5-kilogram all-white clump of feathers, as ""he.""

A brief look at the stories making headlines in the Russian-language press

It has become a tradition that all military reform plans in Russian always consist of three stages. Since 1992, three different defense ministers have introduced three major military reform plans. The first stage of each plan lasted about two years and was successfully completed.

The Bush administration is starting to flesh out its promise to expand the United States' paltry foreign assistance.

Minsk Ups Slavneft Bid MINSK, Belarus (Reuters) -- Belarus said Wednesday it wanted at least $250 million for its 10.85 percent stake in oil firm Slavneft, $40 million more than the sole bidder, Sibneft, has offered. Belarus is now tendering its almost 11 percent stake and Sibneft is the only prospective buyer so far, having put in a $210 million bid. ""If Russia says it wants to raise $1.7 billion for its stake, we can easily calculate how much the Belarus-owned stock is worth. It is about $250 million,"" Belarus Deputy Economy Minister Oleg Melnikov told reporters. Russia will auction its 75 percent stake in Slavneft on Dec. 18, with a starting price set at $1.7 billion. Cost of Doing Business MOSCOW (Prime-Tass) -- Russian businesses together pay out a sum equal to half the country's gross domestic product in taxes, nontax payments and ""expenses for overcoming administrative barriers,"" Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said Wednesday.