U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday delivered the Bush administration's most extensive and forceful statement about the danger posed by the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The Bush administration should think twice about launching a major war without the support of Congress.

Last week's murder of State Duma Deputy Vladimir Golovlyov could not be anything but political.

Sheremetyevo-2 on Tuesday was awarded Category 3 status under the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the highest ranking possible.

A million people retire every year, and the government intends to tell each one of them ahead of time how much their pensions will be.

In a move to increase competition for its contracts, oil major Sibneft signed a five-year agreement Tuesday with Baker Hughes, the world's third-largest oil field service company.

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

Military: Warlord Dead VLADIKAVKAZ, North Ossetia (AP) -- The military said Monday that Chechen rebel warlord Aslanbek Abdulkhadzhiyev was killed in a special operation in the town of Shali in the southern part of the republic on Sunday. General Vladimir Moltenskoi, the commander of troops in Chechnya, said Abdukhadzhiyev had been one of the 20 most powerful rebel warlords and that ""the operation to destroy him was conducted quite elegantly,"" Itar-Tass reported. Moltenskoi said Abdulkhadzhiyev had put up resistance, firing back at his assailants until his gun jammed and then starting to throw grenades before he was killed. Caviar Smuggler MIAMI (AP) -- The owner of a Florida caviar company pleaded guilty Monday to running a ring that smuggled more beluga caviar out of Russia in 1999 than the nation's entire export quota for the year. Viktor Tsimbal, president of Beluga Caviar Inc., pleaded guilty to wildlife smuggling conspiracy, smuggling and money laundering.

On Tuesday the Culture Ministry announced its intent to protect Russia's ailing cinema industry.

President Vladimir Putin has proposed that EU leaders consider visa-free travel between Russia and the EU as a way to resolve the dispute over Kaliningrad.

Rosneft has set a precedent by filing a lawsuit against Olma in which the state-owned oil company says that a disparaging report by the brokerage cost it $1 million.

$2 Trillion Needed MOSCOW (Prime-Tass) -- Russia will require about $2 trillion in investments over the next 20 years to insure stable economic growth, according to a report to be presented by the Russian delegation at the Earth Summit that opened in Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday. The report was prepared by the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Natural Resources Ministry in cooperation with a group of independent experts. According to the report, capital investment in the economy plunged 80 percent after the 1998 crisis. The report says budget funds will primarily be invested in the social, transport, telecommunications and financial sectors, as well as in environment protection and the defense industry. $10.5Bln Energo MOSCOW (Vedomosti) -- Irkutskenergo has insured its power grid and generators for a total of $10.5 billion. The policy, written by leading property insurer Ingosstrakh, is the second biggest in Russia, behind Russian Aluminum's $12.5 billion policy.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze renewed his harsh criticism of Moscow's alleged aggression Tuesday during a high-profile visit to the tense Pankisi Gorge.

A new four-year program aimed at improving child health and combatting the social ills of neglected and abandoned children and juvenile crime was approved by Cabinet on Tuesday.

The number of Russian women smuggled out of the country for sexual exploitation abroad has skyrocketed in recent years but police are virtually powerless to prevent it.

The Supreme Court of Adygea on Tuesday overturned a stunning decision by a lower court to acquit two top managers of embezzling $7 million in federal funds.

Prosecutors say the probe into the Golovlyov murder has exposed an unprecedented amount of embezzlement.

Americans like to call their politics a blood sport. They should come to Moscow, where, to a worrisome degree, that is more than just a metaphor.