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

Brian Joubert joined Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin as the only men to beat Yevgeny Plushenko at the European Figure Skating Championships when he won the men's title Thursday.

About this time last year, a group of 15 armed and masked men -- from their accents, Russian soldiers -- arrived at the home of a Chechen family and seized two brothers, Kharon and Aslanbek.

President Vladimir Putin, in an address to the Russian Chamber of Commerce at the end of December, said two things.

Bomb Hits Stocks MOSCOW (Reuters) -- The benchmark stock index, the RTS, shed nearly 2 percent Friday, and traders said a deadly bomb blast in the Moscow metro fueled a decline that began with profit-taking the previous evening. Traders said the market had been in for a correction and the bomb might not scare long-term buyers away. Moscow has seen several deadly bombings in recent years, but the damage to investor confidence has always been quickly repaired. The RTS fell 1.6 percent to close at 616.43 points. Trading volumes were modest. Iraqi Debt Talks BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) -- The government expects to write off 65 percent of the $8 billion in debt Iraq owes it, excluding interest, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Saturday. Earlier he said Russia would write off 80 percent of the $10.5 billion Iraq owes, cutting it to about $2 billion. He did not provide a timeframe for the end of Iraqi debt talks. Kudrin met with U.S.