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

U.S. President George W. Bush has publicly cited Saudi Arabia's local and limited council elections as evidence that the kingdom is joining a regional shift toward greater political freedom. Better that he talk about Ali Dumaini, Matrouk Faleh and Abdullah Hamed, three intellectuals who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for advocating liberal democracy.

As the duke in the famous film about Baron von Munchhausen put it, you cannot go to war if your soldiers are dressed in last season's jackets.

A 12-member jury of the North Caucasus Military District Court in Rostov-on-Don decided last week that Captain Eduard Ulman and three subordinates were simply obeying orders when they killed six Chechen civilians in January 2002 and should not be held responsible.

International diplomacy takes place on many levels. It is not just secret negotiations, but carefully planned photo ops as well.

How have analysts reacted over the last five years to President Vladimir Putin's economic initiatives?

A consortium of Finnish companies has unveiled a joint plan to expand investment into the Russian and Baltic real estate markets

Mike Judge has sold so many Warsaw flats to rich fellow Irishmen in the last six months that now he's selling them whole buildings instead.

British Land, Britain's second-biggest property developer, agreed to buy Pillar Property in an offer valuing the smaller competitor at 811 million pounds ($1.5 billion) to add retail parks such as Glasgow Fort in Scotland.

More and more Russians are borrowing -- which means an increasing number of people are not paying back their loans.