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

Sibneft oil firm said Monday that it had ended its multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with UEFA Cup champion CSKA Moscow at the request of Sibneft's new owner.

When the U.S. government brought Ahmed Omar Abu Ali back to America from Saudi Arabia, there was every reason to expect his trial on terrorism charges to test the ability of U.S. courts to try cases laden with diplomatic and national security issues.

Out of gas"" is an expression seldom heard on the British side of the Atlantic, where automobiles don't run on gasoline -- cars run on petrol.

For a country so reliant for its national wealth -- and national mythology -- on its open arms to foreign immigrants, the United States is oddly prone to sudden fits of xenophobia when those overseas arrivals come from Asia.

Last week, the chairman of the Federation Council, Sergei Mironov, decided to leave his limousine in the lot and take a trip on the metro. Afterward, he emerged from the depths and shared some remarkable views on this novel experience. According to Izvestia, the chairman was shocked -- shocked! -- to discover that the metro was ""overused."" The trip had not been at rush hour, yet a short ride on the dark blue line proved ""more than enough"" for the chairman to get the picture.

The fate of AvtoVAZ was finally settled last week. According to the latest information, a controlling stake in the auto giant, held by the company itself and managed by its top executives, has been acquired by state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport. There is little doubt that the removal of Vladimir Kadannikov, whose undistinguished 20-year tenure as head of AvtoVAZ ended late last month, and the search for a new owner were orchestrated in the Kremlin. From this point on, in line with current Kremlin policy, AvtoVAZ will operate under direct state control.

St. Basil's Cathedral has seen executions, invading armies and intercontinental missiles on trucks in its backyard. But Russia's most famous church now faces something more threatening, preservationists say: rock music and snowboarders.

City Hall's plans to raise long-term commercial tenants' rents have upset small business owners, who say the higher costs are likely to drive them out of the center or out of business.