By the end of this week Gazprom is set to become one of the two most liquid stocks on the global emerging markets, promising foreign investors a potential maximum 49.6 percent of shares in the world's largest natural gas company.

A group of expats organizes a Christmas party in aid of the Nastenka Fund, a children's cancer charity.

Masses in English and French

The parliamentary elections in Chechnya orchestrated by the Kremlin on Nov. 27 were another step in President Vladimir Putin's strategy to gain international legitimacy for his handling of Chechnya.

A diplomat who witnessed negotiations between President Vladimir Putin and Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov shared his delighted reaction with me: ""Niyazov,"" said the diplomat, ""answered every question on gas with 'That's for the managers to decide.' But not Vladimir Vladimirovich: He knew every figure and the route of every cubic meter of gas. You got the impression that a professor was talking with a puppy dog.""

One nasty morning, Comrade Stalin discovered that his favorite pipe was missing. Naturally, he called in his henchman, Lavrenty Beria, and instructed him to find the pipe.

A smiling Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was released from the hospital on Tuesday, saying he was in a hurry and fit enough to get back to work after suffering a mild stroke two days earlier.

Sunni Arabs on Tuesday protested the partial election results released a day earlier, calling them a ""falsification of the will of the people"" and saying evidence of fraud was abundant.