The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is studying options for military strikes against Iran as part of a broader strategy of coercive diplomacy to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program, according to U.S. officials and independent analysts.

The debate is over: Russia is not a democracy. President Vladimir Putin has weakened checks and balances within the state, diminished political and legal transparency, and made it impossible for independent media, political parties or nongovernmental groups to flourish.

Proof positive that the decade of Boris Yeltsin's rule was a Golden Age in modern Russian history is that during the 1990s Russia had no political emigrants.

Rules on Banking Capital The State Duma passed a law on Friday requiring banks applying for an operating license to have at least 5 million euros ($6.10 million) in their initial charter capital. The new law will allow existing banks to have initial charter capital below 5 million euros as long as they meet minimum capital adequacy requirements. About three-quarters of Russian banks currently have a charter capital below 5 million euros. (Reuters) Property Fund Chief Fired Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov fired Vladimir Malin as chairman of the Federal Property Fund, after Malin had been suspended from the post in the wake of bribery charges filed in 2004. Fradkov fired Malin, citing a law related to the effects of court decisions on state employees, the government said today in a statement on its official web site.

Dogged Dmitry Tursunov beat teenager Richard Gasquet 6-1, 3-6, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday to give Russia a winning 3-1 lead over France and a place in the Davis Cup semifinals.