After dealing with the problems that followed the Soviet Union's fall, Karina Dashko is now back in the corporate saddle.

An obscure lane about halfway between Hermitage Garden and Tsvetnoi Bulvar isn't what realtors have in mind when they crow ""location, location, location!""

The Japanese-Russian cafe Kurily has just introduced two new draft beers, both appropriate for the colder months of the year. The new dark brews are Paulaner Dunkel, an unfiltered wheat beer, and Beamish Irish Stout.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed on Sunday plans to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates amid reports that French firms could construct up to two nuclear reactors there.

U.S. President George W. Bush pursued efforts to isolate Iran among its neighbors Sunday, urging them to help stop Tehran from threatening security.

The president of Interpol, Jackie Selebi, mired in a corruption scandal in his native South Africa, has resigned ""out of respect"" for the international police organization, an Interpol statement said Sunday.

Iraq's parliament passed a benchmark law allowing lower-ranking former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to reclaim government jobs, the first major piece of U.S.-backed legislation it has adopted.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to stand atop the world's highest mountain, was remembered as a deeply driven but unassuming man who strived to help Nepal's people in the decades after his ascent of Mount Everest.

The U.S. intelligence chief says waterboarding ""would be torture"" if used against him or if someone under interrogation actually was taking water into his lungs.

On Moscow's Romanov Pereulok stands a handsome apartment building dating from the turn of the 20th century. Its facade is festooned with memorial plaques bearing dozens of names of illustrious former tenants, including Semyon Budyonny, a Red Cavalry commander in the Russian Civil War, and Alexei Kosygin, a Soviet prime minister.

Initial Pipeline Deal SignedGazprom Neft InvestigatedGazprom to Enter IrelandBelarus to Raise Transit FeeRosneft Seeking $2BlnCaptial Inflow $82.3BlnNovember Trade Surplus UpToyota Adds Low-End LineBelarussian Protesters GuiltyAnheuser-Busch Offers HelpExxon Wants to LeadKashagan MeetingSotheby's, Christie's RecordFor the Record:

Kasyanov Aides DetainedVeshnyakov Named EnvoyYushchenko's PoisoningOil Spill Threatens to SpreadSenior Police Officer KilledEmergency LandingEnvoy Hopeful on KosovoRussian Orthodox FearsFor the Record

A legal representative for Bank of New York Mellon will appear for the first time in court to defend the bank against allegations as a $22.5 billion money-laundering case resumes Monday.

Scottish & Newcastle could this week trigger a ""shotgun"" clause attached to its valuable Russia-based brewing venture in a last-gasp move to fight off a bid from Carlsberg and Heineken or extract an even higher price, analysts said.