Valentine's Day promotions are already being offered for those wishing to sign up early.

Chin Chin serves ""Chinesean"" food, or at least that's what's written on the front of the menu. Other than this amusing orthographical error, however, Chin Chin tends to get things right. It may be located on the basement level of a shopping center, but it does have its own separate entrance. And as the main dining hall is almost entirely separated from the rest of the arcade, it doesn't feel like you're eating in a food court. In fact, considering that Chin Chin would seem to be counting on attracting the weekday lunchtime crowd, it doesn't strike you as a typical lunch spot -- though it does offer free Wi-Fi. Its large main room is dark but cozy, with the bar area bathed in deep red lighting -- quite the opposite of a Pret a Manger-style place.

Though he never sought the position of dean, Yasen Zasursky's impact on Moscow State University endures.

As the race for Armenia's presidency heats up, with candidates hurling abuse at each other and gunshots fired outside campaign offices, pop music has emerged as a propaganda tool in this increasingly fierce struggle for power. Last week, Serzh Sargsyan, the current prime minister and the favored candidate of the political establishment, deployed Armenia's 2008 Eurovision Song Contest hopeful, Sirusho, as he chased the youth vote.

February is National Reading Month in the United States -- and not a moment too soon. Last November, the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts issued ""To Read or Not to Read,"" a sobering report detailing how American youth have been reading progressively less and worse, with both frequency and proficiency declining at ""troubling rates."" Once American kids enter adolescence, the NEA intoned, ""they fall victim to a general culture which does not encourage or reinforce reading ... [so] they do more poorly in school, in the job market and in civic life."" Yikes.

Ali Young, English-language teacher

Most countries with sovereign wealth funds say they are only investing their windfall profits for future generations. If only it were so simple for Russia.

President Vladimir Putin's decision to serve as prime minister should First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev become the next president has made the duo's electoral success in March a virtual certainty.

Mentioning Senator Hillary Clinton's name in an e-mail to a Moscow friend evoked a fury in the reply that caught me off guard. Though counting herself no great follower of President Vladimir Putin, my friend was still put out by Clinton's comment that he had no soul. She was offended both as a patriot and as an Orthodox believer.

Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze both won their reverse singles matches in straight sets Sunday, and Russia also won the doubles match, giving Russia a 4-1 victory over Israel in the Fed Cup World Group first round.

wo of Russia's plutonium-producing reactors may be closed six months ahead of schedule, a major milestone in U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts, a senior Energy Department official said.