Arts & Entertainment

Arts & Entertainment

(Adds comments from bank experts in paragraphs 9-18)

Anatoly Korolev and Dmitry Kosyrev, RIA Novosti commentators

A plane carrying players to a Kontinental...

A plane carrying players to a Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) all-stars clash in Minsk, Belarus, landed with only one engine functioning, an airport spokesman told RIA Novosti on Monday.

A proposed merger between the two largest...

A proposed merger between the two largest gas companies of Russia and Ukraine has caused a surge of criticism among the Ukrainian opposition, the Russian press said on Tuesday.

Around 20 militants have been killed in...

Around 20 militants have been killed in a clash with troops in the volatile south Russian republic of Ingushetia, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday.

At least 152 people were trapped after a...

At least 152 people were trapped after a coal mine under construction in north China"s Shanxi province was flooded on Sunday, the Xinhua official news agency reported, citing local officials.

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, December 21 (RIA Novosti)...

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, December 21 (RIA Novosti) - The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft which is to carry three astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) was launched in the early hours of Monday, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.

Canada"s women bobsledders took the gold...

Canada"s women bobsledders took the gold and silver medals at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver to bring an overall number of the medals to 15.

Canadian short track skaters won the gold...

Canadian short track skaters won the gold and bronze in the 500-meter men"s short track race in Vancouver.

Chief Palestinian presidential advisor Sahib...

Chief Palestinian presidential advisor Sahib Oreikat has called off his visit to Moscow for the Mideast Quartet"s meeting, the Palestinian media reported on Wednesday.

Congress in Honduras has voted against the...

Congress in Honduras has voted against the reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya for the remainder of his term which ends in January, the Honduran media reported.

Dozens of ships, including ferries with...

Dozens of ships, including ferries with over 1,000 passengers on board, have become stuck in ice in the Baltic Sea, the BBC reported citing Swedish maritime authorities.

Four militants were killed in a special...

Four militants were killed in a special police operation in the mountainous south of Chechnya, in Russia"s North Caucasus, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said on Thursday.

GENEVA, December 12 (RIA Novosti) - Switzerland...

GENEVA, December 12 (RIA Novosti) - Switzerland scrapped checks at land border crossings on Friday as the country joined the Schengen visa agreement.

Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajoekull whose...

Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajoekull whose eruption froze flights around Europe has somewhat calmed down but could trigger another more powerful volcano, an Icelandic expert said Monday.

In March 1990 the Third Extraordinary Congress...

In March 1990 the Third Extraordinary Congress of Soviet People's Deputies adopted the Law on the Institution of the Post of President and Introduction of Amendments into the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. These amendments abolished the "leading and guiding role of the CPSU," declared a multi-party system, and made the President the head of the Soviet state. Other Union republics followed suit, and switched to presidential form of government.

Irina Antonenko from the Urals city of Yekaterinburg...

Irina Antonenko from the Urals city of Yekaterinburg was crowned Miss Russia 2010 on Sunday.

KIEV, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Kiev officially...

KIEV, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Kiev officially notified Moscow on Thursday that it had accepted Mikhail Zurabov as Russia"s new ambassador to Ukraine, the press secretary at the Russian embassy in Ukraine said.

Lokomotiv held off Moscow rivals Dynamo...

Lokomotiv held off Moscow rivals Dynamo on Sunday to record their second win of the season, while reigning champions Rubin failed to find a way past Saturn and were held 0-0 by the draw specialists.

MOSCOW, April 12 (RIA Novosti) -Total has...

MOSCOW, April 12 (RIA Novosti) -Total has rectified numerous violations at the Kharyaga oil deposit in northern Russia that the French energy giant is developing, the Russian Audit Chamber chairman said Thursday. In January, the Audit Chamber found the project operator had committed a number of violations, including underproduction of crude and a failure to meet the schedule and requirement for development works. "I should say Total has corrected the numerous violations that we registered," Sergei Stepashin said. He said the French side had considered all the proposals that the Audit Chamber had made concerning project profits and environmental issues. Total is developing the Kharyaga oilfield, in Russia"s Yamal-Nenets autonomy, under a 1995 production-sharing agreement (PSA) signed with the Russian government for 29 years with possible extension till 33 years. A mineral resources regulator initiated license revocation discussions on Kharyaga at the end of last year after revealing that the operator had failed to follow the central commission"s recommendations on the field"s development, and in particular failed to observe the gas drive recovery process, burning up 60% of natural gas produced in 2005. Also last April, the Natural Resources Ministry accused Total of failing to meet its targets for Kharyaga under the PSA. It said the investor had failed to increase production of crude and introduce new technologies and equipment for effective production since the agreement came into force in 1999. Ministry experts warned that the situation could result in losses for Russia, as the country "would be forced to continue sending the entire deposit"s output to the investor in compensation for its expenses." Total holds a controlling, 50% stake in a consortium set up to run the Kharyaga project, which also includes Norway"s Hydro (40%) and the Nenets Oil Company (10%), controlled by the regional government. The French company is not the only Western operator to have come under the scrutiny of Russian regulators in recent months. In late March, Russia"s environmental watchdog launched a probe into alleged environmental violations at the Sakhalin I hydrocarbon project, run by U.S. giant ExxonMobil off Russia"s Pacific Coast. Months of pressure on Royal Dutch Shell, which was in charge of the Sakhalin II gas project, culminated last year in the purchase by Russia"s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom of 50% plus one share in the project. The Russian-British joint venture TNK-BP also received a warning about its license for the giant Kovykta natural gas deposit, in East Siberia, over an alleged failure to meet its obligations to supply nearby areas with gas. Analysts have said the raids are part of the Kremlin"s drive to regain control of the country"s vast mineral resources.

MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russian aluminum giant RusAl said on Tuesday its primary aluminum output had decreased 7.2% year-on-year in January-March to 1 million metric tons. United Company RusAl, established in March 2007 through a merger of the Russian aluminum giants RusAl and SUAL and Swiss Glencore"s alumina assets, said bauxite production fell 34.2% in the reporting period to 3 million metric tons, while alumina output declined 25.3% to 2.1 million metric tons. "As part of its Cost Efficiency Leader program, RusAl has reduced production across its most economically inefficient and environmentally unsound facilities. By the end of 2009, the total reduction of aluminum will be 0.5 mln tons, which is approximately 11% of 2008 volume. The alumina output will be cut by 3.9 mln tons, approximately 34% of the total output," the company said. RusAl said that total savings from cost-cutting measures amounted to $554 million in the first quarter, with the company expected to save $1.1 billion in 2009, excluding the investment program.

MOSCOW, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s Air Force could be in line for over 60 Su fighters worth at least 60 billion rubles ($1.9 bln) under a contract expected to be signed at the MAKS-2009 air show, a Russian defense source said on Monday.

MOSCOW, August 23 (RIA Novosti) - Maria...

MOSCOW, August 23 (RIA Novosti) - Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva will clash in an all-Russian final at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Toronto on Sunday.

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - At least...

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - At least three people have been killed and 10 injured in a shooting at a gym southwest of the U.S. city of Pittsburgh, national media reported on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan...

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan is considering building a gambling zone near the large mountain lake of Issyk Kul, the central Asian country"s ambassador to Russia said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti) - NASA...

MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti) - NASA has signed a $141 million modification to the current International Space Station (ISS) contract with the Russian space agency for crew transportation services planned through the spring of 2012.

MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the United States have coordinated the bulk of documents paving the way for a new agreement on fishing in northern areas of the Bering Sea, a senior Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday. The new agreement is designed to compensate Russia for losses from fishing areas ceded to the United States in line with the so called Baker-Shevardnadze agreement on the delimitation of waters in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Igor Neverov, Director of the ministry"s North American Department, said: "For several years Russia has held talks with the United States to sign a comprehensive fishing agreement in the northern part of the Bering Sea that would compensate Russian fishermen for losses from fishing in areas ceded to the United States. I can say that the bulk of the documents comprising the agreement have been so far coordinated." The diplomat said that Russia had not put forward the issue of ratifying the agreement, mainly due to inconsistencies over the economic losses suffered by Russia in the Bering Sea. He also said that the Russian government had repeatedly checked the agreement"s compliance with international maritime laws, Russian interests and an assessment of the potential consequences in case the agreement is not ratified. "The resulting conclusion was that the agreement does not contradict Russian interests, except for the loss of fishing rights in central areas of the Bering Sea," Neverov said. Meanwhile, Russia will invest up to 35 billion rubles ($1.43 billion) in projects to develop the coastal infrastructure for the fishing industry within the next three years, Andrei Krainy, head of the Federal Agency for Fishing, told a news conference in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea. He said large investment would be required following amendments to federal laws on fishing coming into effect on January 1, 2009. Under the amendments, foreigners will be banned from fishing within 200 miles from Russian coasts and will have to submit their catches to Russian customs inspectors. "The restrictions will be imposed because some Asia-Pacific countries have created an entire industry processing Russian fishing resources illegally. As a result, Russia has been losing huge amounts of fish," Krainy said. Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze and U.S. Secretary of State James Baker signed the agreement in Washington on June 1, 1990. The agreement was designed to clear differences in the understanding of the demarcation line set by the Russian-American convention of 1867 on the concession of Alaska. The U.S. received an additional sea area in 1977, during the demarcation of the Bering Sea fishing zone, and the Soviet Union had its fishing zone reduced as a result. Washington compensated Moscow for losses with annual fishing quotas up to 1981, when Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. The two powers started drafting a new agreement in 1981.

MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - Police...

MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - Police in Russia"s Urals have detained a gang of skinheads on suspicion of the cold-blooded murder of a homeless man, regional media said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti)

MOSCOW, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - A Cameroon...

MOSCOW, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - A Cameroon national who was attacked on Saturday in the Russian capital by a group of unidentified assailants died in hospital overnight, a police source said. The man was attacked in northwestern Moscow late on Saturday by at least three young people, sustaining four knife injuries in the back. "The male victim was assaulted in a park...and later died in hospital from knife wounds," the source said. Police are still searching for the suspects. Russia"s Interior Ministry warned in December there could be a rise in crime against foreigners and migrant workers amid the worsening economic situation in the country. The ministry has set up a special group to investigate crimes related to racial hatred. On December 6, Salokhiddin Azizov, a 20-year-old migrant worker from Tajikistan was murdered and decapitated in a forest near Moscow. Azizov"s head was later found in a rubbish dumpster. A group calling themselves the Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the Russian non-governmental organization SOVA, 68 people died and 262 were injured in racially motivated attacks in the country in the first eight months of 2008. Eighty-five people died in race-hate murders in 2007 in Russia.

MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s auto makers have competed their transition to the Euro 3 emission standard in vehicle production, the chief executive of the Association of Russian Auto Makers said on Wednesday. From January 1, 2008, Russia introduced Euro 3 exhaust emission standards, prohibiting production or imports of vehicles that fail to meet the requirements. Euro 3 standards were introduced in the European Union in 2000. "The transition was difficult for the auto industry but everything necessary has been done, and from January 1 we switched completely to the production of vehicles in accordance with the Euro 3 standard," Igor Korovkin said. The executive said the adoption of the Euro 3 standard raised prices by an average of 200 euros (about $300) for cars and 1,000 euros ($1,490) for trucks. Korovkin said Russian auto producers were now preparing for transition to the cleaner Euro 4 emission standards, adopted by EU states in 2005.

MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti) - The case...

MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti) - The case of the murder of a lawyer who represented the family of a Chechen woman killed by a Russian military officer has been passed to the Russian Investigation Committee, the committee said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian...

MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government is to allocate 400 million rubles ($16 million) for research into the development of an HIV vaccine, the consumer rights watchdog said on Wednesday. The funding is part of international efforts agreed upon at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg in July 2006. Rospotrebnadzor said the government had signed the order in late 2007 and would allot a total of a billion rubles ($41 million) for research, HIV monitoring and other operations in the field in 2008-2010.

MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - Two astronauts...

MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - Two astronauts from the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour carried out a spacewalk to mark the 40th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon, NASA said on its website on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia marked...

MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia marked Day of Married Love and Family Happiness on Wednesday, an official holiday which coincides with Peter and Fevronia Day, the Orthodox patron saints of married couples.

MOSCOW, June 14 (RIA Novosti) - The leaders...

MOSCOW, June 14 (RIA Novosti) - The leaders of the post-Soviet CSTO security bloc have signed an agreement on creating a joint rapid-reaction force without a signature from Belarus, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will...

MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will deploy two full-sized armies in Belarus during large-scale joint military exercises in September, the Russian chief of General Staff said on Friday.

MOSCOW, March 14 (RIA Novosti) - A consortium...

MOSCOW, March 14 (RIA Novosti) - A consortium of Germany"s RWE and Russia"s Sintez successfully bid $380 million in an auction on Friday to buy a 33.47% stake in the TGK-2 generating company from Russian electricity monopoly UES. The territorial generating company unites assets in five regions of central and northern Russia. The deal brings the UES stake in the company down from 49.36% to 11.38%. RWE is a German electric power and natural gas public utility company. The Russian electricity giant has also sold a 34.06% stake in another territorial generating company, TGK-6, to Integrated Energy Systems (IES holding) for 9.98 billion rubles ($421.3 million). TGK-6 operates in four Russian regions and in Mordovia in the Volga area. Both deals were part of UES reforms in which generating assets are being privatized.

MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - Abkhazian...

MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh said on Tuesday that the former Georgian republic had no plans to become a part of Russia, the Russian daily paper Izvestia reported.

MOSCOW. (Nikita Petrov, for RIA Novosti)...

MOSCOW. (Nikita Petrov, for RIA Novosti) - The Czech government has suspended the ratification of its agreement with the United States on the deployment of a missile tracking radar.

MOSCOW, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko and Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov spoke at the lower chamber of parliament Wednesday, addressing child adoption, a very acute problem in Russia, given some 800,000 registered orphans and 1,115,000 homeless children detained by police last year.

MOSCOW, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russian prosecutors have brought new charges of large-scale fraud against fugitive Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, the General Prosecutor's Office said on its website on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia, India and China have proposed to develop a collective strategy to stabilize Afghanistan and expect a positive answer from the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian-crewed...

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian-crewed and Maltese-flagged cargo ship at the center of a mysterious hijacking case currently being towed towards Malta will arrive there no earlier than Thursday, a Russian embassy source said Tuesday.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Oleg Mityayev) - November 5 was a major milestone in Nord Stream AG history. Both Sweden and Finland authorized the construction of this seabed gas pipeline in their waters.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Vlad Grinkevich) - Russian gas companies badly want the national gas market to be liberalized.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Vlad Grinkevich)

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Nikolai Troitsky) - The Constitutional Court, Russia"s highest legal body, should have its say on capital punishment. But while the Court has paused to negotiate, this issue remains a subject of heated public debates.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Marianna Belenkaya)

MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - A team...

MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - A team of Russian investigators probing a recent incident involving the Arctic Sea cargo ship will leave the vessel by Friday, the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor General"s Office said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Colombia...

MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Colombia has appealed to Thailand over its decision not to extradite alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the U.S., the Kommersant daily reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Hundreds...

MOSCOW, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Hundreds of elderly North and South Koreans separated by the Korean War more than half a century ago met to the north of the border on Saturday in the first such reunion event in two years.

Municipal services in Moscow cleared 425,000...

Municipal services in Moscow cleared 425,000 cubic meters of snow from city streets in one day as the Russian capital struggles through its snowiest February for 40 years.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen...

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed hope on Thursday that the alliance and Russia would establish a joint missile defense system by 2020.

North and South Korea exchanged artillery...

North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, a day after Pyongyang declared the border area a "no-sail" zone, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported.

Ordinary citizens have the right to defend...

Ordinary citizens have the right to defend themselves against police officers who launch illegal attacks on them, Russia"s interior minister said Thursday.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill...

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill said on Wednesday that a priest who was shot dead during the night was killed for refusing to go against his principles.

President Dmitry Medvedev sprung a surprise...

President Dmitry Medvedev sprung a surprise on many governors and regional leaders in the Russian Federation on New Year"s Eve. While talking with Leonid Markelov, the head of the Republic of Marii El, Medvedev first congratulated him on a reappointment and then told him it was likely to be his last.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has criticized...

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has criticized Russia"s super-rich for their ostentatious spending habits, and urged them to use their wealth to benefit their country.

Russia and China have signed a framework...

Russia and China have signed a framework contract for the construction of the second stage of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China, Russia"s nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly Atomstroyexport said on Wednesday.

Russia and India are expected to sign three...

Russia and India are expected to sign three contracts in military technical cooperation totaling $4 billion, including retrofitting the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin"s visit to India, Vedomosti Russian daily reported.