Provides the latest RSS feeds for St Petersburg (Russia) News. For more headlines on Breaking, National, Business, Finance, Sports and World News, visit our home page St Petersburg News.net http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/cat/70b0e247ff7c0078/ en-us Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:35:38 -0400 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:35:38 -0400 30 MOSCOW Russia is steeply ramping up oil deliveries to China, with Asia now importing almost a fifth of oil exports from the world's largest crude producer in a strategic shift meant by the Kremlin to end reliance on weak and saturated European markets. Russia will increase oil supplies to China by 13 percent in July-September from the previous three months, a shipping schedule obtained ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281115/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:15:14 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281115/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A Russian tycoon said that he is interested in developing a technology that will allow humans to outlive their bodies. 32-year-old Dmitry Itskov has an aggressive timetable in which he would like to see his milestones toward his goal met. He visions that by 2020 robots that can be controlled remotely with our brains will be built. By 2025, he wants robot prosthesis that could replace an ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268927/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:30:03 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268927/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Beijing, June 18 (Xinhua-ANI): Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday held here face-to-face talks on Syria on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Lough Erne, Britain. At a press conference after their two-hour talks, the two leaders admitted they had big differences on Syria, but they agreed to push for a summit in Geneva, Switzerland. "Our positions do not ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267788/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:10:06 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267788/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian judo champion Elena Ivashchenko committed suicide because of her failure during the London Olympics. Russian judo officials said Monday that Elena Ivashchenko, 28, a four-time European champion (in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012), jumped from a 15th floor in the Siberian city of Tyumen, Saturday, reports Xinhua. "Her depression started after her defeat at the Olympic Games. She really punished ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215264712/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:50:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215264712/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LISTVYANKA VILLAGE (Irkutsk Region), June 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, a longtime target of environmental activists, will be finally shut down, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday. "All principled decisions on the issue have been made by the Russian government, and we will carry them out, there is no way back," Medvedev told members of the ruling ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215287472/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:06:10 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215287472/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sixty years ago today, on June 19, 1953, Julius Rosenburg and his wife Ethel were executed in the U.S. having earlier been convicted of espionage and sentenced to death. The Rosenburgs, who were charged with passing on atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, protested their innocence to the end and to this day the case remains one of the most mysterious criminal trials in recent ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215287707/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:56:08 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215287707/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Havana, Jun 19 (Prensa Latina) Cuba will take four athletes to the female judo tournament of the 27th Summer University Games in Kazan, Russia, from July 6 to 17, said Cuban weekly Jit Tuesday. The Cuban female team, second place by teams in the Grand Prix in Miami, US last week, is headed by 78 kg Olympic Champion Idalis Ortiz. The other athletes are: Yanet Bermoy, Olympic runner-up in the 52 kg ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215286490/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:16:10 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215286490/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian munitions, which frequently date back to the Soviet era, have exploded several times in recent years and the resulting fires usually rage for ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215286614/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:57:10 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215286614/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 All comments are filtered for vulgar language, for web addresses and for e-mail addresses. Those will cause comments to generate an error message or not to post. Registration on OrlandoSentinel.com is required to comment. The Sentinel makes no guarantee of comments' factual accuracy. Readers may report inappropriate comments by clicking the Report Abuse link. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215286494/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:56:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215286494/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia has recently unveiled its Project 1239 rocket ship to the world. Representing Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the unique missile hovercraft "Bora" took part in the international exhibition of defense industry AIDEF 2013, which was held in Istanbul on May 7-10. The newest Russian rocket ships of this type will soon turn 20 years ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215286396/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:34:32 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215286396/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Most Americans are ignorant of Russia's incredible contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan. Americans can barely remember the details of World War II and worse still they do not want to be bothered with more than a cursory review of the details, subtleties and chance that WWII was. What the US populace knows of Russia's efforts in WWII is viewed through the lopsided ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215285490/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:29:41 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215285490/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LOUGH ERNE, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian stand on the settlement in Syria is in line with the stands of other G8 countries, which is confirmed by the statement of the Group of Eight, Sergei Ryabkov, Russian deputy foreign minister, told reporters on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284802/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:59:41 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284802/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) has lowered its forecast of Russian GDP growth in 2013 from 3. 4 percent to 2.5 percent, head of the IMF mission said Tuesday."The growth will amount to 2.5 percent in 2013 and to 3.25 percent in 2014," Antonio Spilimbergo told reporters following talks with Russian government officials here.In April, IMF forecast that Russian economy would grow by ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284540/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:58:13 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284540/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Cuba's four-member women's judo team, led by Olympic champion Idalis Ortiz, will compete in Russia and Brazil, sports news website JIT said Tuesday.The women will first compete at the World Universiade of Kazan, Russia in July, then travel to France for training before attending the World Championship next August in Brazil, coach Ronaldo Veitia said."We will attend the 27 ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284786/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:57:59 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284786/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 WASHINGTON ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284472/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:53:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284472/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 arrested near the West African country’s coast in October 2012 on arms smuggling charges. The sailors were the crew of the MV Myre Seadiver vessel owned by Moscow-based security firm Moran Security Group. Nigerian authorities detained the Myre Seadiver ship with the Russian crew in the port of Lagos on October 19 last year after finding weapons, including 14 Kalashnikov AK-47 assault ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284750/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:48:21 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215284750/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The Russians are coming, again, in submarines to waters near New Zealand. The state-run Itar-Tass agency says Russia will send submarines armed with nuclear ballistic missiles to the South Pacific and the Southern Ocean. "The revival of nuclear-submarine patrols will allow us to fulfil the tasks of strategic deterrence not only across the North Pole but also the South Pole," an ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215283938/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:45:07 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215283938/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Kings rewarded Slava Voynov with a six-year contract after the Russian defenseman led the team in points during the playoffs, the team said on Tuesday. Voynov played in all 48 games with the Kings during the 2012-13 regular season, totaling new career highs for points (25) and assists (19). He also went on to lead the team with six goals and 13 points during a ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215283936/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:05:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215283936/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian Federation Russian politicians have voted to restrict adoptions from countries that allow same-sex marriage. The proposal was passed unanimously in the Duma lower house of parliament, and could ban even single people in more than a dozen countries from adopting Russian orphans.President Vladimir Putin has already vowed to sign the bill into law when it is approved by the upper house. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215282823/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:40:17 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215282823/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group strengthens its portfolio in Russia's regional cities with the signing of a new Park Inn by Radisson in Nizhny Tagil. The mid-market property will be the first internationally branded hotel in this prominent industrial city. Enjoying an outstanding waterfront location in Nizhny Tagil's central district, the Park Inn will include 135 contemporary guest rooms, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215282399/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:40:13 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215282399/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LOUGH ERNE, June 19 (RIA Novosti) - The next G8 summit will take place in the southern Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi in June 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215282572/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:37:11 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215282572/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov has re-signed with the club for six years, Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi announced Tuesday. Terms of the deal weren't announced, but the Los Angeles Times reported it was worth $25 million. The 23-year-old Russian blueliner inked the deal after turning in a stellar performance for Los Angeles during the playoffs, leading the Kings with six ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215283291/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:19:15 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215283291/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia Tuesday urged the West to consider relaxing sanctions against Iran, saying there was unprecedented hope of a breakthrough in the nuclear standoff ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281422/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:39:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281422/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 VIENNA - Diplomats at a conference organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe all agreed Tuesday that international organizations were vital in helping to overcome the Cold War spirit that still besets relations across the East-West divide, but they were unable to provide any clear answers to the issues on the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281601/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:23:47 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281601/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 As leaked details of ongoing network surveillance and espionage programs by the National Security Agency (NSA) continue to stir up international concern about how deep US intelligence is reaching into IT operations worldwide, Russia and the US have taken steps to cooperate on cyber-security--or at least prevent an accidental cyber-war. During talks at the G-8 Summit in Enniskillen, Northern ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281250/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:20:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281250/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215283686/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:16:22 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215283686/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 An employee talks on a portable radio set near a complex producing aromatic hydrocarbons at the Bashneft - Ufaneftekhim refinery in the city of Ufa, Russia, on April 11, 2013. Russian oil exports to China will increase this quarter, as Russia shifts its strategy away from Europe. (SERGEI ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215280257/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:46:56 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215280257/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Moscow, June 18. (BNA) - A Bahrain parliamentary delegation led by Mp Abdulrahman Boumajeed today met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Russian President's Envoy to the Middle East Mikhail Bogdanov and discussed regional and international developments. Talks focused on steps undertaken to implement the recommendations set by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215280254/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:32:58 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215280254/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Like a gold-plated visitor from Planet Money, a strange ship has arrived among us: a glittering $300 million mega-yacht that resembles a futuristic star cruiser, or Bond villian's seagoing lair. The "A," a 394-foot-long behemoth, boasts walls covered in white sting-ray hides or hand-stitched calf's leather, according to the Wall Street Journal. One can relax in chairs made ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215280105/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:17:36 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215280105/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MEXICO CITY, June 18 | Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:13pm EDT MEXICO CITY, June 18 (Reuters) - Russian planemaker Sukhoi delivered its first Superjet 100 plane to Mexico's Interjet airline at the Paris Airshow, the Mexican company said on Tuesday. Another 19 aircraft from Russia's first post-Soviet civil plane project are due to be delivered in the coming months to Interjet, which is ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281434/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:13:15 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215281434/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian lawmakers have backed a bill that would place tough restrictions on adoption to countries where same-sex marriages are legal, following France's vote last month allowing such unions.The bill could ban people in over a dozen countries from adopting Russian orphans even if they are single, according to an amendment that passed in the key second reading in the Duma lower house of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279011/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:38:05 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279011/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 G8 leaders on Tuesday called for a peace conference on Syria to be held as soon as possible but deep divisions remained as Russia stood by its embattled Middle East ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215278644/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:27:32 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215278644/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Some 6,000 people were evacuated in Russia's south-western Samara region on Tuesday after ammunition explosions shook a military training area, the Emergencies Ministry said. The ministry said five explosions initially took place at the site on Tuesday evening, triggering a fire that was still causing blasts hours later. Footage aired on Russia's state television ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279017/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:24:50 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279017/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia will base its French-made Mistral-class amphibious assault ships in the Far East ports of Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when they enter service, a senior Defense Ministry official said in an ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279018/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:34 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279018/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - G8 leaders struggled to find the ';common ground'; on Syria that had been hoped for by their British hosts, with the results of Tuesday's summit confirming the predictions of many ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279021/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:18:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279021/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 1 of 9. British Prime Minister David Cameron (R), Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan (2nd R), U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto walk together during the G8 Summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland June 18, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279023/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:16:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279023/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia has fulfilled an order made by Azerbaijan in 2011-12 for military hardware worth up to $1 billion, Vedomosti reported Tuesday. The shipment consisted of 94 T-90S tanks, about 100 BMP-3 armored personnel carriers, 18 self-propelled Msta-S howitzers, 18 multiple launch rocket systems, 18 self-propelled cannons and six flame-throwing systems, the newspaper said, citing a source in the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279243/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:12:04 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279243/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW - Russia's emergency services say exploding ammunition at a military depot has set off a fire that in turn is causing more shells to explode. Emergency services spokesman Mikhail Metyolkin said no injuries have been reported, but about 4,000 people have been evacuated from villages around the Chapaevsk military depot in the Samara region of southern Russia. No cause has yet been ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279244/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:10:35 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215279244/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Prime Minister Stephen Harper is praising the outcome of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, saying it was "very different" from what he expected. Harper says the countries, including Russia, are all on the same page about ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277777/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:34:50 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277777/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 18, 2013 – Cooperation at many levels will help to reduce misunderstandings between the United States and Russia, the leaders of both countries said after meetings in Northern Ireland yesterday. Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin agreed to cooperate on a number of different aspects of the bilateral relationship. The men ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277782/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:22:14 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277782/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has paid off a $2 billion Soviet-era debt to Serbia and Slovakia, the Russian Finance Ministry said Tuesday. Russia’s $1.7 billion debt to Slovakia and $288.8 million debt to Serbia originated when it assumed responsibility for Soviet obligations under trade and economic cooperation with Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, the ministry said in a ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277784/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:15:36 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277784/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LOUGH ERNE, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will develop a national plan to deal with offshore tax havens, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. "We are in the process of adopting legislation to disclose the end beneficiary," he told a news conference after a G8 summit in Northern Ireland, adding that he would sign the bill into law as soon as it is passed by parliament. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277785/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:15:33 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277785/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Vladimir Dmitriev, Chairman of Vnesheconombank (VEB, State Corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs), made blunt comments about the Sochi Games on Tuesday. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277915/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:14:18 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277915/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 "Regime". A wonderful word conjured up by the biased media controlled by the FUKUS Axis (France-UK-US). One of the wonderful list of words conjured up to create negative images, often associated to "dictators", always the enemies of the lobbies which control western governments, even unelected ones. Google Cameron and Banking. Diplomacy rules... David Cameron stated in the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277788/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:50:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215277788/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 In a joint statement issued by the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin call the pact "essential to safeguarding the security" of their countries. The agreement, signed Monday at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, aims to reduce the risk of conflict in cyberspace by creating direct, real-time communication about possible incidents. The two ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276372/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:28:32 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276372/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia -- Democracy and civil society in Eurasia are increasingly under fire from autocratic rulers seeking to maintain their grasp on power in a quickly changing world, according to a new report by the US think-tank Freedom House. Writing in its 2013 "Nations in Transit" report, the democracy and human rights watchdog found that leaders of Eurasian countries from Russia and Ukraine to ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276425/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:15:40 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276425/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia Large explosions rock an ammunition depot in Russia's Samara Region, where over 13 million shells are stored. The police have started evacuation of the nearby communities. Multiple artillery shells keep exploding at an ammunition depot near the city of Chapaevsk, a local police spokesman told RIA. "It is still not possible to halt the self-destruction, or to enter the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276427/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:08:39 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276427/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia and the global economy Given the shaky global economic environment, Russia should revise its expectations of oil prices and start to plan its budgetary expenses on the basis of lower oil, the IMF said in its Tuesday report. Russia's budgetary rule "should be tightened starting next year--via a lower benchmark oil price and reduced net borrowing--to allow rebuilding of fiscal ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276056/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:08:39 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276056/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LOUGH ERNE, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia, the United States and France, the three countries mediating the conflict over the disputed South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, said Tuesday that they were greatly concerned by the lack of progress in bringing peace to the region. The parties to the conflict – Armenia and Azerbaijan – are still pursuing unilateral aims rather ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276428/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:07:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276428/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia is on its way to sharply limiting the adoption of children by people from countries that allow same-sex marriage. Under a measure that passed its crucial second reading in the lower house of parliament Tuesday, Russia will prohibit adoption by foreign couples whose homeland recognizes their union as marriage, as well as by single people or unmarried couples from those countries. The ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276434/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:56:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276434/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 VTB Group laid out ambitious expansion plans Tuesday, with its retail banking expected to grow faster than the market in the next three years. Every fifth bank customer will use the group's ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276649/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:56:06 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276649/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 United States Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul handed over to Russian officials eight historic documents that had been taken out of Russia in the early ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276651/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:41:12 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276651/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 On July 1st, the Federal Passenger Company (FPC) is launching the first passenger train between Moscow and St. Petersburg that will provide an opportunity to passengers to transport their vehicles, the director of the FPC, Mikhail Akulov, said ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276652/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:41:11 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215276652/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LOUGH ERNE, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russia has no evidence the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. Some G8 countries, too, believe such weapons were not used, Russian President Vladimir Putin ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274975/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:10:00 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274975/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed a bill that would place tough restrictions on adoption to countries where same-sex marriages are legal, following France's vote last month allowing such unions.The bill could ban people in over a dozen countries from adopting Russian orphans even if they are single, according to an amendment that passed in the key second reading in the Duma, or lower house ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274959/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:07:57 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274959/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 US lawmakers have imposed new conditions the administration of President Barack Obama would need to meet before the United States can fulfill its obligations under the 2010 START nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia, recently-approved legislation ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274978/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:59:58 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274978/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 WASHINGTON, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – US lawmakers have imposed new conditions the administration of President Barack Obama would need to meet before the United States can fulfill its obligations under the 2010 START nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia, recently-approved legislation shows. The restrictions stipulate that no funds may be spent to decommission US nuclear weapons ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274979/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:59:56 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274979/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LOUGH ERNE, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and the United States will bear primary responsibility for developing a peace plan for Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday at a press conference following ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274980/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:59:54 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274980/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov walks to a meeting with Latin American Foreign Ministers in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. Russia's foreign minister has sharply criticized a draft resolution on Syria to be considered by the United Nations' top human rights body. (AP Photo/Misha ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215275006/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:58:12 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215275006/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian President Vladimir Putin (L), British Prime Minister David Cameron (C) and U.S. President Barack Obama take part in a group photo for the G8 Summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. REUTERS/Kevin ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215275260/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:55:20 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215275260/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Anton Siluanov on Tuesday rejected proposals to lay responsibility for growth on the Central Bank and offered his way out of the government's predicament - devalue the ruble. Siluanov's ministry will use oil revenue destined for the Reserve Fund to buy currency on the market and weaken the ruble by 1 to 2 rubles ($0.03 to $0.06), he told Bloomberg. Insisting that strictly "market ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215275261/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:49:13 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215275261/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The G8 summit ended today with Russia far from agreement with the West over how to resolve the Syrian civil war. Russian experts say the rift is probably ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274994/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:38:05 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274994/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian multi-purpose fighter jet Su-35S that has never been presented abroad, successfully performed its first demonstration flight at the air show in Le Bourget, near ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274996/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:34:19 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215274996/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The plane, which attracts a lot of attention of potential buyers, bears a resemblance to its predecessor, the Su-27, but the new aircraft has been thoroughly modernized. Mikhail Pogosyan, the President of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said that the complex avionics of the Su-35S was capable of detecting targets with the help of a radar at a distance of more than 300 km. A highly powerful ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215275265/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:34:19 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215275265/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Moscow, Jun 18 (Prensa Latina) The Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitri Medvedev, backed the decision of Irkutsk region''s management of closing permanently the Baikal Cellulose Plant, which was fiercely criticized by ecological organizations that accuse it of damaging the environment. During a meeting with the regional management about the ecological situation of Baikal Lake's ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273468/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:07:25 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273468/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The IMF on Tuesday cut its forecast for economic growth in Russia in 2013 to 2.5 percent from its previous projection of 3.4 percent due to weak investment and external demand."Russia's growth has slowed while inflation remains high," the IMF said in a statement after a staff visit to Russia this ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273472/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:01:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273472/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 President Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Monday, where they discussed the ongoing conflict in Syria during their bilateral ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273477/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:57:44 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273477/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Planes The Russian delegation has landed its first deal at the Paris air show, selling all-weather K-52 Alligator helicopter gunships to Iraqi officials. Airplanes of all shapes, sizes, and nationalities have taken to the Parisian sky this week at 50th Le Bourget air show, and Russia has concluded its first sales on day two of the bi-annual exhibition. The Iraqi order is part of a $4 ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273478/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:54:00 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273478/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has seen both the number of young people in the country and their share in the total population decline steadily in recent years, an Education Ministry official said on Tuesday. "According to the Federal State Statistics Service, in 2012 there were 31.6 million people in the 15-29 age group – making up 22 percent of the country’s total ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273480/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:52:50 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273480/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia needs to carry out "ambitious" economic policy reforms to realize the economy’s midterm potential and reduce its vulnerabilities to a slump in oil prices or acceleration of capital outflows, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. "The pre-crisis growth model, based on increasing oil prices and rising use of spare capacity, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273481/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:52:43 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273481/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian sailors suspected of trafficking arms, their lawyer said, but another seven will face trial. The 15 Russian sailors were charged with illegally bringing weapons ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273783/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:50:22 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273783/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking after two days of tense G8 talks on Syria, said on Tuesday he did not feel isolated at the summit despite clashing with leaders on how to resolve Syria's civil ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273482/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:48:15 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273482/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Rostec said in a statement Tuesday that it signed a framework agreement during the Le Bourget Paris Air Show with Austrian Diamond Aircraft Industries to manufacture light aircraft in Russia. The Austrian producer signed a two-year contract with Rostec, worth 2.5 billion rubles ($77.9 million), to buy 114 Da40 Tundra planes, localizing their production and larger aircraft in the future. Rostec ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273799/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:42:19 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273799/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The current wave of young job candidates entering the labor market are presenting unique challenges to hiring managers, experts said at a forum dedicated to human resources on Tuesday. Freedom loving, soul searching and socially conscious are some of the hallmarks of young professionals from Generation Y, an age group born in the period from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s. And they are the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273800/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:42:18 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273800/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran has taken constructive steps toward compromise in the decade-old standoff over its nuclear program and world powers should reciprocate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in remarks published on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273367/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:42:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273367/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Stephen Harper said on Tuesday. "We have a very different outcome and much better outcome than I thought we were going to have," Harper told reporters. Before the summit, Harper had said he feared Putin's support for Syria would make a G8 agreement difficult. "I think this was a very significant move on the part of Mr Putin and the Russians," he said. (Reporting by ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273486/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:40:41 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273486/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Alex Brooks started studying Russian because he needed a language class and didn't want to take French. Spanish class was filled, so the Friends School student settled for Russian. "I was willing to take a risk with a new alphabet," said Brooks, a science fiction fan who was raised in Bangladesh. Now, Brooks, who graduated from Friends on June 10, is reaping rewards from ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273489/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:39:22 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273489/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia and the United States have reached an agreement on the nuclear problem. After lengthy negotiations, the two leaders agreed to cut the military ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273492/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:27:36 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273492/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:15am EDT * Could raise up to $200 mln from 25 pct stake - sources * Plans to raise stake in global anthracite market to 17 pct By Megan Davies and Alessandra Prentice MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) - Russian niche coal miner Siberian Anthracite plans to list its shares in London and could raise up to $200 million, two market sources said, but it may struggle to attract investors ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273797/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:15:13 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215273797/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 U.S. President Barack Obama walks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the G8 summit at Lough Erne Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday. (KEVIN ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271945/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:04:22 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271945/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 KIEV, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Ukraine’s membership in the Common Economic Space will help make this association among the most powerful, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich. "The positions of the three states - Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia - coincide on both the Customs Union and the Common Economic ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271942/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:56:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271942/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Federal Migration Service has detected over 3 million migrant workers, who will be banned from entering Russia over the violation of new migration laws. "As of January 1, 2013, a new law banning entry to Russia for those citizens, who exceeded the legal period of stay in the country entered into force," the migration service told Itar-Tass ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271949/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:56:21 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271949/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Federal Migration Service has barred entry into Russia to more than 100,000 foreigners who have violated migration legislation since the beginning of this year, the FMS press service told Itar-Tass. "As of today, the number of foreigners who were denied entry into the country reached over 100,000," an FMS official said. The law barring entry ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271624/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:56:20 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271624/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 RIGA, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - A new ferry boat line will link Russia, Latvia and Germany, a member of the board of Terrabalt company, Aris Ozolins, told Latvia’s Rietumu Radio on Tuesday. Latvia’s LSEZ Terrabalt SIA that services ferry boat lines in the port of Liepaja will launch this ferry boat line together with Alfastar ferry boat operator. The ferry boats will run between ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271740/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:56:20 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271740/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Bloomberg ) Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex Oil) is Mexico's 75-year old state run energy monopoly. But if Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has his way, it won't live to see a 76th birthday. It is his hope that by allowing multinational oil companies to rejoin Mexico's energy market, an eight-year slide in Mexican crude output will end. In a best-case scenario, President Pena Nieto ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271726/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:55:06 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271726/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia is making all efforts to prevent the Syrian conflict from escalating into a large-scale regional explosion, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday."Deepening of the crisis in Syria threatens serious troubles of the regional scale. We understand that and try to divert an explosion of the Middle East," Lavrov said in an interview published on the ministry's ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271951/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:54:31 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271951/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia (TM). The decision was taken at a Russian government cabinet meeting on Thursday 13 June. The infrastructure programme consists of some 292 facilities and events essential for holding the 2018 tournament. This includes12 stadiums, 113 training sites, 62 hotels,11 airports, communal and transport infrastructure necessary for FIFA World Cup, and electricity, IT and communications ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271953/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:54:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271953/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Manama, June 18th (BNA) -Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) participates in the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is held under the title "Global Economic Prospects: The time for a decisive action" during the period from June 20 to 22, 2013 under the patronage of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the participation of more than 5,400 economic ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271851/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:50:48 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271851/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Scandal Gazprom's plans to construct a new $226 million headquarters in St Petersburg have been scuppered by a local court. The Kommersant daily says a judge has upheld local objections the site had cultural significance and could not be built on. The 400 metre high Okhta Center was to be the crown jewel of Gazprom close to the city center. Activists objected after the city planning ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215272495/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:47:18 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215272495/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 G8 joint declaration underscoring the divergence of opinions on the issue among the participants of the summit, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the statement would clarify the Russian position on several aspects of the G8 document, including the investigation of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. He redismissed Western claims that ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271957/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:46:06 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271957/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 AKSAKOVO, June 18 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service plans to separate smokers and non-smokers in prisons and other detention facilities, an official said on Tuesday. "We will certainly separate smoking and non-smoking suspects, defendants and convicts," said Valery Trofimov, who heads the service's department for social, psychological and educational work ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271689/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:46:03 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271689/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government tried on Tuesday to allay market fears that a planned large-scale foreign currency purchase would cause the ruble's devaluation. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Monday said the ministry would start purchasing foreign currency on the market from August to replenish the country's reserve funds. This was expected to weaken the ruble ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215272209/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:45:55 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215272209/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 British officials are confident that the G8 summit at Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, will agree a communiqu on Syria to which all eight members including Russia can sign up despite President Vladimir Putin's support for the regime of President Bashar ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271959/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:42:24 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271959/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 KIEV, Ukraine - When the time came to vaccinate her 4-year-old daughter, Yelena Hlushko hesitated, spooked by widespread fears in Ukraine about vaccines and by a boil her older child developed after an immunization shot. Eventually, she decided to follow the government's recommendation - only to find her local health clinic was out of the vaccine. A combination of suspicion, funding ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215272212/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:36:38 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215272212/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The second and final day of the G8 summit saw Russian President Vladimir Putin clash with the other heads of state over potential solutions to the growing problem in Syria. The leaders seemed united for the world’s press but behind the scenes Putin, whose discomfort was plain for all to see, found himself increasingly isolated as the other leaders closed ranks and tried to get him to tone ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215272496/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:35:41 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215272496/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 | Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:05am EDT MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) - Russian miner Mechel said on Tuesday it would launch a share buy back programme of up to $100 million, after it reported a first-quarter net loss of $321 million partly due to weak prices. The New York-listed miner and manufacturer has seen its shares dive nearly 90 percent since the start of 2011 as tumbling ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271960/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:05:13 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215271960/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila have announced they are divorcing, just a few weeks short of 30 years. (Misha Japaridze/AP, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270856/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:59:22 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270856/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co will create a joint venture with Russia's state-funded private equity vehicle to build mini power plants across Russia, the parties said on Tuesday.GE has been active in Russia for more than 20 years, supplying medical equipment to hospitals, signalling systems to the rail network and credit through its GE Money Bank.The mini power ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270388/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:58:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270388/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Minister Anton Siluanov's call for a weaker currency follows a series of meetings chaired by President Vladimir Putin, who has pressed the government to meet spending promises made on his return to the Kremlin in May 2012 in the search for more ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270568/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:49:38 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270568/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 June 18 - United States President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have pledged to join forces to help boost security at major sport events, including the Sochi 2014 Olympics and Paralympics, after meeting on the sidelines of the G8 summit. As well as discussing the Syrian conflict, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Iran's nuclear programme and missile defence ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270569/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:49:22 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270569/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia (TM), Alexey Sorokin, has taken part in the Financial Times/International Football Arena summit in Rio de Janeiro on 17 June, where he spoke about the initiatives that will help to ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270571/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:47:54 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270571/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 JERUSALEM, Israel -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is not only providing "concrete military assistance" to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, he's also providing political backing. "The Russians support the Syrian army by supplying weapons and also provide political backing," Israel's Channel 2 television military affairs correspondent Roni Daniel ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270572/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:45:04 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270572/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia Russians have transferred over $30 billion (around $1 trillion roubles) to Cyprus over the past twenty years, according to a study published by a group of economists from Russia, Finland and Canada. "The dominance of Russian money in Cyprus bank deposits and in foreign investment from and into Russia is evidence of 'round-tripping'," says an article by Svetlana ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270858/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:41:29 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270858/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Moscow has insisted that no demands for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad should be made in the G8 summit's communiqu, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said. Any mandate in the document outlining Assad's fate would be "deeply wrong, harmful and it would upset the political balance" being established to aid the conflict-resolution process, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270573/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:41:29 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270573/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 VOLGOGRAD, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Scientists in southern Russia are working to clone a 100-year-old poplar tree that survived the Battle of Stalingrad, a spokesperson for the local environmental authority said. The poplar was damaged by bullets and shrapnel during the Second World War, when Volgograd – then known as Stalingrad – was the scene of a 200-day battle between Soviet ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270859/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:39:57 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270859/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has begun delivering tanks, artillery cannons and rocket launchers worth $1 billion to Azerbaijan, a Moscow-based defense group said on Tuesday, as the former Soviet republic strengthens its military readiness in the volatile South ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270228/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:34:04 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270228/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian officials have opened a criminal investigation into a deputy head of state-controlled airline Aeroflot on suspicion that he abused his position by selling cheap tickets to travel agents linked to his ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270289/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:34:03 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270289/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The evidence incriminating two key suspects in the "gambling affair" has been returned to the Investigative Committee by the Prosecutor General's Office as the turf war between the two bodies rages on. Prosecutors said that the materials obtained by the investigators did not comply with legal requirements and failed to prove the guilt of Alexander Ignatenko and Dmitry Urumov, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270861/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:30:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270861/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Aeroflot deputy CEO Andrei Kalmykov, accusing him of giving privileges to companies linked to his relatives, Interfax reported Tuesday. Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the committee, said Kalmykov had given contractual privileges to Sun Rise Tours, a travel agency allegedly affiliated with his relatives. According to the investigators, the agency's founders included his wife and mother. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270862/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:30:25 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270862/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Alexei Navalny 's brother, Oleg, seizing computers, phones and 50,000 rubles ($1,500), a news report said Tuesday. "The entire apartment was ransacked, phones, computers, and everything that in the opinion of the investigators looked like financial records - that is, all the documents which contained figures were seized," Alexei Navalny wrote on his LiveJournal page. Law ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270863/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:30:22 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270863/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - The G-8 summit's joint statement on ending the Syrian civil war will not mention whether Bashar Assad must step down from power as part of any peace settlement, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday ahead of the document's publication. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters the eight nations have agreed they should not specify any ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270401/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:28:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270401/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Group of Eight leaders worked to develop a statement on Syria acceptable to nations wanting a transition of power and Russia, an ally of the Syrian government. Accounts differed from officials Tuesday morning at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland on the prospects of developing a substantive agreement on Syria and the fate of its president, Bashar Assad, to which Russia might sign on, The New York ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270601/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:22:27 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270601/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia began shipment Tuesday of up to $1 billion worth of military equipment to Azerbaijan, Russian Defense Ministry officials said. The shipments fulfill contracts signed in 2011 and 2012, the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper Vedomosti. The equipment is worth between $700 million and $1 billion, and includes 94 T-90S tanks, about 100 BMP-3 infantry fighting ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270560/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:22:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215270560/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia does not need to administer further stimulus, nor should it devalue the rouble, as the economy is running close to capacity, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday."There is no point in monetary or fiscal stimulus," the IMF's mission chief for Russia, Antonio Spilimbergo, told a news conference after an annual visit to Russia.Rebutting calls for a ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269332/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:54:10 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269332/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ST. PETERSBURG, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - About 1,500 workers of Ford Motor Company in Russia’s northwestern Leningrad region plan to begin an indefinite strike on June 24 to demand the payment in full of compensations for harmful work environment, sources from the interregional trade union of car industry workers told Tass on Tuesday. The trade union of Ford has notified the employer about ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269010/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:46:08 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269010/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW- The Syrian opposition must not be allowed to set conditions for attending a peace conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments published on Tuesday.Despite pressure on President Vladimir Putin at a G8 summit to tone down Russian support for Bashar Assad, Lavrov signaled there was no change in Moscow's view that the Syrian leader's exit cannot be a ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269335/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:46:06 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269335/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LE BOURGET, June 17 (Itar-Tass) - A contract for after-sales servicing of Russian-made helicopters signed with South Africa will make it possible to operate helicopters in all African countries to the south of the Sahara, Vladimir Artyakov, a deputy director general of Russian State Corporation Rostec and leader of Rostec’s delegation, told a news conference on Monday. Earlier on Monday, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269292/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:45:55 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269292/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia All Russian pre-trial detention centers might soon have separate cells for smokers and non-smokers, a top justice ministry official has announced. According to Valery Trofimov, the head of a department in the Justice Ministry that oversees and prisons and penal colonies in Russia, separate cells will appear in remand centers soon. The move is connected with the general anti-tobacco ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269170/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:37:29 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269170/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is to build a new light utility aircraft in cooperation with an Austrian plane-maker in response to a need to revive Russia's flagging local air services in remote areas. The agreement between Rostec high-technology corporation's subsidiary Ural Civil Aviation Works (UZGA) and Austria’s Diamond Aircraft International (DAI), was signed ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269422/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:36:19 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269422/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum bills itself as the must-attend event of the year for any Western investor interested in Russia. But that hasn't prevented the occasional goof-up that has left government officials red-faced or defending themselves. As the forum opens this week, we take a look back at eight scandals that have pockmarked its 17-year history. People ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269770/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:33:58 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269770/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A businessman is suspected of having killed a fortune-teller who allegedly caused his marriage to fall apart, investigators in the Moscow region said on Tuesday. The body of a 61-year-old woman was discovered with multiple stab wounds near Moscow on June 8. A 32-year-old businessman from the town of Mytishchi to the northeast of Moscow has been detained on suspicion of killing her. In March, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269548/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:26:11 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269548/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Editor's note: Wheels is a section featuring car reviews. The size of a trunk is extremely important, especially if you have a growing family, like me. And so it is disappointing that so many hatchbacks and sedans are lacking in this area. Even the Jaguar XJ, while having a seemingly long trunk, does not have the necessary depth for bulky items. It is therefore refreshing to find that ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269549/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:26:08 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215269549/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition must not be allowed to set conditions for attending a peace conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments published on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268970/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:25:47 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268970/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 June 18, 2013 NATO and a number of European governments, most significantly the UK, have started airlifting heavy weapons to the Syrian rebels poised in Aleppo to fend off a major Syrian army offensive, according toDEBKAfile's exclusive military sources. They disclose that the first shipments were landed Monday night, June 17, and early Tuesday in Turkey and Jordan. They contained anti-air ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268184/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:46:55 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268184/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Worldwide reaction to NSA/PRISM surveillance - an overview When the NSA's surveillance program was first revealed by Edward Snowden last week, initial reaction was that it was a US issue. But with the realization that the greater part of the world's internet traffic is at some point routed via the US, the worldwide ramifications are becoming better understood and ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268376/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:41:45 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268376/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian lawmakers have approved amendments banning the adoption of Russian children by foreign couples in same-sex relationships, ahead of a vote on a broader bill later in the day.The ban would also apply to single people living in countries where same-sex marriage is legal.The draft law and related amendments to Russian family law were passed by Russia's ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268377/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:32:31 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268377/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A violent hailstorm has swept through southern Kazakhstan, desolating crops and killing hundreds of farm animals. The Zhamylskaya region on Kazakhstan's southern border with Kyrgyzstan was pummeled by hailstones measuring 30 to 35 millimeters in diameter. Carried on 20 meter per second winds, the storm laid waste to local livestock, killing 176 heads of cattle and up to 500 chickens, the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268380/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:22:19 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215268380/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267808/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:53:18 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267808/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Syria to other matters. They held a joint news conference to announce the official start of negotiations on a landmark free trade pact between the U.S. and ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267130/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:48:34 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267130/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Photos featuring transportation and unloading of Russian tanks and other vehicles in a port, which are claimed to be delivered for the Azerbaijani army, have appeared on internet. Two sources in the Russian defense industry have confirmed it to Vedomosti newspaper that the photos are original and reflect the process of supply of military equipment under a package of contracts signed with ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267135/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:42:14 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267135/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian authorities have set course towards weakening the ruble, hoping this would encourage economic growth. Experts say the ruble would be falling anyway, without efforts by the Ministry of Finance, but at the same time they agree that this would benefit the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267311/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:39:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267311/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Meningitis has been confirmed in 50 children in Russia’s southern city Rostov-on-Don. All in all 76 children undergo medical treatment at the infectious disease ward. One adult patient remains in intensive care unit. The meningitis outbreak was reported in "Teremok" kindergarten in Rostov-on-Don early in June. One child was rushed to hospital ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267313/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:39:28 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267313/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying Tuesday."We are categorically against... assertions that the conference should be some kind of public act of capitulation by the government delegation followed by a handing over of power to the opposition," Lavrov told Kuwaiti news agency KUNA in an interview whose text was published by the Russian foreign ministry.He said it was essential that the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267102/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:36:00 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267102/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 AKSAKOVO (Moscow Region), June 18 (RIA Novosti) – The number of minors behind bars in Russia has fallen by over 70 percent in the last five years, a prison service official said on Tuesday. Speaking at an international conference on working with convicted minors, the head of the Russian prison service’s department for social, psychological and educational work, Valery Trofimov, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267314/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:29:24 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267314/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Prepare yourself for a mind-bending cinematic event on 21 JUNE 2013 at 8 P.M. in St. Petersburg, Russia! From director Mark Hendrickson comes a captivating hybrid of fiction and documentary called COLOSSUS. A master manipulator-turned-filmmaker takes the art of the scam to new heights when he sets out to make a guerilla-style documentary ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267497/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:26:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267497/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia has fulfilled an order made by Azerbaijan in 2011-12 for military hardware worth up to $1 billion, Vedomosti reported Tuesday. The shipment consisted of 94 T-90S tanks, about 100 BMP-3 armored personnel carriers, 18 self-propelled Msta-S howitzers, 18 multiple launch rocket systems, 18 self-propelled cannons and six flame-throwing systems, the newspaper said, citing a source in the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267316/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:19:04 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267316/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet has been presented outside Russia for the first time, performing a successful demonstration at an air show at Le Bourget near Paris, RIA-Novosti reported Tuesday. The footage shows the Russian-made jet performing a number of stunts, including a spin, in front of visitors at the Paris Air Show. The Su-35, which is an upgrade on the Su-27 model, has an target ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267318/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:19:00 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215267318/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict requires the political will of not only Azerbaijan but also Russia. The statement came from President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. He said this in an interview with "Izvestia in Ukraine", commenting on the question of how Belarus would contribute to the solution of conflicts in trouble spots as the chair country of the Commonwealth ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266147/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:38:12 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266147/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russian tourists abandon trips to Istanbul over continuing riots in the Turkish capital, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia said on Tuesday. Along with this Russians continue to buy tours to spend their vacations in Turkey’s resorts, where the situation remains calm. "The majority of tourists preferred to abandon their tours to Istanbul, only ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266353/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:35:25 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266353/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Issues of support of small- and medium-size business will be for the first time separately discussed at one of the grounds within the framework of the 17th Economic Forum which will be held in St. Petersburg on June 20-22, president of the organization of support of small- and medium-size business "Support of Russia" Alexander Brechalov told ITAR-TASS. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266523/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:35:21 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266523/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Vladimir Putin doesn't agree to their proposals, a news report said Tuesday. British Prime Minister David Cameron said at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland that there were differences between Russia and the other member states on the subject of Syria, but that the talks could narrow the divide, USA Today reported. However, Western media sources said that the summit is clarifying what ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266356/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:15:43 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266356/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sergei Shoigu , Kommersant reported Tuesday. A military demonstration called "Together We Are Strong" will be incorporated into the festival in an attempt to promote patriotism among the country's youth and increase Russian citizens' knowledge about the activities of the armed forces, the ministry said. It will include a parade of tanks and other military combat vehicles, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266357/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:15:40 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266357/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 of this year. 14 Russian regions have previously adopted similar laws. Possible prohibition of propaganda of non-traditional relationships has caused a strong reaction among Western human rights organizations and formal structures of the EU and the U.S., calling on the Russian authorities not to pass the law. In fact, it was presented as an infringement upon the rights of homosexuals. Of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266373/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:01:06 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266373/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW -; Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says authorities will shut down a paper mill on the shores of Lake Baikal, which environmentalists say is a major pollutant threatening the world's largest fresh water ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265200/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:38:11 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265200/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 TBILISI, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Representatives of Russian and Georgian transport ministries and aviations agencies "will discuss restoration of regular air link between the two countries," Georgian prime minister’s special envoy on Russia, Zurab Abashidze, told a news conference in his comments on the statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman. On Monday ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265204/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:31:56 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265204/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev discussed with Romanian President Traian Basescu international security problems in connection with the development of global missile defense, the SC press office reported on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265385/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:31:56 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265385/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Once infamous as a place of exile and no-return during the Tsarist and then Stalinist eras, Siberia is being touted as a beacon of light by the Russian government as it looks east, rather than west, for growth ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215264972/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:27:08 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215264972/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 | Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:17am EDT MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) - Russian miner Mechel posted on Tuesday a first-quarter net loss of $321 million, compared with profit of $218 million in the same quarter last year partly due to the sale of loss-making Romanian assets in February. Its net loss adjusted for the effect of assets impairment, discontinued operations and other lines ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266155/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:17:20 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215266155/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Gazprom 's plans to erect the 400-meter skyscraper in the city, a news report said Tuesday. Kuibyshevsky District Court canceled the decision of the city's Public Use and Protection of Monuments Committee, which in March 2012 excluded the proposed site from the cultural heritage protection list, Kommersant reported. The area where Gazprom was planning to build the Okhota Center ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265389/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:10:16 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265389/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, June 18 | Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:02am EDT MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) - Russian credit card supplier Tinkoff Credit Systems (TCS) has selected banks to organise a stock market listing, a source close to the placement said on Tuesday. Sources said in May that TCS was talking to banks ahead of a possible listing, which could take place this year or early 2014 and raise several hundred ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265925/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:02:50 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215265925/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Seeking consent on Syria amid a West-Russia schism over its future is a key job of Group of Eight leaders ending their summit Tuesday, a White House aide said. "I think it's fairly evident that there's a difference of view on Syria between the United States and some of our -- well, the former G7 -- and Russia," White House deputy national security ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215264290/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:58:41 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215264290/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia and Turkey have joined SA in expressing outrage over revelations that the UK and the US spied on foreign delegates at G20 meetings in ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263417/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:26:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263417/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 TOKYO, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - The Japanese government considers an agreement on Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Tokyo in autumn substantial progress. This agreement was reached at the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Lough Erne Golf Resort in Northern Ireland. "Foreign ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263516/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:24:49 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263516/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 luxury properties in cities like London , attracted by the safe-haven status they offer. But the prime real estate market in Russia's capital offers great returns - for those willing to take the risks, analysts say. Demand for prime real estate market in Moscow - and correspondingly, property prices - is on the rise, according to luxury real estate experts, with both domestic and foreign ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263263/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:20:51 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263263/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia said Monday that it would not allow the imposition of a no-fly zone over the conflict-ravaged Syria and expressed surprise over Cairo severing ties with Damascus."Russia sees no necessity of introducing such measures and considers them counter-productive," reported Xinhua citing Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich over the need to impose no-fly zone over ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263420/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:09:58 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263420/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Gay rights activists from Russia and the former Soviet republics living in the U.S. are trying to convince athletes and spectators not to go to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The group is calling for a boycott of the games, saying the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is not safe in Russia - and they hope even those who are not gay will support the ban. "LGBT people in ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263565/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:04:22 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263565/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fitch: Spanish Floor Clause Ruling May Reduce Excess Spread A recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling could cause lenders to stop applying floor clauses that set minimum interest rates in mortgage contracts, and so reduce excess spread in Spanish RMBS transactions, Fitch Ratings says. The presence of interest rate floors in mortgage contracts has bolstered excess spread during the recent period of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263258/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:03:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215263258/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 On June 11 the Russian parliament adopted--by 436 votes to nil, with one abstention--two civil rights laws, making it a punishable offence to openly practise homosexual relationships, defend homosexuals or "insult religious sentiments".Both laws have yet to be approved by the parliament's upper chamber and signed by President Vladimir Putin. Putin has already publicly declared his ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262715/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:31:43 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262715/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Three members of the feminist collective were sentenced to prison stints last summer after being found guilty of hooliganism following a performance of a protest song against President Vladimir Putin at a Moscow church.Yekaterina Samutsevich has since been freed, while fellow band members Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova are still behind bars.John Lennon's widow invited another pair ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262716/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:04:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262716/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The U.S. has returned to Moscow eight historical documents, taken out of Russian archives during the turbulent 1990s and recently recovered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The documents, including handwritten orders by Tsarina Catherine the Great and Russia's last Tsar Nicholas II, and a personal letter by composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, were recovered at auction houses in New ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262717/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:01:40 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262717/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Seventy-six years ago today, on June 18, 1937, the first non-stop flight from Russia to North America via the North Pole took off from Shchyolkovo aerodrome in Moscow region. The flight, which lasted more than 15 hours, was undertaken in extremely dangerous conditions. The three-man Soviet crew were personally congratulated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262941/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:01:37 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262941/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Edward Snowden, the fugitive former CIA employee and NSA contractor who leaked secrets about America’s spying operations, often hung out online with foreigners in Japan who shared his interests in anime, video games, martial arts, the stock market and the expat lifestyle. Snowden, who ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262532/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:00:57 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262532/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Monday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Japan this fall to boost political dialogue, a Japanese official said. Abe and Putin shared the view that it is important to hold bilateral political dialogue "at a quick tempo" based on the results of their previous talks in Moscow in April, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262539/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:45:45 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262539/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Social networks have become one of the methods of cyber warfare, including against Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said speaking at "Civil University" in ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262558/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:45:40 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215262558/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 "The destination of my first international trip was to Russia because the country has historically maintained since the time of the Soviet Union, cordial relations with Palestine and has always defended our interests," said Mahmoud Abbas, President of Palestinian National Authority, on the eve of his visit to Moscow. Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, appreciated the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215261724/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:43:23 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215261724/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia did not advance past the opening round of the EuroBasket ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215261566/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:35:16 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215261566/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 >Read a version of this story in Arabic.(CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin says he still doesn't see eye to eye with the United States on Syria. But "all of us have the intention to stop the violence in Syria ... and to solve this situation peacefully," Putin said Monday after a meeting with US President Barack Obama at the Group of Eight Summit in Northern Ireland. Putin said he and ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215260694/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:10:39 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/215260694/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078