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 Sat, 25 May 2013 09:22:35 -0400 Sat, 25 May 2013 09:22:35 -0400 30 Russia's Energia Rocket and Space Corporation will make four launches next year from the Pacific Ocean-based Odyssey platform under the Sea Launch programme, an official said. Corporation president Vitaly Lopota said that after 2014, Energia will be able to make five or more launches a year. Next year's launches will be the first since one of Sea Launch's Zenit vehicles carrying an Intelsat-27 ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214752866/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 00:00:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214752866/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov entered into a bizarre public row with a Russian socialite over whose cat was the "most beautiful". "Dear friends! Me and Tina Kandelaki are having an argument over whose cat is more beautiful. I think it's mine. What do you think?" Kadyrov tweeted. Kadyrov also posted a photo of his white cat, Zazulya, on Instagram. "Tina Kandelaki is a friend, but the truth is ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214752182/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 23:10:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214752182/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Members of foreign delegations attending an international conference on European security visited a military base near Moscow that has a motorized infantry division. Defence officials and military experts from Armenia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the US and Zimbabwe were shown a training centre, a shooting range and the barracks at the Taman ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751775/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:40:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751775/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Production of vodka and other spirits in Russia dropped 23.3 percent in the first four months of 2013 year-on-year to 5.7 million decaliters, a report said. The Federal Statistics Service (or Rosstat) said in a report that beer production declined 10.7 percent compared to the same period last year, to 78.2 million decaliters. Production of wine rose 19.1 percent in the reporting period to 3.5 ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751466/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:20:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751466/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia regards as a "positive development" reports that North Korea is willing to return to six-party talks on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, a Russian diplomat said. China's Xinhua news agency and South Korea's Yonhap reported Friday that Choe Ryong Hae, a special envoy for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, met Chinese President Xi Jinping and reaffirmed that Pyongyang "is ready ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751465/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 21:50:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751465/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Vkontakte, Russia's biggest social networking website, was put on a state registry of blacklisted websites by mistake Friday, an official said. "This was a mistake. Our employee put a tick in the wrong place," said Vladimir Pikov, spokesman for Russia's telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor. "We will remove VKontakte from the registry and it should be accessible for everyone." Some 40 million people ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214750631/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 20:50:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214750631/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 President Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama will meet at the G8 summit in June and during the US president's visit to Russia in September, a Kremlin aide said Friday. "The first meeting will be in Lough Erne (Northern Ireland) on the sidelines of the G8 Summit and then (during) Obama's visit [to Russia] in September, early September," Putin aide Yury Ushakov said. Obama's visit will take place ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739508/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:00:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739508/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A prominent Russian lawmaker Friday called for public condemnation of a recent handout of condoms by AIDS activists at an monument in honour of soldiers who died in World War II. "The most serious reaction to such things is not the introduction of new administrative bans, but a sharp condemnation by society," said Olga Batalina, head of the Russian parliament's committee on family issues. "This ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739903/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:10:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739903/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A suicide bomber has blown herself up in the capital of the troubled southern republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala, officials say. At least 11 people, including five policemen, were wounded in the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757951/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 07:43:47 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757951/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia is ready to organize new meetings between the sides in the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. "Russia is ready to continue organizing new meetings for bringing closer the positions of the sides in the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict", said the Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214758157/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 07:36:46 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214758157/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ? ????????????, ?????????????, ????????????, ??????????, ?????????? ????? ?????? ? ????. - ??????????? ????? ???????? ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214758002/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 07:33:53 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214758002/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Terrorism A suicide bombing has struck near a building of the Russian Interior Affairs Ministry in Dagestan, North Caucasus, injuring eleven people, including two children, officials said. The suicide bomber, reportedly a woman, is dead, and five police officers and six civilians were injured in the attack. The blast was reportedly so powerful that a shockwave was felt a great distance from ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214758164/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 07:25:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214758164/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The meteorite issue became a global topic after a celestial body exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in mid-February , injuring 1,500. Meanwhile, Washington hopes to convince Russia to continue slashing strategic nuclear arms, Gottemoeller said on Ekho Moskvy radio, speaking in Russian. The New START nuclear arms treaty, signed by Russia and the United States in 2010, limits deployed ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214758393/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 07:24:08 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214758393/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti) – In a rare display of public humility, head of police in the Russian city of St. Petersburg publicly apologized to motorist rights activists allegedly beaten up by his subordinates. But Sergei Umnov’s apology, published on the city police’s website late Friday, never specified what caused ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757956/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 07:24:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757956/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti) – Thousands of jailed Russian entrepreneurs may soon walk out thanks to a proposed economic amnesty, though it remains unclear whether it ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757976/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 07:24:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757976/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia will ask the United States to contribute more toward the costs of flying US astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), a spokesman for the Russian space agency said Thursday.Roskomos spokesman Vyacheslav Davydenko told AFP that since the US space shuttles stopped supplying the jointly manned station in the wake of the February 2003 Columbia disaster Russia had been shouldering ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757350/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 06:39:37 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757350/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ELEVEN people have been wounded in an apparent suicide bombing in Russia's restive Dagestan region, a spokeswoman for the regional interior ministry says. The bomber, believed to be a woman, blew herself up on Saturday not far from the interior ministry building in the centre of the provincial capital Makhachkala, spokeswoman Fatina Ubaidatova told AFP. The latest attack in the troubled ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757349/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 06:27:15 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214757349/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/214756660/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 05:21:29 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214756660/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Policy concerns remain despite news that Russia’s international investment flows reached record levels in 2007, according to a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Russia had foreign direct investment inflows of US$52bn and US$46bn was invested by Russian firms abroad in 2007, but the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214756239/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 04:34:38 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214756239/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Georgia: After Dropping Cluster Bombs, Russia Has Responsibility to Help Civilians WASHINGTON - August 15 - Human Rights Watch reported today that on August 12 Russian forces used cluster bombs in two separate attacks on Georgian towns, killing a total of 11 civilians and injuring dozens more. Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) deplored the use of the indiscriminate weapon and ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214755923/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 04:33:49 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214755923/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ICBL Condemns Russian Use of Cluster Munitions in Georgia August 15 - The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) strongly condemned Russia today for the use of cluster bombs in Georgia which resulted in at least 11 civilians being killed and dozens injured. Evidence of cluster munitions use by Russia was revealed by ICBL member Human Rights Watch in a press release issued ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214755814/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 04:33:49 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214755814/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A TU-154 passenger plane aborted a take-off in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar due to gear malfunction Thursday, local media reported.A crew of the plane, which belongs to the Gazpromavia airline, reported a malfunction in the craft's gear while on the runway.There were 142 passengers onboard and none was hurt, reported Interfax news agency.The plane remained on the runway where the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214756212/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 04:29:42 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214756212/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia, South Korea and Singapore signed a cooperation deal on developing nanotechnology Thursday.A memorandum of understanding signed Thursday on the sidelines of the 2011 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum broadens investment in the Asia Nanotechnology Fund, which was set up last September by the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnology (RUSNANO), the Singaporean Economic Development ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214755948/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 04:29:27 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214755948/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia's Mission Control announced on Wednesday it had raised the International Space Station (ISS) by 10.2 km to 374.7 km with the help of the Europe's ATV-2 Johannes Kepler.The Mission Control conducted the correction to the ISS at 19: 55 Moscow time (1555 GMT) by the boosters of the ATV-2 Johannes Kepler. The correction had lasted for some 40 minutes.According to the Mission Control, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214755949/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 04:29:24 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214755949/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers of the Russian Federation, the Republic of India and the People's Republic of China issued a joint communique Friday after wrapping up their 11th meeting here.The following is the full text of the document:JOINT COMMUNIQUE of the Eleventh Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation, the Republic of India and the People's ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214756110/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 04:29:19 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214756110/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 25 (Itar-Tass) - The collection of ancient Jewish books and manuscripts, known as the Schneerson collections, will soon be placed with a new branch of the Russian State Library at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. Experts have already inspected the museum’s premises that will house the collection, the museum’s press service said on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214754450/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 02:47:25 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214754450/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The scare came as a strong earthquake off the coast of Sakhalin in the Far East sent shockwaves throughout Russia, causing buildings to lightly shake in Moscow, about 7,000 kilometers ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214754576/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 02:38:09 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214754576/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Japan managed to move their positions closer on certain issues, pledging to speed up talks on reaching a peace treaty for the first time since the end of WWII, as leaders of the two countries met here on Monday. Following his talks with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that they have instructed ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214753838/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 01:06:42 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214753838/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A massive earthquake deep under the sea in Russia's Far East was felt in cities including Moscow but emergency services called off a tsunami warning issued for the Pacific Sakhalin ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214753133/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sat, 25 May 2013 00:38:32 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214753133/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Activists will attempt to hold a gay pride march in Moscow despite being banned by authorities and warned they will be breaking the law. City officials have promised the action will be "thwarted" and protesters face being arrested and fined. But they say they are determined to make their voices heard. The torture and murder of a young man in Volgograd has focused attention on the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214752199/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 23:15:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214752199/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia expelled a United States diplomat yesterday after saying he had been caught red-handed with disguises, special equipment and wads of cash as he tried to recruit a Russian agent to work for the Central Intelligence Agency. The announcement came at an awkward time for Washington and Moscow as they try to improve ties and bring the warring sides in Syria together for a peace conference. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214752353/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:52:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214752353/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Moscow welcomed Pyongyang's willingness to return to the negotiating table over the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, a senior Russian diplomat said Friday."Pyongyang deserves a positive mark for its readiness to return to the negotiating table following weeks of nuclear threats, orders to prepare for missiles strikes and other belligerent rhetoric," Interfax news agency ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751643/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:18:27 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751643/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - The birth rate in Russia grew by 5.6 percent year-on-year in 2012, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Friday. "In 2012, birth rate increased by 5.6 percent - from 12.6 to 13.3 [births] per 1,000 people," she said. She added that the number of abortions fell by 5.5 percent, or by 53,900, due to state measures to support pregnant women ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751600/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:10:18 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751600/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 An 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751525/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 21:09:55 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214751525/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 TBILISI, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia is ready to provide all assistance that Russia needs to ensure security during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said on Friday. "The Georgian side will provide maximum assistance; we should ensure that no incident takes place during the Olympics," Ivanishvili told journalists. The first Winter Games in ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214750846/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 21:01:31 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214750846/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 In other news Friday, Russian officials announced that Syria has agreed "in principle" to attend an international peace conference on outlining a transition for new leadership. Also, in Kabul, Afghanistan, a guest house used by an international aid group was targeted by a suicide car bomber and five armed ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214749887/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 20:07:17 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214749887/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 PARIS, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - The international police agency Interpol has deleted from its database all information in relation to UK-based investor William Browder, the organization said in a statement on Friday. Browder, who heads the Hermitage Capital equity fund, is a former boss of deceased lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and a prominent campaigner for justice in his case. Magnitsky’s 2009 ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214749889/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 19:54:06 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214749889/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism /Rostourism/ has asked the tour companies across the country to inform the customers planning trips to Qatar, Jordan, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, France, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia on the importance of observing safety precautions in the wake of the outbreak of diseases caused by a new strain of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214748875/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 18:57:27 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214748875/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines--Russian tourist Mark Yuchyugyaev's fascination with the majestic beauty of the Mayon Volcano proved to be costly, in more ways than one. To rescue the Russian tourist who went on an unauthorized Mayon Volcano climb and was injured in the process, the government had to shell out at least half a million pesos. Raffy Alejandro, regional direct of the Office of Civil ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214749066/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 18:56:44 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214749066/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Syria's most powerful ally Russia on Friday said the Damascus regime had agreed to attend an international peace conference on the crisis that world powers hope will take place in Geneva in ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214748738/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 18:52:31 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214748738/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 PARIS (AP) — The international police agency Interpol has rejected a Russian push to locate and arrest a Britain-based investor who is a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's regime.France-based Interpol said in a statement Friday it has "deleted all information in relation to William Browder."A special Interpol-related committee decided at a meeting Friday that ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214747890/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 17:57:09 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214747890/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Leonardo DiCaprio. Off to space next year. A wealthy Russian oligarch living in Monaco spent over a million dollars to sit -- and then float -- alongside him while they orbit the planet in a Virgin Galactic space ship. This is one easy how-to article. How do you get to go into outerspace with an A-lister, in this case Leonardo DiCaprio? Well, first you have to be go to the Cannes Film Festival ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214747649/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 17:45:27 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214747649/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 WASHINGTON, May 24 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – Next month firefighters from New York, Boston and Russia will trade in their flame-resistant gear for shoulder pads and ice skates and team up against each other – and some of the best known names in hockey – for the third annual ‘Battles On Ice,’ a two-part annual competition in New York that organizers say ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214747892/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 17:38:05 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214747892/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Demonstrators shout Islamic slogans as they wave Syrian opposition flags during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at the courtyard of Fatih mosque in Istanbul May 24, 2013. (MURAD ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214746612/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 16:46:12 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214746612/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Barack Obama will meet twice in the next four months, a Kremlin aide said Friday. Yury Ushakov said the first meeting would in June during the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland and the second will take place before the Group of 20 meeting in Russia in September, RIA Novosti reported. The meetings are expected to discuss proposals by Putin that were presented in a letter to Obama ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214746687/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 16:10:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214746687/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Actor Gerard Depardieu arrives at the Rome Film Festival in Rome on October 21, 2007. Depardieu is in Rome with his film "Labbuffata". (UPI Photo/David ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214746477/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 16:10:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214746477/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Brothers Tamerlan Tsarnaev, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing. Tamerlan was closely monitored while in Dagestan last ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214745341/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 15:37:50 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214745341/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A Russian deep-diving miniature submarine is lowered from the research vessel Akademik Fyodorov moments before performing a dive in the Arctic Ocean beneath the ice at the North Pole in August 2007. (Vladimir ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214745598/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 15:23:38 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214745598/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 SOCHI, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Friday to continue supporting the domestic film industry, but called on Russian filmmakers to produce movies that promote patriotic and moral values. "I have said many times that the state can help produce movies, but it cannot force people to go and watch them," Putin said at a meeting on the development of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214745170/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 15:17:12 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214745170/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 USGS ), the epicenter of the quake was located just off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, in the far eastern part of the country. The massive quake was followed by a smaller (but still very large) magnitude 6.8 aftershock further out in the Sea of Okhotsk. The quakes occurred deep in the Earth, with both centered at a depth of more than 600 km (about 372 miles). Neither the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214745384/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 15:07:21 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214745384/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The Chinese embassy in Moscow confirmed to the Global Times on Friday that Russian police authorities had detained Thursday 74 Chinese workers working illegally in Russia's Volgograd region.The embassy officials who were quickly informed about the incident arrived in Volgograd on Friday to negotiate with Russian authorities about the issue, a press officer from the embassy told the Global ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214743814/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 14:13:57 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214743814/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 /enpproperty--> Russian authorities investigated nearly 200 Chinese workers this week who are suspected of working in the country illegally. Experts called for a better-regulated labor exporting system to secure a better working environment for Chinese workers in Russia. As many as 74 Chinese workers in the Volgograd region, who authorities said have no identity documents, have been detained ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214744097/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 14:11:36 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214744097/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s legendary cruiser Avrora, a symbol of the October 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, will most likely be moved for repair work in September this year, a Navy spokesman said on Friday. "The Avrora is expected to be sent for repair work in September 2013," the official said, adding that the work will be carried out in an as yet undecided ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214743891/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 14:05:38 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214743891/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Magnitude 6.7 earthquake shook Sakhalin region of eastern Russia MOSCOW - Magnitude 6.7 earthquake shook eastern Russia on Friday. The earthquake was located in the Sea of Okhotsk.According to information released by Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the epicentre of the quake was located at a depth of 600 kilometres in the Sea of Okhotsk.The statement added, the earthquake was felt in ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214744101/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:48:27 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214744101/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 BOCHAROV RUCHEI (Sochi), May 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will provide 1.7 billion euros to finance the construction of Serbia’s stretch of the South Stream gas pipeline that will carry Russian natural gas through the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then on to Greece, Italy and Austria, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. "The Russian side undertakes to finance that section," ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742576/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 12:52:19 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742576/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – Production of vodka and other spirits in Russia dropped 23.3 percent in the first four months of 2013 year on year to 5.7 million decaliters, the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) said in a report on Friday. Beer production declined 10.7 percent compared to the same period last year, to some 78.2 million decaliters. Production of wine rose 19.1 percent in ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742577/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 12:52:16 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742577/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 KALININGRAD, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – Construction of Russia’s two new antimissile radars – one in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and the other in Siberia’s Irkutsk region – should be complete by the end of next year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday. The minister, who was visiting the Voronezh-DM-class radar station near Kaliningrad, said that on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742892/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 12:52:14 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742892/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 As global warming accelerates, the life span of Arctic ice floes is decreasing, shocking Russian scientists who base their 'drifting' research stations ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742595/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 12:30:43 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742595/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 At times, though, Western publications comment on the statements from Russia after they take place. This may mean that Western intelligence services may have missed a new Russian ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214743210/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 12:27:13 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214743210/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Former Polish President Lech Walesa has caused a storm of negative remarks in the European media, having said that homosexuals "have to sit on the last bench in the parliament, or even farther than that - behind the wall." Poland opposes the legalization of same-sex cohabitation, which has been promoted in Europe lately. This may become the reason to shake up Russian-Polish ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742889/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 12:27:11 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214742889/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck off Russia’s eastern coast on Friday, briefly prompting a tsunami scare but causing no casualties or substantial damage, Russian emergency authorities said. The epicentre of the quake was located at a depth of 385 miles (620 km) in the Sea of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740872/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:58:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740872/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia's Ambassador in Sofia Yuriy Isakov has congratulated Bulgarians on their national day of Culture and Slavic Script. "I wish all our Bulgarian brothers a happy holiday, well-being, good and happy days - despite the difficult life in Bulgaria," Isakov told reporters on Friday. The Ambassador noted that Bulgaria and Russia should always remember they have some things in ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740727/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:50:01 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740727/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and Serbia have signed a declaration of strategic partnership in all spheres, including politics, trade, economy, culture, science, technology, and ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740571/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:46:51 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740571/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 In the plans is the construction of new buildings of the republic's maternity centre, the central clinic, the tuberculosis treatment clinic in Bendery and a new tuberculosis treatment centre in Rybnita. Agreements were also signed to build schools in Tiraspol. Bendery, Rybnita and the village of Tashlyk and new kindergartens in Rybnita and ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740050/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:46:51 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740050/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 SOCHI, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and the US are preparing a number of decisions for the Putin-Obama talks due in Northern Ireland on June 17-18, but there are no agreements on missile defense among them, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov has ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740572/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:46:49 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740572/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 SOCHI, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - President of the United States Barack Obama will pay a visit to Russia before September 5, Russian president’s aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740574/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:46:47 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740574/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 NEW DELHI, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s JSC Navigation Information Systems (NIS GLONASS) has signed an agreement on cooperation in the sphere of navigation with India’s ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740573/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:46:47 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740573/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Frank Kugler won four Olympics medals in freestyle wrestling, weightlifting and tug of war at St Louis in 1904, making him the only competitor to win a medal in three different sports at the same Games. He claimed a silver medal in the heavyweight category in wrestling, bronze in the two hand lift and all-around dumbbell events in weightlifting and another bronze in the tug of war competition as ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214741422/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:45:47 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214741422/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/214740902/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:10:27 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740902/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The behavior of Russians abroad has long been a topic of dirty jokes. A collective image of a Russian tourist is a cad, who likes to drink and arrange scandals. Changing a stereotype is hard, and many Russian vacationers notice cool attitude to themselves in foreign countries. Is it true that the tourist industry is not loyal to ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740904/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:10:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740904/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The quality of hotel rooms, restaurant service, attention to wishes of guests and the speed of response to their requests are not always the same for Russian and non-Russian guests. There are many complaints saying that hotel managers save rooms facing construction sites or other unpleasant facilities primarily for Russian tourists. A Russian tourist may often have to fight for a room with a sea ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740903/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:10:26 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740903/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Dateline Dalarna, Sweden: Sometimes truly extraordinary events occur, events which impact an entire nation's people, though, the word 'surreal' perhaps fits better than 'extraordinary' in describing events here during the last third of April. Of course, too much has too long been overblown, the strongest of adjectives too frequently employed to mask the weakest of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740384/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:10:24 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740384/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW | Fri May 24, 2013 11:07am EDT MOSCOW May 24 (Reuters) - Russia's Uralkali, one of the world's largest potash producers, does not plan to sign a contract with China to supply potash in the second half of 2013 due to unfavourable market conditions, a company spokesman said on Friday. Potash producers around the world keenly look out for signs of flagging demand in China, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740535/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:07:15 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214740535/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Arsenal expires at the end of the month."He hasn't played much for lately. Why? You would have to ask him that question," their coach Luciano Spalletti said in reference to the former Russia captain, who joined Arsenal from Zenit for 15m in early 2009.Arshavin, who turns 32 next week, rejoined Zenit on a three-month loan from Arsenal in February last year after but failed to ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739664/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 10:51:28 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739664/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia A Moscow court has ruled that prosecutors' inspection of human rights group Memorial was lawful. The inquiry, held after the 'foreign agents' law was enacted, revealed that the NGO received $3 million from abroad to shape public opinion in Russia. On Friday, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court rejected Memorial's appeal against the off-schedule inspection carried out on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739196/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 10:44:34 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739196/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian economy Beating out a number of other investment banks, JP Morgan will consult Russia in its effort to boost the country's sovereign credit ratings. Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak said JP Morgan will act as a liaison between the Ministry of Finance and rating agencies, RIA Novosti reported. Storchak also hinted that Russia will be reviewed by one of the major ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739506/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 10:44:32 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739506/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri May 24, 2013 10:14am EDT By Gleb Stolyarov MOSCOW May 24 (Reuters) - The owners of rail freight operators Globaltrans and NefteTransService are in talks on a merger that would create a business with sales of $2.7 billion and a 10 percent share of the Russian market, industry sources told Reuters on Friday. "They started (talks) several months ago and have been unable to agree on pricing ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739256/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 10:14:54 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214739256/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A member of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, Faruq Tayfur, attends a meeting on May 23, 2013, in Istanbul. AFP PHOTO/BULENT ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738484/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 09:54:31 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738484/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 USA American philanthropist Susan Lehrman has received the Fulbright Award for contributing to international diplomacy, specifically Russia-US cultural ties. A month ago, her efforts were warmly saluted by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Since 1991, public organization One to World has annually bestowed the Fulbright Award on individuals who make outstanding contributions to promoting ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738497/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 09:49:24 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738497/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) - Defense Ministry contracts signed under former Minister Anatoly Serdyukov are to be thoroughly examined and if necessary, audited, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday. Serdyukov, who had held the post of Defense Minister since 2007, was sacked in November and replaced by Sergei Shoigu amid a series of ongoing corruption scandals that have rocked ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738639/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 09:48:07 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738639/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 U.S. lender JP Morgan will act as a consultant to Russia's Finance Ministry with the aim of boosting the country's credit rating and improving the image of the economy as a whole. The firm was selected based on a number of criteria such as experience and quality of work, including in the Russian market and the proposed strategy of interaction with rating agencies, Vedomosti reported. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738642/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 09:37:37 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738642/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia's oldest rights group began a legal battle on Friday to avoid being branded a "foreign agent" under a new law it sees as a tool of repression by ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738503/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 09:36:14 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738503/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian businessman Vasily Klyukin paid $1.5 million for a chance to fly into space with famous Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio. A charity auction was held on May ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738649/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 09:21:03 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738649/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri May 24, 2013 9:10am EDT Closed Joint Stock Company Mortgage Agent Raiffeisen 01 For the full text of this story please click the following ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738641/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 09:10:52 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214738641/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A massive undersea earthquake with an estimated 8.3 magnitude shook Russia Friday, with tremors recorded in Moscow - almost 4,400 miles west of the epicenter of the temblor. The quake hit in the Sea of Okhotsk at a depth of over 370 miles off the shore of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, according to ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737839/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 09:01:37 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737839/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The prospects of an international peace conference on Syria being held in Moscow before the end of May look slim because of the Syrian opposition's stubborn stance, the Interior Ministry said Friday. Alexander Lukashevich, the ministry's spokesman, accused the Syrian opposition of making unreasonable demands that "dilute" the effectiveness of the conference and go against the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737841/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 08:43:53 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737841/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 North Korea's declaration of readiness to return to talks with world powers, a senior Russian diplomat was cited by the Interfax news agency as saying on Friday. "The fact that Pyongyang has declared its readiness and desire to return to the negotiating table... deserves a positive assessment," Interfax quoted Russian Foreign Ministry special envoy Grigory Logvinov as saying. A ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737707/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 08:42:14 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737707/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 In the Rostov region, on the territory of the former village of Privolnoe, "black archaeologists" discovered skeletal remains of Nazi soldiers during unauthorized excavation ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737849/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 08:27:59 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737849/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A powerful earthquake on Friday hit Russia's Far East with tremors felt as far away as Moscow, about 7,000 kilometres west of the epicentre. Marina Kolomiyets, spokeswoman for Obninsk's seismic station of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told The Associated Press the epicentre was in the Sea of Okhotsk, east of the Russian coast and north of Japan. She said the quake registered a ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736865/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:57:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736865/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A huge earthquake has hit Russia's Far East resulting in tremors being felt as far away as Moscow, about 7,000 kilometres (4,400 miles) west of the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736868/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:54:53 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736868/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri May 24, 2013 7:50am EDT May 24 (Reuters) - (The following statement was released by the rating agency) Fitch Ratings has affirmed Eurasia Drilling Company Limited's (EDC) Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at 'BB' with a Stable Outlook. Fitch also affirmed the 'BB' senior unsecured ratings of the RUB5bn domestic bonds due in 2018 issued by EDC's ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737560/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:50:12 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214737560/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Pyotr Todorovsky, an Academy Award-nominated director whose films explored World War II and broke a Soviet-era taboo against portraying prostitutes, died Friday after a long illness. He was 87. Several of Todorovsky's more than 20 films drew on his experience as a platoon commander during World War II. Voenno-Polevoi Roman ("Wartime Romance," 1983), which tells the story of lovers ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736988/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:48:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736988/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Eleventh-graders are in for a day of mixed emotions as the summer semester draws to a close in schools across the country. More than 800,000 students are taking leave to prepare for their final examinations, which are due to begin next week. In Moscow, about 3,000 police have been mobilized to provide security for school leavers who traditionally mark the day with boat trips and strolls around ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736987/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:48:30 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736987/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 An earthquake of at least 6.7-magnitude struck the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East Friday, officials said. The quake, which the U.S. Geological survey estimated might have been closer to 8.2-magnitude, could be felt in Moscow, 4,000 miles away and two buildings in the city were evacuated, but there were no reports of injuries or damage at any location. A ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736876/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:39:05 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736876/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Two earthquakes have hit the Ring of Fire area, registering magnitudes of 8.2 and 5.7 and prompting a tsunami warning. Moscow felt tremors from the more powerful quake, causing some people to evacuate buildings despite the epicentre being more than 4,000 miles to the east. The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of Thursday's quake was in the Kuril-Kamchatka arc, one of the most ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736198/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:08:24 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736198/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines--Russian tourist Mark Yuchyugyaev’s fascination with Mayon Volcano proved costly to the Philippine government. In order to rescue the Russian tourist, who went on an unsanctioned Mayon climb and was injured in the process, the government had to spend more than half a million pesos. Raffy Alejandro, regional direct of the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol, said ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736331/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:00:41 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736331/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's leading online social network was briefly banned on Friday, in a move dismissed as a "mistake" but which follows intensifying official pressure on the company as President Vladimir Putin consolidates his ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736591/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:59:49 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736591/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A gang that manufactured and sold sophisticated electronic equipment for carjacking has been thwarted by Voronezh region police and cyber-crime officers, the Interior Ministry said Friday. The criminal group provided criminals with "code-grabbers" at prices ranging from 50,000 rubles ($1,600) to 250,000 rubles. Code-grabbers are electronic devices that intercept signals from ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736332/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:55:45 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214736332/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – A prominent Russian lawmaker called on Friday for public condemnation of a recent handout of condoms by AIDS activists at an monument in honor of soldiers who died in World War Two. "The most serious reaction to such things is not the introduction of new administrative bans, but a sharp condemnation by society," said Olga Batalina, head of the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735568/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:13:04 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735568/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government is ready to step in to sort out the crisis in Russian naval shipbuilding which is threatening to derail the defense procurement program, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday. The government’s direct intervention in the situation is the only way of averting further problems, he said at a meeting with shipbuilding company ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735325/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:13:03 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735325/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Moscow - Russia said on Friday that the Syrian government had agreed in principle to attend an international peace conference proposed by Russia and the United States, and criticised what it called attempts to undermine peace ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735443/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:08:43 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735443/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The accidental inclusion of popular social network Vkontakte on a list of banned online resources on Friday was "caused by human error." Vladimir Pikov, a Federal Mass Media Inspection Service official, told Digit.ru that they wanted to block links to several other potentially harmful sites found on Vkontakte, but that blacklisting the entire service was a mistake. Vkontakte has ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735569/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:03:34 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735569/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Video footage showing a tornado over the Obninsk nuclear station late Thursday. (Anton Lunev / YouTube) A tornado caused a scare outside Moscow when it passed over the decommissioned site of the world's first civilian nuclear power plant. No injuries or major damage was reported after the storm Thursday evening in the Kaluga region town of Obninsk, 110 kilometers southwest of Moscow. But ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735570/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:03:32 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735570/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri May 24, 2013 5:44am EDT (Repeat for additional subscribers) May 24 (Reuters) - (The following statement was released by the rating agency) Fitch Ratings has published the latest edition of its 'Russian Banks Monthly Datawatch', a monthly publication of spreadsheets with key data from Russian banks' statutory accounts. The new issue includes numbers as of 1 May 2013, as well as ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735284/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:44:10 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214735284/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russia says the Syrian government has agreed in principle to attend aproposed international peace conference on the country's future. A spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry said Friday that Syria has agreed to participate in the conference that Russia and the U.S. have proposed next month in Geneva. But he said it is impossible to set a date yet because it is not clear yet who will ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733572/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:19:49 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733572/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The future of Russia's biggest social media site was thrown into a state of flux Friday after the country's communications regulator moved to shut it down.The site, VKontakte, is similar to Facebook and has roughly 200 million registered users. On Friday a notice on the website of Russia's Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733539/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:17:18 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733539/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Four months after an empty Russian cruise ship snapped a tow line and drifted into the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, its trail has gone cold.The Canadian Coast Guard says it has received no reported sightings of the Lyubov Orlova since March 12.At the time, one of the empty vessel's emergency radio beacons flashed an unconfirmed location almost 1,300 kilometres off Newfoundland. The ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733370/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:17:08 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733370/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A massive earthquake deep under the sea in Russia's Far East was felt in cities including Moscow but emergency services called off a tsunami warning issued for the Pacific Sakhalin ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733653/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:14:59 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733653/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 An 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck Russia's Far East on Friday, with slight tremors felt thousands of miles away in Moscow. There were no reported injuries or damage, RIA Novosti informs. The earthquake occurred in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported. Emergency agencies in the Far East issued a tsunami warning for Sakhalin and the Kuril ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733662/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:11:24 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733662/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 APA ’s Moscow correspondent reports that at the 20-minute meeting, the ministers discussed military relations between Azerbaijan and Russia. The meeting behind closed doors was also attended by Russia Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov and head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's International Military Cooperation Department, Major General Ramiz Najafov. Azerbaijani ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733956/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:11:19 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733956/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 On the 17th of May 2013, Russian TV, the UK Guardian and other media agencies reported on the publishing of a horrific video showing several boys under the age of ten, beaten with a belt and kicked by two teenage caretakers in a Russian orphanage. The appalling incident happened in the Mazanovsky orphanage in the region of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733663/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:09:10 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733663/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 TOKYO, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - One of the Russian sailors who were injured in a fire that broke out on the Taigan ship anchored at the Japanese port of Wakkanai, has been discharged a local hospital, Attache of the Russian Consulate General in Sapporo Valery Kaminsky told Itar-Tass on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733373/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:08:15 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733373/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - A Russian reporter who has visited Syria has handed video footage on a chemical attack presumably organized by the irreconcilable Syrian opposition near Aleppo March 19 to the UN ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733959/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:08:12 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733959/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 VORONEZH, May 23 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he hopes the entire Arab world will be consuming the turkey produced in Russia ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733604/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 05:08:11 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733604/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tula region police said Friday that they have detained a reputed Georgian-born mobster known by the nickname "Chuto Khonsky." David Kurasbediani, 44, who also goes by "Chutala," was detained during an anti-mob operation after police learned that he had been living illegally in Tula and carrying out criminal activities, police said in a statement. A search of ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733963/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:48:54 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733963/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Transportation authorities are introducing a new metro map to be used across the city's subway network by the middle of next week. News reports said the new maps, which were designed by the Art. Lebedev Studio, have already started appearing on metro cars serving the Sokolnicheskaya Line. A competition to design the new map was held in November and featured entries from as far a field as ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214734555/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:48:52 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214734555/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Tolerance centers are to be opened in 11 Russian cities by 2015, the Regional Development Ministry said Friday. The program is estimated at some 1,5 billion rubles ($48 billion), and construction is set to get underway in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and the other selected cities in 2014. The centers will provide a basis for exploring the culture and traditions of the Russian people, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733964/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:48:50 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733964/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW - The Syrian government has agreed to a conference on the country's future proposed by Russia and the United States, Russia's foreign ministry said Friday Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in televised remarks that the Syrian government had "agreed in principle" to participate in the conference in Geneva which is expected within two weeks. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733681/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:47:34 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214733681/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian cult film director Balabanov dies at 54 05.20.2013 16:14 Alexei Balabanov, a director who captured the essence of Russia's early post-Soviet years with cult films about crime and the war in Chechnya, has died at the age of 54 following a long illness."The films of Alexei Balabanov are a collective portrait of our country at its most dramatic time in history," Prime ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214734556/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:34:56 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214734556/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) - Vkontakte, Russia's biggest social networking site, was put on a state registry of blacklisted websites by mistake earlier today, a spokesman forRussia's telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor said."This was a mistake. Our employee put a tick in the wrong place," said Vladimir Pikov, as reported by Digit.ru. "We will remove VKontakte from the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732738/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:07:09 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732738/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 WASHINGTON, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and the United States may set up joint working groups to counter emerging crime threats, Russia’s Interior Minister said at the end of a working visit to the United States. US and Russian officials agreed the two nations need to create working groups to help stand against "new international challenges and threats," including ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732589/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:07:08 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732589/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) - An earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale struck Russia’s Far East on Friday, with slight tremors felt thousands of miles away in Moscow. There were no reported injuries or damage. The earthquake occurred in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported. Emergency agencies in the Far East issued a tsunami ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732739/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:07:06 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732739/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Russian emergency authorities lifted a tsunami warning on Friday several minutes after they announced one, following an earthquake in the Sea of Okhotsk off Russia's eastern coastThe main city of Kamchatka is home to a nuclear submarine base and Russia's largest liquefied natural gas project is in Sakhalin.A regional branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry issued the warning for ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732740/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:02:21 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732740/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Sochi Olympics organizers said 2,500 doping tests will be conducted at the Winter Games next February, surpassing the total at the Vancouver Games four years ago. Alexei Slautin, the head of the Sochi 2014 doping control committee, said 13 doping control sites will operate during the games, with 10 stationed at various venues and three in the Olympic Village. According to the International ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732834/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:57:31 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732834/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A nurse poses with a seriously ill patient.(Photo:Agencies) Work in a hospital is never easy. To withstand difficult days at work, nurses have to treat it differently, to pose around people so bad ill that can't move and then post it online. This is how these medical workers from the Perm region of Russia explained these photos which had appeared in social networks. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732684/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:41:47 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732684/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Natural disasters Russian authorities have lifted a tsunami warning for the Sakhalin region and Kuril Islands following a strong 8.2-magnitude earthquake that rattled the Sea of Okhotsk. The aftershocks were felt as far away as Moscow, over 9,000 kilometers away. Moscow residents called security services, informing them of vibration and tremors that caused furniture and kitchen utensils to ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732239/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:16:09 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732239/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Moscow - Russia on Friday issued a tsunami warning for the Sakhalin Island region in its far east after a deep-sea earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.2 by the ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732244/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:09:50 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732244/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW | Fri May 24, 2013 3:08am EDT MOSCOW May 24 (Reuters) - Russian meat producer Cherkizovo said on Friday it had a net loss in the first quarter as high grain prices and low pork prices weighed on its results. The company reported a net loss of $0.6 million against a year-ago profit of $39.8 million despite an 8 percent increase in revenues to $385 million. "In the first ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732741/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:08:42 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732741/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Norway has reiterated its concern about an investigation into the 2009 prison death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky but said it has no plans to impose any sanctions. "Norway has no tradition of introducing unilateral actions against individual countries or persons. This policy remains also in the Magnitsky case," the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow said in a statement. Norwegian Foreign ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732340/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:05:17 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732340/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 ANKARA, Turkey - A prominent figure in the Chechen diaspora in Turkey was shot at his Ankara office in an attack that supporters blamed on Chechen ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732342/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:05:16 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732342/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A young married couple have been detained on suspicion of knifing a veteran circus clown to death in his Moscow region apartment after he refused to surrender his belongings, investigators said. The 61-year-old clown and distinguished artist, identified in media reports as Yevgeny Maranogli, was found dead with 16 stab wounds and a slit throat in his apartment in the town of Dzerzhinsky on ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732341/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:05:15 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732341/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Igor Shuvalov has said that the government is hoping no more than $8 billion over and above existing spending programs will be needed from state coffers to fund the 2018 football World Cup. That's a dramatic climb-down from the reported $16.6 billion estimate put forward by the Sports Ministry in April, although that figure included money that would have been spent whether Russia won ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732344/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:05:14 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732344/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A special commission has been set up to investigate the collapse of a building in Kungur, Perm region, which resulted in the deaths of two children on Friday. Investigators recovered the bodies of an 8-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl from under the rubble on 72 Sverdlova ulitsa, Ria Novosti reported. The Kungurskaya municipal library was located on the upper floor of the two-story building, ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732343/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 03:05:13 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732343/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Marina Kolomiyets, spokeswoman for Obninsk's seismic station of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Friday the epicenter was in the Sea of Okhotsk, east of the Russian coast and north of Japan. She said the quake registered 8.0 on the Richter ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732206/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 02:50:24 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732206/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 MOSCOW | Fri May 24, 2013 2:42am EDT MOSCOW May 24 (Reuters) - Russia's leading online social network, VKontakte, was blacklisted in error and a ban on distributing content inside the country imposed earlier on Friday has already been lifted, according to the communications regulator. "This was a mistake that resulted from human error," a spokesman for the regulator ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732247/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 02:42:50 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214732247/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The sale of S-300 air defence systems by Russia to Syria would be "destabilising" for the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry said."S-300 missiles coming from Russia, or other countries, Iranian missiles, are destabilising to the region," Kerry said."The United States is committed, not only in its defence of Israel, but in its concerns for the region to try to ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731776/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 02:19:42 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731776/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Vladimir Putin , who was expected during a meeting with more than a hundred entrepreneurs on Thursday to give a nod to the State Duma to draft an amnesty act freeing thousands of imprisoned business people, said the concept needed more work, Russian television reported Thursday. Putin said at the meeting in Voronezh - an industrial city south of Moscow - that Titov's proposal was still ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731850/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 02:15:25 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731850/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The Foreign Ministry has dismissed as "politicized" a critical U.S. State Department report about religious freedom in Russia and cautioned that such reports incite religious conflicts. The annual report, released on Monday, mentions Russia among several countries around the world, including Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Cuba, Iran and China, that it says imposed restrictions on freedom ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731852/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 02:15:05 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731852/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 The Lithuanian security services have arrested a Russian national at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, which suspects him of smuggling export-restricted military equipment. Dmitry Ustinov, 46, was detained over a month ago at the Vilnius airport after he arrived from the U.S. to allegedly negotiate a sales deal for night vision equipment used by the US military, the Delfi news portal ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731853/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 02:15:02 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731853/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 A Russian has won a trip to space with Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Businessman Vasily Klyukin paid 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million) for the flight at a glitzy charity auction on the sidelines of the 66th Cannes film festival on Thursday, Reuters reported. Klyukin also bought a gold and diamond necklace for 400,000 euros. The proceeds will go to amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. ... http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731854/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078 Fri, 24 May 2013 02:15:00 -0400 http://www.stpetersburgnews.net/index.php/sid/214731854/scat/70b0e247ff7c0078