Islamists claim killing of Russian priest (AFP via Yahoo!Xtra News)
MOSCOW (AFP) – An Islamist militant group based in Russia’s North Caucases has claimed the killing last month of an Orthodox priest who was an outspoken critic of Islam.
Top Russian doctor accuses brewers of spiking beer (The Malaysian Insider)
MOSCOW, Dec 26 — Russia’s top drug and alcohol specialist accused brewers today of adding pure alcohol to their product, a charge rejected by firms in the latest spat between the industry and regulators. “In general, (Russian) beer and tinned low alcohol cocktails are a pure chemical weapon. Alcohol is added at a certain stage of production to make it stronger,” Russia’s chief narcologist …
Russian leader lashes out at state companies (The Springfield News-Leader)
Moscow — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday lashed out at the country’s giant state corporations for failing to develop new technologies to help modernize the aging industries.
Russia’s Aspirations in Mideast Are Unrealized (New York Times)
Russia planned to sponsor a peace conference, but the proposal has never gotten off the ground.
Ovechkin, two other Capitals on Russian Olympic team (USA Today)
Three Washington Capitals players will represent Russia at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. The Russian national team announced Thursday that left wing Alexander Ovechkin, right wing Alexander Semin and goalie Semyon Varlamov will be on the 23-man roster.
Eastday-Russia-U.S. ties still not easy: Russian FM (Eastday.com)
Relations between Russia and the United States have not become easier since U.S. President Barack Obama came into office, but the two countries have had more and better exchanges, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
Russia-U.S. ties still not easy: Russian FM (People’s Daily)
Relations between Russia and the United States have not become easier since U.S. President Barack Obama came into office, but the two countries have had more and better exchanges, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. “Saying that it has become easier for us to work in this area (Russia-U.S. relations) since President Obama came to power would simplify the situation seriously …
Ukraine PM denies cash shortage for Russian gas bill (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Saturday denied accusations by Russian gas export giant Gazprom that Kiev may not be able to pay its energy bill this month due to a cash crunch.
