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MOSCOW � Trying to understand what is new in the Kremlin�s latest version of its 176-page bill to reform the police force could take considerable time. So the Kremlin, in line with its mantra to fight corruption with transparency, has published the entire bill online � complete with editor�s marks so readers can see what has been crossed out with a green line. The result, lawmakers and analysts said, is a significantly improved bill that takes into account many critical public comments posted on a government web site that carried the initial draft of the bill in August. �More passages have been clarified in the new bill, but many things regarding public control are still unclear,� said Alexander Brod, a human rights activist and a member of the Public Chamber. Brod said the bill still gives police more power in their checks on businesses, including the right to use taxes as a pretext. Business associations say police checks are often used to demand bribes. Unlike in the initial version, police will not be obliged to inform the tax authorities if they open a case on tax evasion charges. �Until the police bill ... |
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Mikhail Klimentyev / Kremlin / RIA Novosti / Reuters
President Dmitry Medvedev takes pictures Monday during his visit to Kunashiri Island, one of four islands known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and as the Northern Territories in Japan, and claimed by both countries. The islands were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. |
 The authorities stepped up repressive measures against Sunday�s Strategy 31 rally in defense of freedom of assembly in St. Petersburg, holding detained activists at police precincts overnight, searching activists� apartments and investigating several participants for suspected extremism. If they are found guilty, they will face up to three years in ...
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MOSCOW � As of Monday, a small but devoted army of amateur pilots are able to take to the sky with an hour�s notice instead of waiting 24 hours to get permission from federal authorities. The change might seem small, but aviation authorities call it a ... |
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MOSCOW (SPT) � Paratroopers commander Vladimir Shamanov was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries sustained in a car crash that killed one and injured ... |
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LGBT Pride March ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) � The city�s Moskovsky district administration turned down the request of the St. Petersburg gay movement to organize a meeting on Nov. 5, the St. Petersburg LGBT Pride organization said on its web site Friday. The local LGBT community had submitted ... |
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St. Petersburg residents are finally being offered a civilized way to get rid of broken mercury thermometers, used batteries, dead car batteries and other dangerous waste in an ecologically safe way. The Ecomobile, a mobile center for the collection ... |
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 Cardboardia, a virtual and temporary country, will come to St. Petersburg this week after visiting Moscow, Berlin and Helsinki. Anyone can join in, be ... |
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KABUL, Afghanistan � Russian counternarcotics agents participated in a NATO-led drug raid that netted $56 million worth of heroin and morphine, but Afghanistan�s president complained that he had not been informed in advance of the Russian involvement, ... |
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 Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan won his maiden career title, upsetting top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (2) Sunday in the final of the�St.�Petersburg�Open ... |
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MOSCOW � United Russia intends to team up with the country�s computer gaming community to create educational and social games, the party announced on its web site, and it has the support of a cybergaming group. �I think it is time for interaction between ... |
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MOSCOW � A Kremlin official said Friday that the government would implement by year-end a system for tracking statistics on the fulfillment of presidential ... |
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Army Numbers Down MOSCOW (SPT) � The military has finished trimming down army personnel from 1.2 million to 1 million as part of its ongoing reform, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said Sunday, Interfax reported. Officers make up about 150,000 of the staff, and professional sergeants ... |
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SAMARA � French power company Schneider Electric and its Russian joint venture partner, Electroshield, will be �closely involved� in the $3 billion modernization of three Rosneft oil refineries, Schneider Electric president Jean-Pascal Tricoire said Friday. The ... |
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 MOSCOW � Rosatom signed an agreement Sunday to build the first nuclear power station in Vietnam as President Dmitry Medvedev wrapped up a two-day visit ... |
 MOSCOW � Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has appointed Anna Popova, a deputy economic development minister described by colleagues as a staunch liberal, as the first deputy for his new chief of staff, Vyacheslav Volodin. Putin signed the order Monday and ... |
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KALUGA � Canadian auto parts maker Magna on Thursday launched its new plant in Kaluga, and said this demonstrated its belief in the strong potential of ... |
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MOSCOW � A large number of counterfeit spare parts for the aviation industry enter Russia from former Soviet republics, jeopardizing flight safety on both military and commercial aircraft, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Thursday. Ivanov cited ... |
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 MOSCOW � The European Union announced Thursday that it has initiated legal action against four of its own member states in an unusual attempt to end a ... |
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MOSCOW � Sales of Apple�s iPad will officially begin in Russia after the November holidays, and although mobile operators will not be selling the popular tablets independently, they are already planning special Internet rates. Mobile TeleSystems and VimpelCom ... |
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 NEWARK, New Jersey � Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov said the New Jersey Nets will improve, although he backed off his bold prediction of making the playoffs ... |
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EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey � New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said the NBA team has entered into a sponsorship agreement with Aeroflot, marking the first alliance the airline has made with a professional sports team in the United States. The deal was announced Wednesday, less than three weeks ... |
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 Film director and self-proclaimed monarchist Nikita Mikhalkov caused a big stir Wednesday when he released his 10,000-word political manifesto titled �Right and Truth.� The main theme of the manifesto was that Russia needs a strong leader who will guide ... |
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Dear Editor, Until relatively recently, discussions of the possible partitioning of Russia into independent enclaves or even states have been considered ... |
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 BAGHDAD � Iraqi security forces stormed a Baghdad church where militants had taken an entire congregation hostage for four hours, leaving at least 52 people dead, including a priest, Iraqi officials said Monday. It was not immediately clear whether the ... |
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MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia � Evacuees cringed and fled for cover Monday as an erupting volcano � one of 22 showing increased activity in Indonesia � let loose ... |
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SAN�A, Yemen � Al-Qaeda in Yemen, suspected in a thwarted mail-bombing attempt, appears to be aggressively seeking to recruit American and European radicals who could provide an entryway for the group to carry out attacks in their homelands. Yemen provides ... |
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BEIJING � China kicked off a once-a-decade census Monday, a whirlwind 10-day head count that sees 6 million census takers scrutinize apartment blocks, ... |
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 The heroine of Alexei Fedorchenko�s new movie �Ovsyanki� (Silent Souls) � a tender, subservient woman from provincial Russia � is a wordless role. Yulia Aug�s character, Tatyana, does not utter a single word throughout the 75-minute movie, which was an instant success at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year, where it won an International Film Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Prize. �Ovsyanki,� which has since received other awards, including the best feature film award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, was released in Russia late last month and has been playing at St. Petersburg�s Khudozhestvenny cinema for a week to full houses. Technically speaking, the film tells the story of a funeral, but in fact, the film depicts a man�s grief over the loss of his beloved wife. At the start of the film, Miron Alexeyevich (Yury Tsurilo), the director of a paper factory in the tiny town of Neya in central Russia, discovers that his wife, Tatyana, has died ... |
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/ For The St. Petersburg Times
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 winners Lordi, a Finnish rock band, will play songs from their new album at Zal Ozhidaniya on Friday. |
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St. Petersburg is preparing to welcome an influx of musicians, dancers and actors from the city of Perm this weekend as part of the Cultural Alliance project between the two cities. The Days of Culture of Perm in St. Petersburg will see a host of diverse exhibitions and theatrical performances as Perm artists present their works through November and ...
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