News Sochi Wins! Russia's Black Sea resort town of Sochi beat the competition to win hosting rights to the 2014 Olympics, rewarding President Vladimir Putin and taking the Winter Games to his country for the first time. Sochi defeated the South Korean city of Pyeongchang 51-47 in the final round of voting by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Austrian resort of Salzburg was eliminated in the first round of the ballot, setting up the decisive contest between the eastern cities.

News Sochi to Host 2014 Winter Olympics Though earlier forecasts tipped South Korea's PyeongChang as a favorite to win the 2014 Olympic Winter Games bid, Wednesday's vote of IOC members in Guatemala City handed the victory to Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. Trailing by two votes behind the Koreans in the first round of ballot (34 vs. 36), the Russian city came from behind in the second and decisive round, picking up 17 more votes to claim the win by a margin of four, 51-47.

News Russia Helps in N. Korea Deal MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - Russia has done what it promised to do in resolving the problems surrounding North Korea's nuclear program, Russia's foreign minister said Thursday, and will wait for the six-party deal to materialize.

News Russia Touts Space Success Russia's space agency chief said Wednesday the U.S. is running half of the world's satellite fleet, but highlighted Russia's role in managing the international orbital station and building new pads for launch vehicles.

News NATO Ready to Discuss New Proposals With Moscow BRUSSELS (RIA Novosti) - NATO has no objections to discussing setting up an information exchange between Brussels and Moscow on missile launches in the framework of the Russia-NATO Council, a source in NATO headquarters said Tuesday

News Russian Energy Pipeline Giants to Form Corporate Armies MOSCOW (AP) - Lawmakers voted Wednesday to give Russia's natural-gas and oil pipeline monopolies the right to set up armed security units to protect the country's energy infrastructure.

Politics A Just Division By Igor Dmitriyev Recent analysis of the United Russia party list in the 2003 State Duma elections suggests that ‘the party of power' is likely to change its sponsors in the upcoming elections. The same is happening with its main rival A Just Russia, except that in contrast to United Russia, this vital process there is predetermined, among other things, by the party's own genesis.

News The Maine Course By Robert Bridge Although western commentators never miss a chance to chastise Russia, the pundits have stopped spilling ink over the once ubiquitous question, "Who lost Russia," which thinly veiled America's aura of self importance. The question was almost forgivable in the cash-and-carry Yeltsin era, when Russia was a basket case of IMF-funded instability and the country was being auctioned off to the highest bidders. Today, Russia's outstanding debts are paid in full, oil and gas is more precious than diamonds, while Moscow has hoarded away the third highest amount of foreign currency reserves in the world. Perhaps the better question would have been: Was Russia ever America's to lose in the first place?

News Russia: No More Peacekeepers in South Ossetia MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - Russia is not planning to reinforce its peacekeepers in Georgia's self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia following recent tensions in the region, the first deputy commander of the ground forces said Tuesday.

CIS Ex Interior Minister to Lead President’s Alliance KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's party on Monday tapped a top ally, former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, to lead an alliance of pro-presidential forces in September parliamentary elections.

CIS Russia, Uzbekistan Migration Deal TASHKENT (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Uzbekistan signed three migration agreements, the head of Russia's migration service said Wednesday.

CIS Editor Arrested for Iran Threats BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - A newspaper editor has been charged with making a terrorist threat in a case stemming from an article suggesting Iran would attack Azerbaijan if the ex-Soviet nation supported any U.S, military operations against Tehran, his lawyer and colleagues said Wednesday.

CIS Azerbaijan Flexes Muscles BAKU (RIA Novosti) - Armenia must voluntarily cede Azerbaijani territory if it wants to avoid a new war over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani president said Monday.

World Can the CFE Treaty Be Salvaged? By Aleksandr Konovalov Many experts believed that it was the last attempt to ressuscitate the CFE Treaty, which was signed by 30 member states but never implemented. According to media reports, the Vienna Conference failed: the participants were unable to coordinate a final document.

Comment A Reflective 4th of July By Todd Lefko It is the Fourth of July weekend. The grills are ready, the sound of fireworks can be heard each night and cars are heading to the lake cabins.