News Fire in Russian Retirement Home Kills 31 The death toll in a fire at a retirement home in the central Russian region of Tula on Sunday rose to 31 people as emergency workers cleared the site, the emergencies ministry said on Monday. A fire at the home for the elderly near Tula, 200 km (120 miles) south of Moscow, engulfed 1,700 sq m of home space and was extinguished in five hours' time. About 300 people, including medical personnel, were evacuated and placed in other nursing homes.

Columnists Urban Gatekeepers By Robert Bridge Moscow Party People! Has your Ego gotten so big it no longer fits inside the backseat of your Humvee? Do you have monthly subscriptions to three or more glossy fashion magazines? Do you know the intimate details of Dolce &Gabbana's tumultuous private life? Yes? Well, fret no more, pompous people, because now the Russian capital offers a quick pill for fashion slaves and beautiful people alike called Face Control (lightning, thunder, girlish screams). Yes, it's not just a Moscow nightclub, stupid, it's an adventure.

National Tougher Visa Rules - What They Mean By Anna Arutunyan Demonstrating that it is resolute in introducing immigration laws similar to those in Western countries, the Russian government recently unveiled new, tougher business visa regulations. Foreigners - particularly those living and working in Russia on business visas - are worried about how this will affect them. Some seeking to renew their business visas in a third country were finding that what used to be a breezy, one-day procedure could turn into a 10-day wait. Meanwhile, new regulations seemed to target the entire practice of getting visas in third countries.

News Eight Killed in Bus Bomb Blast By Kirill Bessonov A powerful bomb went off inside a bus carrying students and workers on Wednesday morning in the city of Togliatti in South Russia. Eight people were killed and over 50 more were injured in the incident. Police are probing the incident as a terrorist attack, but no group has claimed responsibility for it at the time of publication.

News Putin Honors Victims of Soviet Repression MOSCOW (AFP, RIA Novosti, MN) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday attended a memorial church service and laid a wreath in commemoration of victims of Soviet repression.

News In Brief Putin Stresses Importance of Russia's Arms Exports, Russian Foreign Minister Discusses Nuclear Program with Iranian President, Russia Launches Another German Spy Satellite

News Chessboard Killer Gets Life in Prison By Kirill Bessonov On Monday the Moscow city court sentenced a 33-year old grocery store worker to life in prison for killing 48 people and three attempted murders. The convict, Alexei Pichushkin, has gained notoriety in the media as the "Chessboard Killer."

News Georgia Wants Russian Troops Out of Abkhazia TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian Pre­sident Mikhail Saakashvili made his dispute with neighbouring Russia personal on Tuesday when he strode up to a Russian peacekeeping commander and ordered him off Geor­gian soil.

News Crime Briefs St. Petersburg Bomb Plotters Alleged to Have Neo-Nazi Ties, Russian Major Convicted of Spying for Poland, Turk Dies, Three Others Wounded in Shooting, Man Confesses to Kidnap and Murder in Pskov

Local Bunin Typescript Returns to Russia By Nathalie Cooper The second part of Ivan Bunin's typescript of Dark Avenues, which was considered lost, has finally joined the first part in the Russian State Library.

Local Fare Hike On the Way Next Year By Sergei Dmitriyev Moscow authorities have announced that prices for public transport are to rise again. The increases will come into effect on January 1, 2008, by margins of between 13 and 15 percent. That would be an increase of about two rubles. The last time they were raised was in January 2007, by the same amount.

News Dogs Dinner By Kirill Bessonov Moscow police reported on Monday that they have discovered and closed a Chinese restaurant that served its customers dog meat disguised as mutton and veal. A police spokeswoman said that the animals were slaughtered in the restaurant kitchen and almost all of them were diseased.

Local Saving the Fangs By Tom Washington The Chair. Instrument of torture, pain and degradation. You will do anything to avoid it. Used by the authorities to clean up society, many have sat in it and shuddered, waiting for the moment when everything will change. I refer, of course, to the dentist's chair. Generally something that is dreaded and reviled, it is necessary from time to time.

News this week in Russian history... November 2 - November 8 Compiled by by Daria Chernyshova

Local Russian Hunting By Darya Krasnova Open season started in Russia this September. As of late specialists have noted a curious trend - the growing popularity of photo hunting as an alternative to conventional hunting. Could it be that our society is becoming more humane?