News Medvedev submits bill on presidential terms Combined report AP, RIA Novosti On Tuesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev submitted to the parliament a bill to extend Russia's presidential term from four years to six, as he promised in his recent state of the nation address.

News Sub tragedy blamed on sailor’s error MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - A crew member activated without permission a fire safety system on board the Russian nuclear submarine Nerpa, causing the deaths of 20 people, investigators said on Thursday.

News Time for a Survey?

News In Brief - US, Russia to hold nuclear talks in Geneva US, Russia to hold nuclear talks in Geneva; Russian, British warships battle Somali pirates; Russia to build reactor, generator for Bulgarian nuclear plant; UN report predicts steady decline of Russian population

News “Ukrainians took part in Georgia war” KIEV (RIA Novosti) - A Ukrainian parliamentary commission investigating illegal weapon supplies to Georgia has established that over 15 Ukrainians were involved in Tbilisi's attack on South Ossetia, the group's head said on Tuesday.

News U.S. Orthodox Church elects new leader PITTSBURGH (AP) - A monk who until recently was an abbot of a San Francisco monastery will be the new leader of the Orthodox Church in America.

News Chavez wants nuclear energy CARACAS (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez said that he was looking forward to signing nuclear cooperation agreements with Russia during an upcoming visit to Venezuela by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

News In Brief - Sentence passed in Central Banker’s murder case Sentence passed in Central Banker's murder case, U.S. woman arrested in Ukraine for adoption fraud, Trade Union leader at Russian Ford plant attack

News Lessons from the Nerpa sub accident Ilya Kramnik An accident on the Nerpa nuclear-powered submarine claimed 20 lives, the largest number of casualties since the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000. The Russian and international press are highlighting the tragedy because it happened on a nuclear submarine, engendering many rumors.

News Russia, U.S. still at loggerheads over missile shield By Anna Arutunyan A compromise has yet to be reached on the controversial missile-defense system that the Uni­ted States plans to set up in Eastern Europe, after Rus­sia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lav­rov met with U.S. Sec­re­ta­ry of State Condo­leez­za Rice Saturday to mull over the two countries' defense policies. After an hour of direct talks, the two countries apparently re­mai­ned in stalemate.

News Gates says NATO integration no threat to Russia TALLINN (AFP) The United States continues to push for increasing the ranks of NATO membership, despite the ill-feelings the initiative is causing in both Europe and Russia

News Thousands rally against Saakashvili in Tbilisi TBILISI (AFP) - More than 10,000 opponents of President Mikheil Saakashvili rallied in Tbilisi on Friday in the first major show of discontent since Georgia's crushing defeat in an August war with Russia.

Local Planned tax on winter tires Combined Reports The Moscow News As Moscow basks in its warmest ever fall, a row about winter motoring is heating up - with the authorities planning to put the skids under drivers using spiked snow tires in the city.

Local French films undubbed – at last By Andy Potts Film-lovers have a chance to catch up on their ‘cahiers du cinema' thanks to a new French language cinema club in Moscow. The group, which meets at the Mir Iskusstva independent cinema most Wednesday evenings, is committed to bringing the best in Francophone films and showing them in their original language.

Columnists Ruler, ruler on the wall... By Daria Chernyshova Foreigners often ask me if I think life is good in Russia. My answer is always immediate and positive: ‘Of course it is!’ But there remains the nagging question as to exactly what Russians believe to be “the good life”