News Russian Navy Returns to the High Seas Combined report - Ria Novosti, AP Russia's navy has resumed military presence in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov reported at a Wednesday meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

News U.S. Report: No Nukes in Iran The U.S. intelligence report that found no evidence of a current Iranian nuclear weapons program is a victory for the Islamic Republic, Iran's president said on Wednesday. The report contradicted a previous U.S. intelligence assessment in 2005 which said that Iran was actively pursuing a nuclear bomb.

News Oil Executive Held in Libya By Kirill Bessonov An executive of the Russian oil major Lukoil has been detained in Libya after a search of the company's offices. Russian Foreign Ministry reacted at the news immediately after it was made public and said it hoped for Russian citizen's quick release.

News In Brief - Lavrov Says West Blocking Kosovo Talks Lavrov Says West Blocking Kosovo Talks, Court Makes First Guilty Finding for Illegal Torrent Distribution, BBC Asks Russia to Probe Employee Beatings

National Landslide Win For Putin's Party in Duma Elections By Kirill Bessonov With more than 99 percent of the votes already counted, United Russia is leading the way with a firm victory and an expected 315 out of 450 seats in the new Duma after Sunday's parliamentary elections. United Russia, which had chosen President Vladimir Putin to head its election list, is getting over 64 percent of the votes according to preliminary results. Three more parties managed to get into the Duma - the Communists received about 12 percent of the votes, the Liberal Democratic Party got about 9 percent and the freshly founded Just Russia party managed to pull about 8 percent of the votes.

Local Facing Flooding Fears Around 30 percent of Moscow's land is currently at risk of flooding, the city's chief architect Alexander Kuzmin announced this week. "Fortunately the majority of the land at risk of flooding is natural landscape. At the same time this problem requires special measures," said Kuzmin at a city government meeting.

Local Islamic Advice By Tom Washington A new hotline for Muslim women opened in Moscow last month to guide followers of the faith through the complexities of living in secular Moscow. The Russian capital and the Caucasus have the two largest concentrations of Muslims in Russia, where Muslims make up 10 percent of the population.

Local Pirate Discs Seized MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - Mos­cow police have shut down a clandestine CD and DVD production plant and confiscated about a million dollars worth of pirated disks and matrixes from the illegal operation, said Yulia Ivanova, a press-office employee of the Department of Internal Affairs for Moscow's South-East administrative region.

Local In Brief - Heroes' Museum to Open Heroes' Museum to Open, Construction Hazard Near Moscow Embassies, Metro Plans Extension, Moscow Student Asks Santa to Freeze Lecturers

Restaurants & Bars Breakfast with Frost By Theodore Merz Everybody knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But thanks to those Russian winter temperatures, there's the overwhelming temptation to swap the time you would take to prepare a proper meal for a few more precious minutes in bed.

Local Fabergé Museum in the Works By Nathalie Cooper The Link of Times Foundation is planning to build a Moscow museum for its collection, which among other art pieces comprises the best Fabergé collection in the world. Although the plan is still in its initial stages, Roman Thacker, director of the group has announced that discussions are already under way with the Moscow government.

Local Vintage Russia By Tom Washington The first festival of Russian wine will open in Moscow on December 7 at the All Russian Exhibition Center. The festival will run over the course of the weekend, finishing on Sunday. Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, the exhibition is intended to promote Russian wine labels and so stimulate interest in local vintages.

Local Big Book Prize By Nathalie Cooper No, the Big Book Prize does not refer to the out-sized, rock-heavy hardbacks which are surprisingly popular around Russian bookshops. Moscow's Bolshaya Kniga (Big Book) is a new and immensely successful national literary competition, which opened its third season last week, days after declaring the winner of last year's round.

Local Buffer Zone Blues MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - About 200,000 Muscovites currently live in the buffer zone situated around various industrial sites in the capital, said Alexander Kuzmin, the city's chief architect, at a city government meeting on Tuesday.

Local Musical Moscow By Phoebe Taplin One of many antidotes to the harsh Russian climate is to enjoy the rich cultural life of its wintry capital. The concert halls and opera houses have seasonal programs and Russian musical heritage is intimately connected with the gold-domed city. Rachmaninov wrote: "If I have been at all successful in making bells vibrate with human emotion in my works, it is largely due to the fact that most of my life was lived amid the vibrations of the bells of Moscow." This week's walk visits a few of the many musical and theatrical venues and sites that keep this legacy alive.