News The Rising Star By Anna Arutunyan In the clearest indication yet on who would succeed as Russia's president in next year's elections, Vladimir Putin endorsed vice prime minister Dmitri Medvedev. Putin, who has insisted he will step down after a second term in office despite pleas to change the constitution and run again, managed to please practically everyone.

News Russia Suspends CFE Treaty Russia formally suspended its participation in a key European arms control treaty on Wednesday but is ready for talks to end the moratorium, the Foreign Ministry said. The Foreign Ministry said Russia has stopped exchanging information stipulated by the treaty and had stopped receiving foreign inspectors.

News British Council to Close in Regions By Kirill Bessonov and Tom Washington On Wednesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced that the branches of the British Council - the NGO promoting British language and culture throughout the world ­- will have to shut down all offices in Russia except for headquarters in Moscow. The ministry cited legal problems as a reason, but said that these problems could have been solved faster if not for the strained relations between the two countries.

News Russia Seizes Japanese Fishing Boats Japan voiced concern Thursday after Russia's coast guard said it had captured four Japanese fishing boats in disputed waters between the two nations. The seizure, if confirmed, would be "unacceptable to Japan and very regrettable," Akira Muto, head of Russian affairs at Japan's foreign ministry, said in a statement.

News In Brief - Russia Starts Building Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft Russia Starts Building Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft, Bird Flu Outbreak Kills Thousands of Poultry in South Russia, Two Dead in Bomb Blast on Bus in Southern Russia, U.S. Rejects Kosovo Proposal

Politics Will Putin Accept New Job? By Andrei Vavra, RIA Novosti Presidential hopeful Dmitri Medvedev addressed the nation in a live telecast today and said, "I am ready to run for the presidency, and I appeal to Mr. Putin to give his consent to being appointed prime minister after Russia elects its new president."

Local Get Behind the Wheel By Rebeccah Billing and Sergei Dmitriyev Even qualified and experienced expat drivers can feel apprehensive about getting behind the wheel in Moscow. The city's streets are among the most dangerous in the world thanks to the volume and variety of road hazards: from potholes to strange signage, to the aggressive and reckless driving of others on the road.

Local Sex Bomb By Nathalie Cooper A relatively minor but bizarre ‘terrorist' act was committed last week when a young man detonated a bomb in a sex shop. Witnesses say the man entered the shop, located on Leningradskoe Shosse late on 5th December,and in the doorway. From there he tossed an explosive device into the store before escaping on foot.

News In Brief - Newborn Baby Found In TV Box In Moscow Newborn Baby Found In TV Box In Moscow, Top Street Cleaners Will Earn Trip Abroad, Airships May Help Monitor Traffic and Safety, More Than A Half Of Muscovites Suffer Discrimination, New Year Brings Two New Metro Stations

Local Starbucks Serves It Hot on Old Arbat By Nathalie Cooper "It's awesome," laughs an ecstatic American woman waiting in line for her coffee, "that about sums it up." The newly opened Starbucks on Old Arbat looks like any other in the West, and despite its recent opening it already has the cozy lived-in feel of an established café. The place is full for a Sunday evening and is ablaze with festive spirit with a Christmas tree at the door and "O Holy Night" playing in the background.

Local Christmas Shopping in Style By Tom Washington The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it the promise of expense, worry and fighting the crowds. Although Christmas shopping ranks as one of the most objectionable aspects of the holidays, there are some really nice ways to relieve the hassle - if you know where to go.

Local Are Russia's De-Icing Agents Radioactive? By Yelena Komarova When a tender for a contract to supply anti-ice agents for Moscow's snowy streets was won by an obscure firm, many predicted erratic deliveries and general traffic congestion, if not the collapse of the entire transport system. Despite these fears, deliveries have already begun, but this fact does not sit well with the environmentalists. Apparently, there are worse things than an unreliable supply of snow-melting chemicals.

Local Moscow to Invest in Seaside Property Abroad By Tom Washington Moscow is to invest in assets overseas, announced Yuri Luzhkov on December 4, at a session of the city government. The city already owns property in regions in Russia and in other countries, and now the mayor wishes to buy in Abkhazia and Jordan.

Local Year of the Family Promises Much for the New Year Combined Reports, RIA Novosti and The Moscow News The Moscow government has embarked on new program, "The Year of the Family in Moscow," which aims to assist any family in the city. It incorporates events to educate and help prepare young people for creating families and for strengthening family values. This will include supporting poor families as well as those with many children. The program also aims to prevent children being abandoned by their parents with the creation of a new support center, specialized networks for foster care and the opening of a crisis centre for people with children who have been subjected to domestic abuse.

Local In Briefs - Case Against Forgery Dealers To Resume Case Against Forgery Dealers To Resume, Fraud Developers Sentenced in Moscow, New Rehab Center Planned for Zelenograd District, Medals for Newborns