News Bhutto Dies in Suicide Attack Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack after a campaign rally in the city of Rawalpindi on Thursday. "She has been martyred," said party official Rehman Malik. "Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest by the attacker, who then blew himself up."

News Iran to Buy Missile System TEHRAN (Reuters) - Russia has agreed to sell an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Iran, Iran's defense minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday, a report likely to irritate the United States.

News Moscow Birth Level Highest in 18 Years MOSCOW (MN) - Moscow authorities reported on Thursday that the birth level in the city reached an 18-year-high of 100,000 babies born in a single year.

News Driver: Go Ahead, Egg My Hummer MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Hummer owner in Russia's second city St. Petersburg has given antiglobalists the green light to pelt his oversized vehicle with rotten eggs, Russian news agencies reported on Wed­nesday.

News In Brief - Putin Judo Video Tutorial to be Released Next Year Putin Judo Video Tutorial to be Released Next Year, Georgian TV Channel Suspends Broadcasts Citing Political Pressure, Russia Launches Final Satellites for Its Own GPS System

Local Caution: Fireworks! By Nathalie Cooper New Years is fast approaching, and this is the time to catch some of the city's best firework displays, such as at Red Square or Sparrow Hills. However, many amateurs like to get in on the action and use their own fireworks. This annual ritual is becoming more than just a public nuisance as fireworks injure hundreds each year.

Local New Year Magic Cards By Rebeccah Billing In 2008, Muscovites and visitors alike could be swiping their metro cards to buy sandwiches, shoes or even a snowboard. Sintronics, the company that produces the no-contact metro cards, is currently in talks with Visa about the possibility of turning Moscow transport cards into payment cards that can be used to pay for goods and services around the city.

Local A Metro Holiday By Sergey Dmitriyev Officials of the Western district of Moscow has announced that Krylatskoye, Molodyozhnaya and Kuntsetskaya metro stations will be closed from January 2 to 7 of next year in order to reorganize train lines between Kuntsevskaya and Krylatskoye stations. The work has been scheduled for the New Year holidays when the system does not carry as many passengers as it does at other times of the year.

News In Brief - New Year Celebrations Lock Center Of Moscow New Year Celebrations Lock Center Of Moscow, Leningradsky Traffic Work Makes Progress, Leningradsky Traffic Work Makes Progress, Fireworks Safety Zones Suggested In Moscow, Warm Weather Promised For Last Week Of 2007

Local Let's Celebrate! By Daria Chernyshova As opposed to our western counterparts, who cherish Christmas as the most significant holiday of all, the Russians have long been partial to New Year celebrations.

Local Real or Fake Fir? By Nathalie Cooper Many people have already bought their Christmas trees, but for many folks who call Moscow home, the time to buy is now, in the week leading up to New Year. Exactly 313 Christmas and New Year tree markets, or Yolochnye Bazary, opened their shops last week. Despite the deep tradition of decorating trees for the New Year, there has been a drop in the sale of live trees.

Columnists Some Vague Memories About Last Night's Party By Robert Bridge Just when you think you have gotten a handle on the slippery Russian mentality - which requires, amongst other things, profound knowledge of local superstition and the norms of social etiquette - you will invariably commit the mother of all social indiscretions.

News This week in russian history... December 28 - January 17 December 28 - 1870 Alexei Fyodorovich Lvov, the famous Russian composer, violinist and conductor, died on this day. The son of a musician, in 1833 he composed the imperial Russian national anthem "God Save the Tsar," In 1846 he wrote the opera "Undine."

National Is Pulp Fiction Russia's Failure? By Yekaterina Rozhayeva Not long ago, two international student assessment surveys were released. In one, Russian students led the pack; in the other, they ranked poorly.

National Odnoklassniki: Russians Connect to Their Student Days By Anna Arutunyan and Nathalie Cooper When a new Internet craze hits Russia, it hits with a vengeance. Welcome to Ondoklassniki.ru, a Russian-language spinoff of the U.S.-based social networking site Classmates.com. With 7 million registered users - some of whom are driving their bosses to ban the website in the office - Odnoklassniki.ru is all the rage. Why the popularity? The best explanation is that Russian children spend their first 10 years of school in the same class. This creates much stronger bonds between students than in the West, where pupils are often jumbled around from year to year. Now, there is a big demand to help people track down old friends.