The Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church is in Moscow to elect a new![Windows to Russia!](http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/kylekeeton/coffee10.gif")
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk has withdrawn from the election, leaving just two candidates. (Link)
Could a car thief, who stole a $US 45,000 offroader in Moscow last night, have ever imagined that it belongs to, of all things, the Orthodox Church? (Link)
Financial crises, the recent gas dispute with Ukraine and his love of ice cream – these are some of the issues Prime Minister Vladimir Putin touched upon in an interview with American news agency Bloomberg. (Link)
Gold has held above $900 per ounce this week for the first time since October 2008 with investors increasingly looking for shelter from worries over the global financial system and volatile currencies. (Link)
Russia’s northern capital St. Petersburg is marking 65 years since the breaking of the Nazi blockade. Formerly known as Leningrad, the city lived through 900 days of starvation and horror. (Link)
A Russian NCO has been captured by Georgian special service personnel in South Ossetia, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday. (Link)
Kyle & Svet
comments always welcome.