World skating host bid to replace Tokyo could be announced Thursday

ISU...

The International Skating Union (ISU) will continue on Thursday to vote on where to hold the 2011 Figure Skating World Championship after Tokyo was forced to bow out due to the tragic earthquake on March 11.

After Japan was forced to decline hosting the championship, Moscow (Russia), Vancouver (Canada), Turku (Finland), Colorado Springs (USA), Graz (Austria) and Zagreb (Croatia) put in immediate bids.

The head of Russia’s figure skating federation, Valentin Piseyev, told RIA Novosti that ballots had not yet been received by skating delegations to vote on the new host city.

The ISU said it began sending the ballots out in the evening and the results could be announced as early as Thursday.

According to Canadian press, Moscow has the best chance of hosting the World Championship.

Deputy Sports Minister Yury Nagornykh said on Monday that Russia intends to offer the ISU to hold the championship either starting in mid-April or after May 15 so that it would not coincide with the Ice Hockey World Championship in Slovakia April 29-May 15.

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Main news of Russia March 23, 2011…

WORLD
* Renowned Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor has died at the age of 79, ABC television said

* The death count in Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami has climbed to 9,487 people, NHK reported citing the country’s police

* Microscopic radioactive particles from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant that may spread across the world within the next few weeks are “harmless,” a Russian environmental monitoring official said

* Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma described as a “terrible provocation” accusations that he had ordered the killing of prominent journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000

* Japan has sustained $312 billion worth of damage from the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami, Kyodo news quoted the government as saying

* Leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom and France agreed in a phone conversation that NATO should take key role in the military operation in Libya

RUSSIA
* British rock group Deep Purple visited Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at his Gorki residence near Moscow ahead of their Wednesday gig

* Russia’s Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger airliner will carry out its first passenger flight from Armenia’s capital of Yerevan to Moscow on April 12, officials in Russia’s Far Eastern Khabarovsk Territory said

BUSINESS
* Nomos Bank, one of Russia’s top 30 banks, has officially confirmed plans to float shares in an initial public offering (IPO) in the second quarter of 2011 to become the first Russian private bank listed in London, the bank said in a statement

* Etalon Group Limited, one of Russia’s largest real estate developers, has filed an application for its Global Depository Receipts to be admitted to listing on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market under the ETLN ticker, it said

SPORTS
The International Skating Union (ISU) will continue on Thursday to vote on where to hold the 2011 Figure Skating World Championship after Tokyo was forced to bow out due to the tragic earthquake on March 11

* Slovenian companies are interested in joining construction projects for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the southern Russian city of Sochi

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Russia’s new Angara rockets to be test launched before 2014

Test launches of Russia’s new generation Angara booster rockets will begin no later than 2013, a spokesman for the Russian Space Forces said.

Alexei Zolotukhin said work to build on-ground infrastructure of the space complex for launches of Angara carrier rockets is currently in active stage at Russia’s northern space center Plesetsk.

Angara rockets, designed to provide lifting capabilities between 2,000 and 40,500 kg into low earth orbit, are expected to become the core of Russia’s carrier rocket fleet, replacing several existing systems.

The rockets have a modular design similar to the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), based on a common Universal Rocket Module (URM).

The main purpose of the Angara rocket family is to give Russia independent access to space. The rockets will reduce Russia’s dependence on the Baikonur space center it leases from Kazakhstan by allowing the launch of heavy payloads from more northerly sites such as Plesetsk and from a new space center in Russia’s Far East.

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Putin talks of Libya and dislikes use of force by the West…

TRIPOLI. With leader of the Libyan Revolution ...
Putin with Qaddafi

The way decisions on the use of force are made almost at the drop of a hat is worrying, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, referring to the situation in Libya.

“I don’t think we can equate Serbia with Libya,” Putin said responding to a question about the lessons that the international community had drawn from the 1999 events in Yugoslavia.

“However, I am concerned by the ease with which decisions have been made in recent years to use force in international affairs.”

Putin’s latest comments offer no indication of any disagreement with President Dmitry Medvedev after the latter snapped at him over his Libya remarks on Monday.

Putin likened a UN Security Council resolution on the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya to “medieval calls for crusades.”

Without directly fingering Putin, Medvedev later told journalists that “it is inexcusable to use expressions that in effect lead to a clash of civilizations, such as crusades and so forth – this is unacceptable.”

Under the Russian Constitution, the country’s foreign policy is formulated by the president, not the prime minister.

Russia abstained from a UN Security Council resolution adopted last week imposing a no-fly zone over Libya and measures to protect civilians from Muammar Qaddafi’s forces.

Western-led military strikes against Qaddafi, who has been ruthlessly fighting rebels in the North African country since mid-February, began on Saturday.

Libyan television has reported that at least 60 civilians have been killed and over 150 wounded in the strikes and that many health and education facilities have been destroyed.

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Russia’s Medvedev, Israel’s Netanyahu to discuss Mid-East settlement…

Benjamin Netanyahu

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to discuss Palestinian-Israeli settlement issues and the ongoing campaign in Libya, the Kremlin press service said in a statement on Wednesday.

The meeting agenda is set to cover issues on Middle East settlement, including the restart of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and “the other acute international and regional issues” like the current situation in Libya and Egypt, the statement said.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently on his official visit to Moscow said that he did not mind meeting with Netanyahu and called on the Middle East Quartet mediators- the United States, the European Union and the United Nations – to make constructive solutions in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have, however, met three times since talks officially came to a halt in September 2010, just a few weeks after resuming in Washington following a 20-month break. Abbas withdrew from the talks after Israel refused to prolong a moratorium on the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank, which expired in late September last year. The Israelis maintain that the settlement issue is not an obstacle to negotiations.

Netanyahu’s spokesman, Alex Selsky said the visit to Russia could be postponed because of Wednesday’s blast in Jerusalem that killed at least two and injured 25. He, however, ruled out a cancellation of the visit.

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Veteran reporter Sergei Topol was beaten up in central Moscow by Neighbors?

MOSCOW (Reuters): Veteran reporter Sergei Topol was beaten up in central Moscow Wednesday as he was leaving his flat, police said, underlining Russia’s position as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists…

Read More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-russia-journalist-beating-idUSTRE72M59C20110323

More coming when we start to find the information…

Update: The Russian journalist who wrote about Putin’s alleged affair is beaten in Moscow — but blames the attack on a squabble with neighbors…
Miriam Elder March 23, 2011 12:38: You might see a story going around today about another journalist who has been beaten in Moscow. Someone came up to journalist Sergei Topol from behind on Wednesday morning and hit him over the head with an object, reports Gazeta.ru. He lost consciousness. The incident happened near his home in central Moscow.
Read More:

Putin is quoted as saying: “There is not one word of truth in what you have said. I have always reacted negatively to those who, with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies, prowl into others’ lives.”

Get-um Putin…

He got in a fight with his neighbor…

Update: In Moscow, an attack on a prominent journalist Sergei Topol:

Journalist Sergei Topol beaten near his home at Tinkers waterfront.

This information to Gazeta.ru confirmed in the Moscow police, adding that the attack occurred Wednesday morning at about 9.30.

The journalist told the police that an unknown approached him from behind and was hit hard by some object.

After this journalist has lost consciousness.

The issue of a criminal case under article “Beating”. The journalist was hospitalized. His life is not threatened, said the police department.

In 1990 Topol was one of the most prominent members of the Department of accidents Kommersant newspaper.

He wrote a book about the capture of troops Budennovsk Shamil Basayev.

In 2008, he worked in Poplar funded banker Alexander Lebedev newspaper “Moscow correspondent” and was the author of the publication itself on the private life of Vladimir Putin and Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva, after which the issue of the newspaper was suspended and then discontinued altogether. “Times”

http://www.gazeta.ru/news/lastnews/2011/03/23/n_1760029.shtml

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Russia may introduce drug testing for children, students

Russia’s Health Ministry is drafting legislation that would see schoolchildren and students tested for drugs, the country’s chief substance abuse expert said on Wednesday.

Drug expert Yevgeny Bryun said the law would bring in non-compulsory drug checks for school, colleges and workplaces.

Around 30,000 Russians die from drug abuse every year, and the country’s HIV rate is spiraling.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gave his backing to the tests in 2009.

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Moscow Russia and her Casinos Here and Casinos There…

Moscow police have discovered a large illegal casino in the centre of the Russian capital, police spokeswoman Irina Volk said. (Link)

OK – Then I have bad news for the Kremlin (This is a sore spot) and the Police. All you have to do is take a stroll around Moscow and you will find these illegal casinos everywhere…

They are really not hard to find! Just – ah – uh – look for the old casinos and wallah, you will find a casino under a new business name. It might even be a Internet Cafe or a Lottery. They almost always are in the very same building and site that they where told to vacate… (albeit toned down from the original flashy casino style…)

Hmmm – All they have to do is ask anyone and everyone who walks by them everyday. If they can’t find them themselves…

But to give the police credit and and I need to do that. They are trying to close them down. (Police shut down 388 illegal casinos in Moscow over 1.5 months)…

But lets be real. The illegal casinos are all over the place because of a set of laws with huge loop holes and also the mafia that run them can get a little bit testy at times… 🙂

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Coffee and God and them Medical Tests…

Sitting at the computer this morning and sipping that cup of coffee. Just thinking about yesterday and all my doctor tests that were run…

There is good and bad news and the bad is not all that life threatening so we will think mainly about the good news today. I had said a awhile back that I had a worrisome spot on my liver. That turns out to be OK. Cancer is not an issue. It is caused by my years of battling with diabetes. It seems that it is a issue associated with diabetes. That is OK with me as long as it does not cause any other issues?

Now more good news along that same issue is that my diabetes is under control as long as I stay on my medications and watch my diet carefully. My three month blood tests show that my sugar level averages are way down and stable…

Another good thing is that my heart has stopped any form of increased damage above what I had when I came to Russia. As you know I had 6 heart attacks in America and looked to be en route for another, due to pressures of work and life. I had alarm bells ringing all around me and was having a daily conversation with the Grim Reaper… 🙁

I was taught by my Grandma that “God works in strange ways.” God has stepped into my life several times and guided me when the going got rough and tough. One of those times is when Sveta stepped into my life. She was all the way on the other side of the world and by the grace of cell phones and sms and emails. She was with me through several of my heart attacks. She did not have to be. She did not have to even acknowledge that I was around. It is pretty simple just not answer that text or phone call. She had never seen me in person. She really did not know who I was. But she took the time and effort to literally be available 24 hours a day through the last two of my heart attacks in America. I say that God blessed me with Sveta…

Now as my cup of coffee is running low. I will end this post with, a sort bad issue. My years of diabetes have taken its toll on other areas of the body. One of them is the kidneys. So we are going to try to get things better in that area. It seems that I have a very long persisting kidney infection also. I would say that for about 6 months I knew that I had something wrong. That is one of the issues that drove me in, to get so many extra tests done…

Have a nice day…

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Slovenia seeks participation in Sochi Olympic projects

Slovenian companies are interested in joining construction projects for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the southern Russian city of Sochi, the country’s prime minister has said.

“Sochi offers great opportunities. The [Russian] prime minister and I spoke that it would be fine to strike commercial deals between [Russian] organizations and Slovenian companies. It is very important for us,” Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said on Tuesday at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

He also invited Russian companies to take part in privatization of Slovenian enterprises.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited Slovenia on Tuesday. A number of deals were signed during the visit, including on a joint venture between the Russian gas giant Gazprom and Slovenia’s Geoplin Plinovodi to build the Slovenian section of the South Stream gas pipeline.

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