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Protesters Decry Assault on Editor
By Natalya Krainova, Nikolaus von Twickel, John Wendle / Staff Writers This past weekend, more than 1,000 people gathered to protest the attack on Mikhail Beketov, the owner and editor of Khimkinskaya Pravda, who was brutally beaten on November 13. Most protesters are pointing the finger at Vladimir Strelchenko, the mayor of Khimki.

IT Minds Expecting The Next E-Boom
By Ethan Wilensky-Lanford / Staff Writer With internet use growing rapidly in Russia and traditional retailers struggling to cover rising property costs, electronic commerce is ready to step in as the next big boom with lower prices and added convenience.

Crisis Fails to Dull Luster of Millionaire Fair
By Ethan Wilensky-Lanford, Nikolaus von Twickel / The Moscow Times "Everybody else has a crisis, but we have the Millionaire Fair!" -- This year, the glitzy show at Moscow's Millionaire Fair has been overshadowed somewhat by the global economic crisis.

Medvedev, Castro Talk Cooperation
By Anita Snow / The Associated Press President Dmitry Medvedev met with revolutionary icon Fidel Castro on Friday, discussing Guantanamo Bay and hopes for a multipolar world with Cuba's former leader during a tour of Latin America aimed at raising Moscow's presence in the region.

Icon of Stalin Draws St. Petersburg Church's Ire
By Francesca Mereu / The Moscow Times Soviet leader Josef Stalin might seem like an unlikely subject for an icon, but one priest disagrees -- and his stance has sparked an angry response from the church.

Communists See Opportunity in Social Unrest
Reuters The Communist Party expects that the global financial crisis will cause social unrest and help it challenge for power, the party’s leader said on Saturday. Gennady Zyuganov told the party's annual congress that the Communists should make maximum use of the growing public discontent caused by the economic downturn to try to restore their political strength.<

Surkov Says Middle Class Now Top Priority
Reuters The state must move decisively to protect the emerging middle classes from poverty in the economic slowdown brought by the economic crisis, Kremlin First Deputy Chief of Staff Vladislav Surkov said Friday.

Professor Blames Article for Lost Job
By Natalya Krainova / The Moscow Times Boris Sokolov, a professor at one of the city’s more respected universities, claims that he was pressured to resign from his teaching position because he criticized the government in an article he wrote in the newspaper Gazeta.

New Missile Systems on Track for 2020
Reuters The country's military said Friday that it had intensified efforts to develop new ballistic missiles in response to U.S. plans to deploy an anti-missile system in Europe.

Medvedev Lauds New U.S. Stance on NATO
The Associated Press President Dmitry Medvedev praised a U.S. decision to change its strategy for bringing Georgia and Ukraine into NATO, expressing satisfaction Friday that the U.S. administration abandoned a program seen as a key step toward membership.

Saakashvili Defends 'Difficult Choice'
Combined Reports Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Friday mounted a fresh defense of his country's assault on South Ossetia in August, denying accusations that Tbilisi had been the aggressor in the disastrous war with Russia that ensued.

Track Athletes Face Doubling of Sentences
Reuters The world governing athletics body has asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to double the two-year suspensions imposed on seven female Russian athletes for manipulating doping samples.

Gorbachev Hopeful of Change in U.S. Policy
The Associated Press Some Russians call Barack Obama "the American Gorbachev" because of his promises to bring change to his country. The real Mikhail Gorbachev said change is what the United States wants and needs.

Seventh Body Found in Chechnya
Combined Reports Police say the body of a seventh woman shot execution-style has been found in violence-wracked Chechnya.

Jailed Yukos Ex-Lawyer Gives Birth
The Moscow Times Former Yukos lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina, who is serving a six-and-a-half-year prison term on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion, gave birth to a daughter in a prison hospital on Friday, Interfax reported.

Business

RusAl Nominates Prokhorov
The Moscow Times United Company RusAl has nominated Onexim Group president Mikhail Prokhorov to the board of Norilsk Nickel, RusAl said in an e-mailed statement Friday.

LUKoil Gets Loans Worth Almost $800M
Bloomberg LUKoil, the country's largest nonstate oil company, secured two loans worth almost $800 million, it said Friday in a statement.

Cuts in Oil Export Duties Accelerate Trading Session
Reuters The country's domestic oil trading session for December delivery accelerated Friday after the government cut oil export duties to an earlier-announced level, ending uncertainty over the levies.

OPEC to Seek Help From Nonmembers
Bloomberg OPEC secretary-general Abdalla El-Badri said the group would seek help from nonmembers Russia, Mexico and Norway in restraining oil supply after the oil cartel on Saturday deferred by two weeks a decision to reduce production this year to gauge the impact of earlier cuts.

BP Agrees To Back Expansion Of CPC
By Tanya Mosolova, Dmitry Zhdannikov / Reuters BP said Friday that it would back the long-delayed expansion of the CPC pipeline from Kazakhstan to Russia as early as December if it faces no obstacles in selling its stakes in the venture.

Putin Dispels Power Sector Concerns
Combined Reports Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged Friday not to slow the development of the power industry, responding to concerns from Germany’s E.On, Russian news agencies reported Friday.

Investment Extension Would Aid Generators
By Nadia Popova / The Moscow Times Electricity generators may get an extension on investment programs that they agreed to, while power distributors facing bankruptcy may be handed over to grid companies or generators to administer, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told journalists Saturday.

Turkmens, Azeris Look Into Pipeline
Bloomberg Turkmenistan, the second-largest producer of natural-gas in the former Soviet Union, held talks with Turkey and Azerbaijan on establishing a new energy corridor to Europe that would bypass Russia.

Renault Plant to Close Until January 1
Reuters French automaker Renault said Friday that it would stop the assembly line at its Moscow plant for two weeks in December as demand weakens.

Comstar's Q3 Earnings Increase 22%
Reuters Fixed-line telecoms operator Comstar reported a 22 percent year-on-year increase in third-quarter core earnings but said Friday that it would cut capital expenditures because of the financial crisis.

Russia Coal Being Promoted in Asia
Bloomberg Russia is promoting its coking coal producers in Asia to boost exports and help offset a slump in demand from domestic steelmakers, Raspadskaya said.

EuroChem Ups Stake in German Potash Maker
Reuters Russian fertilizer maker EuroChem raised its stake in German potash and salt supplier K+S on Friday, raising questions over its plans for the rival company.

Opinion

Europe Can't Bank on Past
November 15 2008 -- it will be a date to remember. For the first time, the Group of 20, the world's 20 leading economies, came together in Washington to find an answer to the global financial and economic crisis.

5 Ways to Manage Russia's Crisis
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin always considered himself an advocate of the free market, while the members of Britain's Labor Party have often been criticized for being too socialist. Now it turns out that Kudrin is even more left-leaning than his British colleagues are.

Arts & Ideas

See 'Nutcracker,' Johanson December in St. Petersburg
By Sergey Chernov / The Moscow Times With Christmastime approaching, what besides back-to-back-to-back performances of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" should you expect to find in St. Petersburg's cultural venues?

Business in Brief

Business in Brief
Unknown Ukraine to Pay Part of Bill; $230M Loan for Sitronics; Ministry Sees Oil at $50; Markets Closed for Holidays; RZD Announces Staff Cuts; Norilsk Reports Output; Kazakh Means Business.

Don't Rush to Declare the U.S. Done
Bitter anti-U.S. rhetoric from the Kremlin has been seen as a symptom of Russia's return to its Soviet past. But while the words may be similar, the gist of today's anti-Americanism in Russia could not be more different.

News in Brief
Unknown Q&A With Putin Thursday, and Tbilisi Snubs Nicaragua.

Tbilisi's Tail No Longer Wagging the U.S. Dog
A day after he sent Russian forces into South Ossetia to repel the Georgian army, President Dmitry Medvedev responded to mounting Western criticism by saying the truth was on Russia's side and that, eventually, it would become apparent to the whole world. That day has finally come, and Russia is vindicated.

Community Bulletin Board

Community Bulletin Board
Unknown How to Submit Items Community Bulletin Board is published every Tuesday. Please submit notices of up to 40 words by noon Thursday. E-mail community@imedia.ru , call +7 (495) 234-3223 or fax +7 (495) 232-6529.

Market Matters

Central Bank Devalues Ruble Twice in a Week
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer The Central Bank on Friday allowed the ruble to depreciate for the second time in a week and said it would raise key interest rates in an effort to reduce capital outflows.

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