POLITICS
President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin discussed bilateral cooperation and the situation in the Middle East and North Africa with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Moscow on Thursday
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Igor Yurgens, head of the Kremlin’s main think tank, said the country needs a political thaw, like the one under Nikita Khrushchev in the 1960s. But he also praised authorities for controlling the political system, especially the outcomes of elections
(The Moscow Times)
President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed a law that allows opposition parties to field election candidates in regions and municipalities where they have no offices
(The Moscow Times)
ECONOMY BUSINESS
Apple is considering opening a store in downtown Moscow. Representatives from the company have already visited the Russian capital looking for suitable premises
(Vedomosti)
Ukraine proposed cooperation with the Customs Union, which comprises Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, on a ‘three-plus-one’ basis. Russian experts say it is unclear how the cooperation would work
(Vedomosti, Kommersant)
The Central Bank of Russia said it would toughen sanctions against corrupt bank managers
(Kommersant)
Russian fertilizer company PhosAgro announced that it would pay record dividends of almost 30 billion rubles ($1 billion) to its shareholders
(Kommersant)
OIL GAS
Russia’s state-run oil company, Rosneft, has revised the price for the development of its Vankor oil deposit to almost 1 trillion rubles ($35.45 billion) from 754 billion rubles ($26.7 billion).
(Vedomosti)
MILITARY SPACE
President Dmitry Medvedev has approved amendments to the law regulating Russia’s military and technical cooperation with foreign countries
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the Russian government has earmarked about 200 billion rubles ($7 billion) in funding for space programs in 2010-11
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
WORLD
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit northeast Japan on Thursday and a tsunami warning was issued. Part of Japan was left without electricity.
(Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
CONSTRUCTION
A Hilton hotel with 142 suites will be built on downtown Moscow’s Volkhonka street, which overlooks the Church of Christ the Savior, one of the capital’s main tourist attractions
(Kommersant)
CRIME
Viktor Ivanov, the head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service, proposed doubling fines for drug dealers selling narcotics within 300 meters of educational establishments
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
SPORTS
Russia made a proposal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2018 Youth Olympics in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan. Russian senator and tycoon Suleiman Kerimov says he is ready to invest one billion euro ($1.4 billion)
(Vedomosti)
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