Medvedev disapproves of rally’s slogans, but orders election probe

President Dmitry Medvedev ordered an investigation into alleged vote rigging, but stressed the messages voiced at the Saturday’s protests did not carry his support.

­“I disagree with both the slogans and statements made at the rally. Nevertheless, I have given instructions that all reports from voting stations be checked to ensure compliance with election laws,” Medvedev wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.

Even so, Medvedev appeared to be satisfied with the way the rally went off on Saturday.

“Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are Russian citizens’ constitutional rights. People have a right to speak their point of view, which they did yesterday. It is good, that everything passed within the law,” the President’s message reads.

Moscow police said 25,000 protesters gathered in central Moscow to protest the country’s parliamentary election results, following voting on December 4. The election brought 238 Duma seats out of 450 to United Russia – the party supporting Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In the previous vote, in 2007, United Russia won an overwhelming majority in the lower chamber of Parliament.

Russian celebrities and activists launch voters’ league

A group of 16 Russian public figures and activists have founded the “League of Voters” – a new organization which aims to prevent election-rigging and generally promote public participation in politics.

­The principal figures behind the League of Voters are the well-known journalist Leonid Parfenov, the renowned detective story writer Boris Akunin (real name Grigoriy Chkhartishvili), and the rock star Yuri Shevchuk. “Parfenov, Shevchuk and Akunin were leading in the open Internet voting before the Sakharov Prospect rally. It was important for the people to hear the opinion of these same people,” reads the League’s press-release, distributed on the Internet.

Other members of the league include high-profile journalists, celebrities and activists.

The founders of the league have not yet outlined any specific plans.  Boris Akunin and TV presenter and stand-up comedian Tatyana Lazareva wrote in their blogs that it was important to take action, to move from words to deeds. They promised to prepare a program for the league and publish it on Wednesday.

Former Russian Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin, whose political experience is seen as a major asset in setting up a new liberal political force in Russia, wrote on his website that the League of Voters should choose people to become the representatives of the street opposition in the talks with the authorities. Kudrin also said that he supported the candidacy of Russian ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, whose name was put forward by the Presidential Council for Human Rights, as an intermediary between the authorities and the protesters. At the same time, Kudrin noted that there had been little progress in talks between the government and the opposition.

Meanwhile, the leftist wing of the street opposition have –  as expected – aligned themselves with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. News agencies reported on Tuesday that Russian KPRF leader Gennadiy Zyuganov and the head of the Leftist Front movement, Sergey Udaltsov, had signed an agreement guaranteeing the fulfillment of all the demands voiced by the participants in the December protests. It states that if Zyuganov is elected president, he would meet such demands as the immediate release of political prisoners, the dismissal of the head of the Central Election Commission, the ending of media censorship, making changes in the Constitution and holding new parliamentary elections before December 2012.

Writers Boris Akunin representing street opposition ready to meet Putin

Popular writers Boris Akunin and Dmitry Bykov say they are ready to meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin if such a move is approved by members of the recently-founded Voters’ League.

The announcement was made on Thursday, after Vladimir Putin complained to the media that he had invited the founders of the Voters’ League for talks but they never showed up, choosing instead to accuse the authorities of unwillingness to hold a dialogue with the opposition.

“If Vladimir Putin wants to meet and talk about work, if he is ready for a serious and tough discussion – I see no problems in this. I will with pleasure tell him everything that I think about the situation which has formed in the country,” said Boris Akunin, a popular writer, in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio. However Akunin immediately said that he doubted the prime minister’s sincerity. “My hopes that the meeting will really take place are for some reason very slim. I think it is just idle talk. It does not sound like an invitation for discussion,” Akunin said.

Writer Dmitry Bykov said he was pleasantly surprised by the invitation which was an offer that should not be turned down.However he added that he must first form a consolidated position with his colleagues. Also, in a slightly strange move, Bykov described Putin’s invitation as showing “some interest in literature on the part of the authorities,” which was hardly the case with Putin’s Wednesday statement.

Both Akunin and Bykov represent the Voters’ League – a public movement founded on January 16 by participants of the mass rallies that took place in Moscow in late December to protest against alleged violations committed by the authorities overseeing the December 4 parliamentary poll. The league stated that its agenda was to ensure that future elections were fair and stressed that it was not siding with any political party.

The street opposition are now planning to hold another rally in Moscow on February 4, but so far the city authorities have not approved plans for the protest, saying that the large-scale march would paralyze all traffic and the police would have difficulties ensuring that the protesters and other city residents remained safe. If the rally is not authorized, protesters will hold walks in the city wearing white ribbons as a statement of their position, one of the Voters’ League representatives, Yelena Tikhonova, told the press on Thursday.

Russian spy agency: Global crisis demands new tactics

Russian military intelligence is adjusting its work methods in response to the worsening international situation, Igor Sergun, the head of GRU – the country’s largest espionage agency – has told President Dmitry Medvedev.

“Changes in the world situation have required adjustments to be made to intelligence mechanisms and their implementation,” Sergun said on Thursday, as he presented his report to the head of state.

Currently, the main focus of Russian military intelligence is on “the so-called hot spots where terrorist and extremist groups are acting, regions with crisis situations, and also the sources and possible routes of illegal proliferation of nuclear materials and the components of weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

Sergun underlined that the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) is “practically the only special service in the world” which integrates all existing types and directions of intelligence into its structure.

GRU successfully fulfills its tasks thanks to the professionalism of secret service agents “combined with the usage of the most up-to-date achievements of information, telecommunication and space technologies and innovations,” explained Sergun.

Major General Sergun added that the agency has the technical capabilities to act in almost all possible fields. “This helps to obtain important information concerning the situation in military conflict areas and regions that interest military intelligence,” he added, as cited by Itar-Tass.

The key task of GRU – Russia’s main military intelligence body – is to “uncover in a timely way any imminent attack or development of a situation that could pose a threat to the country’s security,” and warn Russia’s military leadership of such cases.

President Medvedev spoke of the need to increase the service’s operational potential, monitor the international military and political situation, forecast potential threats and suggest ways to neutralize them. He specifically pointed at the need to keep a close watch on new trends in the development of military industry.

The head of state urged Russian intelligence agents to cooperate with foreign partners in countering terrorism given its nature as a global problem.

“One of the major tasks of all Russian special services – and, naturally, of the military intelligence – is fighting international terrorism,” Medvedev stressed. “We must reveal terrorists’ weapon and finance supply chains and, pursuing a preemptive tactic, foil their plans.”

He noted that as a result of changes in the world, the Russian military intelligence service was being restructured. Overall, the GRU’s work is efficient and professional, Medvedev summed up.

During his first visit to the GRU office, the President was accompanied by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Chief of the General Staff Nikolay Makarov.

Makarov’s deputy, Major-General Igor Sergun, was appointed the agency’s chief in December 2011.

Speaking on Thursday, Medvedev expressed the hope that under Sergun’s leadership the agency would continue working as well as it has done so far.

Vladimir Putin: 26% of Russians live below poverty line by international standards

Putin invites non-system opposition to dialogue

Vladimir Putin said that he and his allies were ready to meet personally with representatives of non-system opposition parties and street protesters if they accept the invitation.

At a Wednesday meeting with the heads of leading mass media outlets, the Prime Minister and key presidential contender said he was ready to meet with non-system opposition, in particular with the founders of the Voters’ League – writer Boris Akunin and journalist and poet Dmitry Bykov.

The editor-in-chief of the popular radio Ekho Moskvy, Aleksei Venediktov told Putin that he eagerly expected Putin’s new articles in which Putin as a presidential candidate described his views and future plans. However, the journalist said that it was important for the country and for the people that Putin discussed his policies not only with his allies but also with his opponents.

“I am ready personally, and all my colleagues are ready, to meet with them and to talk. By the way, we have invited them more than once, but they never turned up,” Putin said. “They are saying that they want to have a discussion but the authorities do not hear them,” he continued, ”I have a question – what do they want? To demonstrate the absence of discussion, or do they not want to be engaged in it?” Putin asked.

Putin also said that he is often a target for rude and unfounded criticism by the media and its audience, but he does not get offended by this.

For example, he said that he saw a reader’s comment on the web-site of Ekho Moskvy radio that said “only cattle votes for Putin,” to which the Prime Minister asked: “What form of discussion and what sort of attitude is this towards the majority of the people in our country?”

He added that he could not understand certain comments about the US missile defense program on Ekho Moskvy – even though the radio belongs to a Russian media company – besides that the project was being carried out on the orders of the United States.

At this point, Putin addressed Aleksei Venediktov directly.

“Do you feel offended by my words,” Putin asked.

When the journalist said he was, Putin replied “it’s me who should be offended; it’s me who gets covered with liquid stool from head to feet round the clock.”

“I was joking, I am not offended,” Venediktov replied.

“Well, I was not joking,” Putin said, ending the exchange.

Putin also told the heads of Russian news agencies, newspapers and TV channels that he planned to publish a series of articles outlining his approach to economic and social development, similar to the article recently published in  Izvestia. The Prime Minister said the move would allow the public to make its own judgments on issues he considered principal, both personally and in view of the coming presidential elections. Putin said he hoped that the media would facilitate an active discussion of these articles so that every detail of his suggestions was made known to the public.

Putin said he wanted the election to be as transparent and honest as possible, adding that if the Russian citizens decide to entrust leadership of the country to someone else, it is their choice, and that person will take the post. Putin also reminded the audience that it was he who suggested installing web-cameras at polling stations to prevent election fraud.

Speaking of the most urgent tasks, Putin said it was necessary “to create a viable organism,” that could withstand ”external shocks enough to guarantee that the nation’s sovereignty remains stable,” but that will  “develop and ensure citizens’ well-being for decades to come.”

‘Provoker’ Berezovsky hijacking Russian religious feeling for his own ends

The majority United Russia party has responded to open letters by Boris Berezovsky by calling him a “provoker”, and the Russian Orthodox Church has suggested that the self-exiled billionaire focus his thoughts and creativity on reforming the UK.

This week, the London-based tycoon, who is wanted in Moscow on a number of charges, sent two letters to his fatherland.

On Monday, Berezovsky appealed to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, to persuade Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to drop his plans to run for the presidency in March 2012. In a letter published on Echo Moskvy radio station’s website, the outspoken Kremlin critic called on the Patriarch to “ensure a peaceful transition of power.”

The Moscow Patriarchate expressed skepticism over the missive.

“On the one hand, it may seem pleasant that Boris Abramovich [Berezovsky] is suggesting that the Church should increase its role in the events taking place in Russia. However, on the other hand, the past activities of this man lead one to believe that you should listen to him attentively and do exactly the opposite,” Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the headof thesynodaldepartmentforchurchandsocietyliaison, told Interfax-Religion.

Chaplin noted that taking secular power is “the last thing the Church is supposed to do.” The Archpriest also said that he did not quite understand who exactly Berezovsky thinks power should be given to.

Father Vsevolod said he would like to know “what supreme or opposite force” has revealed Russia’s future to Berezovsky. In any case, he noted ironically, the tycoon – who has lived for quite a while in Great Britain – has plenty to occupy him.

“Why not think about political reforms and predictions of public processes in that country? No doubt, the people of the UK may also benefit from the fountain of ideas of this non-standard and creative person,” Chaplin suggested.

On Tuesday, a second message followed from London: this time it was addressed directly to Vladimir Putin.

Berezovsky urged Putin not to run for president in order “to avoid a bloody revolution” and prevent the ruining of the state.

The Secretary of the Presidium of the General Council of the United Russia party, Sergey Neverov, gave this response:

“Berezovsky has once again confirmed his reputation as a provoker, a person who has absolutely lost touch with Russian realities,” he said, as cited on the party’s website.

Neverov recalled the reasons behind Berezovsky’s decision to hide abroad for over 10 years: charges of fraud, money laundering, embezzlement and calls for a coup. Having all this “baggage” and no contact with Russian reality, Neverov went on, the tycoon is trying “to play on Russians’ religious feelings, on faith that he uses in his momentary political interests and business projects.”

Meanwhile, in addition to making forecasts about Russia’s future, Berezovsky has a bit of a headache in London, where he is battling in court against another Russian tycoon, Roman Abramovich. Berezovsky is suing Abramovich – the owner of the Chelsea Football Club – for more than $5 billion.

On Tuesday, in his concluding remarks in the London court battle, Berezovsky’s lawyer Laurence Rabinowitz accused Abramovich of “cynical and deceitful manipulation of the trial process”. He stated that the Chelsea owner had shown an “apparent willingness and ability to manufacture evidence to suit his case”.

“It was a highly controlled performance by Mr. Abramovich, who was meticulously prepared for the evidence he would give, and who had worked closely with his witnesses to put forward a story which he calculated would be accepted by the court,” Rabinowitz said, as cited by the Russian Legal Information Agency.

Berezovsky’s barrister seems to be following the same tactic as his opponent’s side. The agency recalled that back in December, Abramovich’s lawyer, Jonathan Sumption, labeled Berezovsky’s testimony “questionable.”

Short of cash? Extravagant Abramovich turns up in court in cheap watch

The London tabloids, have been keeping a close eye on the long running  legal battle between exiled billionaire Boris Berezovskiy and his former friend and protйgй Abramovich over the sale of an oil company in 2002. They’ve been surprised to see the younger man appear wearing a modest digital watch. Finnish-made it’s intended to be worn during exercise, but Abramovich was doing no more than sitting impassively as his lawyers battled before the judge.

Has Abramovich become thrifty? Or are the legal fees, reportedly now around $1.5 million, eating into his personal budget? Or is he just trying to make the right impression? The famously private man – Abramovich never gives interviews – is not likely to explain.

But careful spending has not been Roman Abramovich’s motto. He is the owner of the world’s largest yacht, Eclipse – his fifth – that reportedly cost more than half a billion dollars. He has sunk hundreds of millions into making his plaything Chelsea FC one of the world’s best football clubs. And while most girlfriends have to make do with a pair of earrings or a package holiday as presents, Roman raised the bar when he gave his girlfriend Dasha Zhukova an 86-million dollar Francis Bacon painting.

Whether Abramovich will be able to afford such lavish spending in the future might hinge on the outcome of the bitter court case. The eccentric Boris Berezovskiy – who has been convicted of financial crimes in Russia and has repeatedly claimed that Vladimir Putin wants to assassinate him – says he was forced to sell his shares in the Russian oil firm Sibneft for “a pittance” (1.3 billion dollars) after being “betrayed” and “intimidated” by Roman Abramovich.

As the case has revealed private details of exactly how business is conducted in Russia, Abramovich has likely resented the media attention foisted upon him. In the absence of interviews the tabloids have analysed everything about the billionaire, from his outfits to his poor command of English. But relief is near, as hearings on the fractious business dispute are due to end later this week.

Coelho generous over Veronika play production in Russia

It’s been a worldwide bestseller, a coolly received Hollywood film and an obscure song, but a Russian dramatist is hoping to finally do justice to Paulo Coelho’s novel Veronika Decides to Die.

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“I saw the American film and didn’t like it – there was nothing of Coelho left in it. I read the book, and immediately thought that it would make a good play.” Yuriy Vasilyev, a renowned actor and director who has recently set up his own theatre.

The book concerns a successful 24 year-old who decides to commit suicide for no apparent reason. The novel probes questions of mortality and madness.

Although, it has been staged in three different languages, this is the first time it has been adapted into Russian.

Initially, Vasilyev was worried about getting a blessing from Paulo Coelho himself.

“He is very thorough with his adaptations, and usually checks every word” says Vasilyev.

But despite being one of the world’s most in-demand authors Coelho wasn’t as intimidating as the dramatist thought.

“He responded quite promptly. And the licensing fee he asked for was about five times smaller than what Russian playwrights typically ask!” claims Vasilyev.

The play has already been a success in several cities across Russia. The Moscow premiere is in early February and Vasilyev says the demand for tickets has been “overwhelming.”

Now, only one dream remains for the dramatist.

“We’ve invited the author to the premiere. Usually Coelho doesn’t watch the final versions of his film or stage adaptations, but he will be in Russia at the time… So anything is possible.”

Russian Words to live by in London

Russian literature lovers in London will soon be able to get their fill. Britain’s largest bookseller Waterstone’s is due to open a Russian-language bookstore. Now avid readers won’t have an expensive trip to Moscow to get the latest titles.

­The bookstore within a bookstore is scheduled to open its doors at the Waterstone’s flagship site in London’s Piccadilly.

Called “Slova”, the Russian for “words”, the section will offer up to 5000 titles, anything from fiction to history, poetry to fairy tales.

Russian speaking sales assistants will be on hand to help with purchases.

“For Russophiles, and the large, vibrant Russian community in London, we aim to make Slova an irresistible literary and cultural destination,” says James Daunt, the managing director of Waterstones.

Last year Waterstones was bought by the Russian billionaire Aleksandr Mamut’s A&NN Group in a deal worth Ј53million. The businessman also has a stake in Russia’s Azbuka-Atticus publishing group whose titles will be on offer in Slova along with books from the leading Russian writers in the original and translated into English.

Russian great Evgeni Plushenko smashes career-best score to win Euros.

Defying his aching left knee and advancing age, Evgeni Plushenko had a career-best performance Saturday to win his seventh European figure skating title. Throwing in an unexpected quadruple jump to a compelling routine to “Tango de Roxanne” from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, the 2006 Olympic champion scored a personal-best 176.52 points in the free skate to total 261.23 — his highest overall mark. Loading… Comments Weigh In Corrections? ( Jon Super / Associated Press ) – Russia’s Artur Gachinski performs on his way to coming second in the Men’s Free Skating event at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. ( Jon Super / Associated Press ) – Italy’s Carolina Kostner, center, winner of the gold medal, laughs as she stands with silver medal winner Kiira Korpi of Finland, left, and bronze medal winner Elene Gedevanishvili of Georgia following the Women’s Free Skating event at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. ( Jon Super / Associated Press ) – Russia’s Evgeni Plushenko celebrates after performing in the Men’s Free Skating program competition at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. ( Alastair Grant / Associated Press ) – Florent Amodio of France performs in the Men’s free skating event at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. Amodio placed third in the competition. ( Jon Super / Associated Press ) – Russia’s Artur Gachinski performs on his way to coming second in the Men’s Free Skating event at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. “I’m called the king by many people and I try to live up to that name. I want to remain the king for a long time to come,” the 29-year-old Plushenko said. If Plushenko is the king, then Carolina Kostner is surely the queen of European skating. On a day to remember for a relative veteran of the women’s competition, the 24-year-old Italian captured a fourth continental title in a six-year span by executing a flawless, if limited, free skate to build on her lead from the short program. Topping both segments, the elegant Kostner finished with 183.55 points, more than 16 clear of second-place Kiira Korpi of Finland. With 18-year-old Artur Gachinski finishing second in the men’s competition, Russia left the meet with seven medals out of a possible 12 — two years before the country hosts the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. The spectators at Motorpoint Arena were already on their feet when Plushenko — dressed in a glitter-lined black outfit — finished his breathtaking routine in a blaze of glory, repeatedly pumping his fists in the direction of the judges. Even with Gachinski, who led Evgeni Plushenko by 0.09 points after the short dance, and three other rivals to come, the greatest male skater of his generation knew the gold was again his — 12 years after winning his first continental title. “I did a little bit of history in figure skating today,” an overjoyed Evgeni Plushenko said. Gachinski couldn’t match his mentor, idol and training partner. The bronze medalist from last year’s worlds scored 161.47 points in his free skate to total 246.27, a personal best too. Defending champion Florent Amodio of France rallied from fifth place to take the bronze with an overall score of 234.18, ahead of Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic (229.30). Evgeni Plushenko hopped onto the podium to collect the 18th major medal of an illustrious career that he is set to stretch, amazingly, to Sochi. He started off in seniors in 1997. “I felt like I did eight years ago out there,” said Plushenko, the only living male skater with 3 Olympic medals to his name. In addition to his gold from Turin, Evgeni Plushenko has silvers from Salt Lake City and Vancouver. Evgeni Plushenko has a history of back and knee problems: He is going to Germany in two weeks for surgery on his left knee, a procedure that will keep him out of the world championships. He said he didn’t do a quad during his play-it-safe short program on Thursday because it would have taken three or four minutes for his body to recover. Lo and behold, Plushenko opened the free skate with a quad toe loop — which earned the maestro 11.59 points — that set the tone for the rest of his joyous, near-flawless routine that had the crowd tranfixed.

France to withdraw from Afghanistan early: Nicolas Sarkozy

President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday that France would pull its forces out of Afghanistan a year earlier than planned, a week after the killing of four French servicemen by a renegade Afghan soldier.

After meeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Paris, Sarkozy said France had decided to transfer security in the eastern Kapisa province, where most of the 3,600-strong French contingent is based and the scene of the shooting, to Afghan forces from March of this year.

“The pursuit of the transition and this gradual transfer of combat responsibilities will allow us to plan for a return of all our combat forces by the end of 2013,” Sarkozy said, adding that 1,000 troops would return in 2012.

This decision was made “in agreement with president Karzai and in agreement with our allies, in an organised and reasonable way,” he said.

“A few hundred” French troops would stay on after 2013 to train Afghan troops, Sarkozy said.

Sarkozy said he would encourage Nato to consider transferring all its combat operations to Afghan forces in 2013, instead of the scheduled deadline of end-2014.

French training operations in Afghanistan, suspended after the shooting, would resume on Saturday, the French president added.

Sarkozy said he would speak to US President Barack Obama on Saturday.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the French announcement was part of the “managed effort” to withdraw from Afghanistan.

“This was not precipitous … this was worked through carefully with NATO, with the Afghans and in consultation with all of us,” she told reporters.

“There were some concerns expressed in NATO countries… as well as in Afghanistan that whatever was done needed to be done in a consultative fashion, needed to be done in a managed fashion,” Nuland said.

“And what we see now is just that, a consulted and managed effort.”

A Nato spokeswoman said only: “We take note of the French statement.”

Karzai is on a five-day European trip to sign long-term strategic partnership agreements aimed at bolstering support for Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development.

He was next to travel to London to meet Prime Minister David Cameron.

Most French — 84 percent of them — want their troops back home by the end of 2012, according to an opinion poll published this week.

Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande, tipped to beat Sarkozy in elections in three months, pledged Thursday to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan this year if he becomes president.

After the deaths of the four soldiers, Sarkozy sent Defence Minister Gerard Longuet to Kabul to evaluate ways to improve the security of French troops training the Afghan army.

Sarkozy warned after the attacks that he may accelerate France’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, prompting Nato’s chief to call on contributing nations to remain committed to the security transition.

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he understood French concerns, but noted that Nato nations had agreed on a 2014 date to withdraw combat forces and transfer security to Afghans.

Longuet said he was told the killer was a Taliban infiltrator in the Afghan army, but Afghan security sources said he opened fire because of a video showing US Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban insurgents.

The United States, Britain, Germany and Italy are the main contributors to the Nato-led force of some 130,000 troops fighting a 10-year insurgency by hardline Islamist Taliban forces ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks.

A total of 82 French troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of their deployment in 2001.

Women demanding higher salary seen as bossy: Facebook COO

In a frank expression of her views on women as leaders, social networking site Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg has said boys are groomed to become leaders while girls are encouraged to stay in the background.

In a forthright comment at the World Economic Forum (WEF) platform, Sandberg also said a man who demands a higher salary is taken more seriously, while a woman who demands the same thing or tries to be assertive is seen as being bossy.

“How many boys have you ever heard accused of being too bossy?,” she asked.

Sandbergy further pointed out that boys are taught to be leaders as early as at the age of four, while girls are encouraged to stay in the background.

During a discussion, one of the opinions was that even though more women are entering the workplace, corporations still fail to fully capitalise on their abilities.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said that her country plans to create a national women’s development fund to counter human rights abuses directed at women.

She noted that education is the most effective way of decreasing early pregnancies, the death of women in child birth and infections of HIV/AIDS.

Thousands of cars circle central Moscow in anti-Putin protest

Thousands of cars flying white ribbons or balloons circled central Moscow on Sunday in a show of protest against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The cars _ ranging from luxury sedans and sporty convertibles to old, exhaust-spewing Soviet models _ jammed the inner lanes all along the 16-kilometer (nearly 10-mile) Garden Ring, which has as many as 16 lanes of traffic at its widest points.

More protesters stood along the side of the road waving white ribbons and flags as the vehicles passed, their horns blaring. White ribbons became an opposition symbol during protests that broke out after a fraud-tainted Dec. 4 parliamentary election won by Putin’s party.

Tens of thousands turned out for two protest rallies last month to demand free and fair elections, and protest organizers are now preparing for a third big demonstration Feb. 4.

Putin is running in a March 4 presidential election to reclaim the post he held from 2000 to 2008. He is expected to win, but is under pressure to show he can win fairly.

Sunday’s action was aimed at helping to build momentum for the protest movement and it provided another outlet for the creativity that has been a defining feature of the demonstrations.

While most drivers were content to tie white ribbons and balloons to their cars’ antennas, sideview mirrors and door handles, some decorated their vehicles with original signs and banners.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny said the traveling protest action was a “wonderful advertisement” for the Feb. 4 rally.

The protest movement has been driven by young professionals, cultural figures and other members of the urban middle class, many of them connected through online social networks.

Kremlin supporters have begun to try to counter their activism by organizing rallies by blue-collar workers in support of Putin and the stability he promises. The first rally was held Saturday in Yekaterinburg, the capital of an industrial region in the Ural Mountains east of Moscow.

Videos of the rally posted online showed one speaker, a member of Russia’s parliament, trying to get the crowd of several thousand to shout “Ural, Russia, Putin!” The response was muted.

Russian rock band labels Vladimir Putin a ‘tyrant’

A rock band made up of Russian former paratroopers has scored a surprise hit with a song that labels Vladimir Putin a “tyrant”, registering half a million hits on YouTube.

Beefy, tattooed, wearing berets and military decorations on their chests, two singers and three back-up musicians let rip at Putin, the prime minister who is seeking to return to the presidency term in March 4 elections.

“You’ve destroyed the military, the army is broken and you’ve spat on the soldiers and sent the officers packing,” they sing.

“We’re asking you nicely: Go, tyrant!”

Belting out the chorus, they sing: “We are free paratroopers and the Motherland is with us! You’re just a public servant, not a tsar or God.”

By Sunday the video had been watched 445,000 times since being posted on at www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2aVlR_Oe3v0 on Thursday.

It has also been watched 150,000 times on the Dojd television station’s posting at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV-prXX1ZOw&feature=related.

One of the singers, asked by a journalist why he opposes the former KGB agent Putin, said that he does not support his corrupt regime.

“We are like all the people, we don’t want to live in a country where one flies around and one lies,” he said, explaining the song.

Its title “Nobody but us!” is the motto of Russia’s paratroopers.

The paratroopers, an elite airborne military force with about 30,000 members, have had a reputation since Soviet times of being fearsome fighters.

Putin, a former agent with Soviet-era KGB intelligence service and a black belt Judoka, has for years cultivated a macho image.

K. Serbs victims of geopolitical game – Russian patriarch

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill has stated that Kosovo Serbs are hostages of a great geopolitical game.

“With an indifferent attitude of many states they are forced to live in closed enclaves, feeling the everyday concern due to hostile environment. Our brothers in religion have a great courage and they are not leaving their suffering country and holy places, they live just like in concentration camps. They are not even given a basic right to life,” Kirill stressed.

“Here we see the unacceptable injustice, double standards and lies of the policy that declares commitment to ideals of humanism, protection of human rights and turns a blind eye before the hell that the extremists have created with help from their sponsors from abroad,” he explained.

The Russian patriarch has assessed that “the western world in the time of the NATO intervention against Yugoslavia (in 1999) was exposed to an intensive media campaign and was significantly deceived”.

He added that the “western media had been publishing intentionally twisted information about the Milošević regime’s atrocities against Kosovo Albanians by exaggerating the number of victims of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Serbian police in the province“.

“The priceless monuments that the Serbian people have build in Kosovo and Metohija will stay alive as long as prayers are heard in the temples,” he said, repeating that Russia was helping to restore and protect the Serbian Orthodox monuments through UNESCO and that it had been sending humanitarian aid to the Kosovo Serbs.

“I have been to Kosovo and Metohija many times and met with the local population and I witnessed the difficult conditions they live in. The things I have seen have strongly affected me. The Russian Orthodox Church showed and will show solidarity with the Kosovo Serbs,” the Russian patriarch concluded.

New Yorker’s Remnick on Russian Yin and Yang