18.07 Russian Press at a Glance, Thursday, July 18, 2013
POLITICS
As fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden prepares to leave the transit zone of Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport, the US Congress is discussing possible retaliatory measures against Russia, including the expansion of the Magnitsky blacklist. The Kremlin, however, does not consider Snowden a legitimate excuse for worsening bilateral relations.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)
Opposition Yabloko party leader Sergei Mitrokhin and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny were the last candidates to be officially registered for the Moscow mayor election due in September.
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Egypt's new cabinet, led by Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, was sworn in on Tuesday evening. The key posts in the government are led by representatives of secular parties. Three representatives of the Coptic Christian minority and three women were given ministerial posts. The Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist movements refused to recognize the governments legitimacy.
(Kommersant, Izvestia)
Five members of the European parliament have visited former Georgian Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili in a Tbilisi prison. The case, sometimes compared to the case of Ukraines ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko, may damage Tbilisis NATO and EU aspirations. EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Stefan Fule said the European Union is unlikely to sign the Association Agreement with Tbilisi during the forthcoming summit in Vilnius, while US Department of State spokeswoman Victoria Nuland questioned Tbilisis accession to NATO.
(Kommersant, Izvestia)
A major international scandal is gathering momentum in Panama, where crates of military equipment including two MiG-21 fighter jets and air defense missile parts from Cuba were found on board a North Korean-flagged ship, under bags of brown sugar.
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
REAL ESTATE
The number of mortgage deals is on the rise on Russia, reaching 80 percent for apartments in some newly-erected buildings.
(Vedomosti)
TELECOMS & IT
The presidential administration has placed an order for a scientific research program to improve online communications between citizens and civil servants. A Kremlin source told Izvestia that the recommendations would help officials to improve netizens opinion of them.
(Izvestia)
BANKING & FINANCE
For the first time ever, Russias Central Bank published a report on the salaries of its top managers.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti)
SOCIETY
Members of the presidential human rights council will request Russian President Vladimir Putin to amend the controversial "foreign agents" NGO law during a meeting on September 3.
(Izvestia)
Amid a recent series of dissertation plagiarism scandals, the Russian Education Ministry has laid down new rules for approval of theses. Under the rules, scientists and education officials, who approve a plagiarized dissertation will lose their posts.
(Kommersant)
The number of Russians whose incomes are below the poverty line declined 8 percent in the past 12 months, Russian Health and Social Development Minister Maxim Topilin said on Wednesday, citing recent figures from the Federal Statistics Service.
(Vedomosti)
Shortly after media reported an apparent road rage attack on Russian legislator Roman Khudyakov, a rumor appeared that the lawmaker often ignored traffic rules.
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Moscow authorities have approved plans to develop rail links between Moscow and its satellite cities until 2020. As part of the project, the authorities plan to build new rail tracks to ten major Moscow Region cities and launch trains with an interval of three or four minutes. The authorities admit that without proper intersections, the measures might aggravate the poor traffic situation in Moscow.
(Kommersant)
SPORT
Russian athletes won 292 medals during this years World University Games which ended in Kazan on Wednesday night. With 155 gold, 75 silver and 62 bronze medals, Russia set an absolute record.
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
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