#5
ORT Review
www.ortv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman (luba7@bu.edu)
Research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology and Policy
at Boston University
HEADLINES
- State Duma deputies have voted to put a five-year moratorium on human cloning in the Russian Federation. The Duma also established a 10 percent tax exemption for all print media and forbade all media sources to cite terrorists and extremists. Presidential Plenipotentiary to the State Duma Aleksandr Korenkov expressed his doubts that this law will be effective as far as the internet is concerned, since terrorists can disseminate their ideas over the world wide web from abroad.
- The head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Dmitry Rogozin has arrived in Israel, where he will meet with representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli leadership to discuss the stabilization of the situation in the Middle East.
- In London, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov met with his British counterpart Geoffrey Hoon. Tomorrow Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
- The production of a new model of the Kalashnikov rifle -- the AK108 -- has began at the Izhmash factory in Izhevsk. The new model is very much like its prototype, but thanks to an improved automatic-reloading system, the AK-108 will be able to fire 900 rounds a minute, while the AK-107 could fire only 600.
- The Russian cabinet continued to review the 2002 investment program of the natural gas industry. Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov noted that, above all, investment must be aimed at providing steady supply.
- President Putin met with Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller today. The Russian President asserted that progress in relations between the two countries is clear, but that there is still a lot of work ahead. As an example, Putin pointed to the disproportional balance of trade.
- Olympic champion Aleksandr Tikhonov, accused of plotting the assassination attempt against Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleev has been placed on the federal wanted list. Tikhonov's whereabouts have been unknown since he left the clinic in Innsbruck, Austria, where he was undergoing treatment.
- After the recent heavy snowfall, many cities and settlements throughout the Caucasus are still cut off from electricity and heat.
- Sochi City Mayor Leonid Mostovoi announced that electricity supplies should be restored tomorrow in the second half of the day.
- Pine tree bazaars will open throughout Russia in the next few days. Every year, about 15 percent of the pine trees remain unsold after Christmas and New Year celebrations are over.
- Officers of five Russian special security services will celebrate their professional day today. These are the heirs of the All-Russian Cheka [Extraordinary Commission], which was established on December 20th, 1917.
- A special telephone center has been opened in Moscow to take toll-free calls from all of Russia's regions: questions for President Putin's live appearance on ORT and RTR on December 24th.
- The Russian Ministry of Culture announced that two important paintings -- "Unknown Woman" by Dmirtry Levitsky and "A Portrait of Daria Yakovlevna" by Vasily Borovikovsky -- will be retuned to Russia. The paintings were taken out after the October Revolution.
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