The St. Petersburg Times

Stellar service

By Ashley Blum — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:09 GMT

With attentive wait staff, a relaxed atmosphere, simple yet chic d?cor and an extensive menu offering a variety of classic Italian dishes, the owners of the old-standing favorite Da Albertone on Millionaya Ulitsa seem to have come up with another winner with this new offering on Zagorodny Prospekt — dining at Portobello is a pleasant experience that will satisfy taste buds and surpass expectations of service.

In the Spotlight: Twitter

By Anna Malpas — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:09 GMT

Last week, President Dmitry Medvedev tweeted about a visit to Finland, the blast in a hydroelectric power station in Kabardino-Balkaria, oh and a rather impressive rain storm in Moscow.

Sing when you’re winning

By Kristina Aleksandrova — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:09 GMT

Choirs from around the world will flock to St. Petersburg this weekend for the Singing World international festival of choral art, which runs from Friday to Wednesday.

Word’s worth

By Michele A. Berdy — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:09 GMT

Рай: paradise Goooood morning, Moscow! You’re listening to Radio TMT, and it’s time for the weather report. Looks like it’s going to be another beautiful day: temps in the 30s, clear blue skies and humidity at 33 percent.

Summer surrealism

By Lyudmila Tsubiks — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:09 GMT

The artistic life of St. Petersburg is not losing ground, even during the summertime. New exhibitions of modern art are currently on display at 5 Etazh studio, Art re.

152 Dead In Plane Crash In Pakistan

By Munir Ahmed — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:09 GMT

ISLAMABAD — Relatives desperate to find the bodies of loved ones joined emergency teams Thursday at the scene of Pakistan’s worst-ever plane crash, but recovery work was badly hampered by rain and thick mud on the slippery hills.

Woman Survives Grizzly Bear Attack By Playing Dead

By Matthew Brown — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

COOKE CITY, Montana — A woman who was attacked by a bear in the middle of the night at a busy campground was bitten on her arm and leg before she instinctively played dead so the animal would leave her alone, she said Thursday.

Spanish Region Makes Bullfighting Illegal

By Joseph Wilson and Daniel Woolls — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain — Lawmakers in the region of Catalonia thrust a sword deep into Spain’s centuries-old tradition of bullfighting, banning the blood-soaked pageant that has fascinated artists and writers from Goya to Hemingway.

French Woman Admits to Child Murders

By Catherine Gaschka — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

VILLERS-AU-TERTRE, France — A French woman who admitted to suffocating eight of her newborns and concealing their corpses in the garden and garage of her home has been charged with manslaughter, a prosecutor said Thursday.

The Mole Who Gave Away Russia’s Spies

By Yulia Latynina — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

During his visit to Ukraine on Saturday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told journalists that he met with the 10 Russian “illegals” — who pleaded guilty in a U.

BP’s Future May Be Decided in Russia

By Matthew Hulbert — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

As BP CEO Tony Hayward clears his desk from St. James’s Square in London, Robert Dudley is getting ready to take his place, effective Oct.

Drought Could Cause Significant Losses for Bondholders

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — Russia’s worst drought in a decade will probably generate losses for bondholders as food prices rise and the government may be pushed to tap debt markets for funds to support farmers.

Hayward Nominated for Seat on TNK-BP Board

By Olga Razumovskaya — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — Former TNK-BP chief Robert Dudley, forced from the post in 2008, will take the helm at BP in October, while outgoing CEO Tony Hayward will be nominated for a board seat at Russia’s third-largest oil producer, BP said Tuesday.

Pulkovo Airport Financing for Expansion Twice as Expensive as Peers

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport is financing its expansion at almost twice the average cost for similar projects in emerging markets through the country’s first syndicated loan for a public-private partnership.

Starbucks Postpones Plans to Open in City by Two Years

By Lyudmila Tsubiks — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

The opening of the first Starbucks coffee shop in St. Petersburg has been postponed by two years, while its fellow popular American cafe chain Cinnabon is due to open two outlets in the city this fall.

Russians Dislike ‘Rich’ PR People

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — Russians think that public relations jobs are prestigious and profitable, but immoral, and do not want their own children to take up the line of work, according to a new survey released Wednesday in celebration of PR Specialist Day.

Two Men Imprisoned for Paying Homeless ‘Slaves’ With Alcohol

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — Two men from the Perm region were sentenced Wednesday to jail terms for holding 11 homeless people captive for up to five years at a scrap metal processing plant and plying them with alcohol in lieu of salaries, prosecutors said.

Court Declares Poet Militant Leader

By Alexander Bratersky — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — A Moscow region court ruled Wednesday that an amateur poet crossed the line between art and crime by turning a youth commune into an illegal militant group and abusing several of its members.

Youth Camp Brawl Fuels Ethnic Unrest

By Alexandra Odynova — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — A brawl at a youth camp near the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics has turned into an ethnically charged battle pitting Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov against Krasnodar Governor Alexander Tkachyov.

Spanish Star Choreographer Joins Mikhailovsky Theater

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

The internationally renowned Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato has been appointed creative director of the Mikhailovsky Theater ballet troupe.

Khabarovsk Court Bans YouTube for ‘Extremism’

By Alexandra Odynova — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — A Far East court has banned YouTube and four other web sites for “extremist” content in a ruling that promises to raise new worries about free speech.

Budding Artists Seek Inspiration From Petersburg

By Shura Collinson — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

Ten British schoolchildren visited St. Petersburg this week as part of a program for budding artists organized by British portrait painter Alexander Talbot Rice.

Medvedev Targets Kremlin’s Olympian Graft

By Natalya Krainova — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered Prosecutor General Yury Chaika to investigate possible Kremlin corruption linked to the 2014 Sochi Olympics — and issued the handwritten order on a copy of the opposition-minded newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

President Widens Powers Of The FSB

By Mansur Mirovalev — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:18:08 GMT

MOSCOW — Russia has broadened the authority of the Federal Security Service, the KGB’s main successor agency, giving it Soviet-style repressive powers in a move critics say could be used to stifle protests and intimidate government opponents.

Uzbek Women Accuse State of Mass Sterilizations

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:11:33 GMT

GULISTAN, Uzbekistan — Saodat Rakhimbayeva says she wishes she had died with her newborn baby. The 24-year-old housewife had a Caesarean section in March and gave birth to Ibrohim, a premature boy who died three days later.