POLITICS

The Russian presidential affairs department does not rule out that a parliamentary center and a government quarter may be built near the Kremlin to save officials travel time.

(Kommersant)

Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Regional Development Minister Oleg Govorun, whom he had publicly chided a month earlier, and appointed the former governor of Kostroma, Igor Slyunyayev, in his stead.

(The Moscow Times)

DEFENSE

NATO considers Russia, China and Iran the key potential cyber aggressors, sources in NATO's headquarters said.

(Kommersant)

At a meeting of the commission on Russia’s military and technical cooperation with other countries, President Vladimir Putin has criticized political bans on arms supplies, saying only the UN Security Council may restrict weapons deliveries.

(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

State oil company Rosneft may become the 100-percent ownder of TNK-BP’s stock. The company nearly agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in TNK-BP from BP and is considering the buyout of the remaining shares from Russian co-owners – the AAR consortium.

(Kommersant)

SOCIETY

Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched criminal proceedings against opposition activists Sergei Udaltsov and Konstantin Lebedev following a video film aired on NTV that claimed Udaltsov had been planning provocations in Russia on foreign nationals’ money.

(Kommersant)

A car linked to Defense Minster Anatoly Serdyukov was involved in a pileup of about 10 vehicles on Bolshoi Krasnokholmsky Bridge on downtown Moscow’s Garden Ring.

(The Moscow Times)

Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has criticized the ministry reform started in 2010 in an address to the lower house of parliament.

(Kommersant)

Following an earlier initiative to introduce registration by passport in social networks, Senator Alexei Pimanov proposed legally giving all public internet resources the status of mass media. State Duma deputies have different attitudes toward the proposal.

(Kommersant)

City Hall will establish 60 websites aimed at fighting extremism and nationalism, a source in the interregional cooperation department said.

(Izvestiya)

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