POLITICS

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law obliging labor immigrants who arrived from countries enjoying the visa-free regime with Russia to pass an exam in the Russian language. Experts said the move might lead to corruption.

(Kommersant)

Amendments expanding the legal definition of treason came into effect despite a presidential pledge that the clause would be reconsidered.

(The Moscow Times)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to mend serious rifts in mutual ties during her short visit to Moscow on Friday, while at the same time telling President Vladimir Putin that the crackdown on the opposition is going too far.

(The Moscow Times)

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has attended a forest summit in Finland during a short visit. Talks in Helsinki were dedicated to problems connected with the economic and social integration between Russia and the European Union. Finland proposes Russian companies invest in its forest sector.

(Kommersant)

Gazprom has signed an asset swap agreement with Germany’s Wintershall. In exchange for two sections at the Urengoy oil, gas and condensate field, the Russian energy giant will receive three European companies and a package in an oil and gas project in the North Sea.

(Vedomosti)

DEFENSE

Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has been appointed an adviser to Russian Technologies Corp. head Sergei Chemezov. The scope of his activity has not been defined yet.

(Kommersant)

ENVIRONMENT

Activists plan to protest the construction of a luxury hotel in downtown Moscow's Komsomolsky Avenue because they fear a unique garden nearby may be destroyed by builders.

(Moskovskiye Novosti)

IT

Russian users who knew the emails of well-known bloggers hacked their Skype accounts due to a vulnerability in the popular internet phone service.

(Vedomosti)

SOCIETY

Russia's Central Election Commission ruled that all parliamentary parties were given equal access to TV and radio airtime in October.

(Kommersant)

The Constitutional Court will have to choose between the positions of experts and departments regarding a controversial new law toughening punishment for violation of rules during rallies. Experts say the law “distorted the very essence of the constitutional right to gather peacefully,” but the Prosecutor General’s office and the Justice Ministry see no irregularity.

(Kommersant)

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