Russia

29 October 2007 -- Russian prosecutors say a safety breach has caused a radiation leak at a nuclear reprocessing plant in the Ural mountains.

Local officials say a valve believed to be defective allowed radiation to leak from a tank that was holding radioactive liquid waste. The incident occurred on Thursday as the tank was being transported between units of the Mayak plant, near Yekaterinburg.

Prosecutors called the incident a flagrant breach of safety rules in waste transportation.    » read more »

October 14, 2007 -- ESPN Classic will televise the exclusive replay of Sultan Ibragimov's victory over Evander Holyfield Saturday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m., ET. Ibragimov scored a 12-round unanimous decision over Holyfield to remain the WBO Heavyweight Champion Saturday at the Khodynka Arena in Moscow, Russia.

Sultan Ibragimov remained undefeated at 22-0-1 while Holyfield's bid to become heavyweight champ for the fifth time in his career fell short.    » read more »

MOSCOW, Oct. 11, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived in Moscow tonight to join Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in meetings with top Russian leaders.

Gates left Washington yesterday evening, stopping first in London for several hours to meet with British Prime Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Defense Desmond Brown. The U.S. and British leaders primarily addressed ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.    » read more »

Partners Name Board of Directors, Management Team

MEMPHIS, Tenn. and ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire - FirstCall/ -- International Paper (NYSE: IP) and Ilim Holding S.A. have completed the previously announced formation of a 50:50 joint venture, the largest foreign- domestic alliance in the Russian forest sector. The joint venture will operate as Ilim Group (Ilim).    » read more »

04 October 2007 -- Russian authorities say construction workers in Moscow have found the remains of at least 34 people who may have been killed during the brutal dictatorship of Joseph Stalin.

Workers restoring a 19th century building found the skeletons and a rusted pistol Wednesday under a basement floor.

Moscow city police examining the scene say the remains appear to date back to the 1930's, and the skulls indicate some of the people had been shot in the head.    » read more »

Oct. 3, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos have agreed to fly two Russian scientific instruments on NASA spacecraft that will conduct unprecedented robotic missions to the moon and Mars.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov signed agreements in Moscow on Oct. 3 to add the instruments to two future missions: the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled to launch in October 2008, and the Mars Science Laboratory, an advanced robotic rover scheduled to launch in 2009.    » read more »

Washington, D.C. -- September 27, 2007 -- Steps by the Russian government to restrict opposition political parties and civil society activity over the past two years is substantially constraining the country’s political process in advance of December’s parliamentary elections, according to a new report released by Freedom House.    » read more »

23 September 2007 -- The United States will host Russia in the Davis Cup tennis World Group final in November, after the U.S. defeated Sweden 4-1 in Goteburg and Russia held off Germany 3-2 in Moscow.

Andy Roddick served 16 aces Sunday to beat host-Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 to clinch a semifinal victory. James Blake beat Simon Aspelin of Sweden, 6-1, 6-3, in a dead-rubber match to make the final in the best-of-five series, 4-1. The Americans will be hosting the final for the first time since 1992.    » read more »

20 September 2007 -- Estonia has refused permission for a geological survey in its territorial waters for a proposed gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea. But the Russian-German project will likely proceed with an alternate route.    » read more »

18 September 2007 -- Colombian cyclist Leonardo Duque has won the 16th stage of the Tour of Spain while Denis Menchov of Russia retained the overall lead.

Leonardo Duque edged Russia's Alexander Kolobnev and Joan Horrach of Spain to win Tuesday's 161.5-kilometer stage, from Jaen to Puertollano in 4:39:00. Alexander Kolobnev was second and Joan Horrach took third place, both credited with the same time.    » read more »

05 September 2007 (By VOA Sports) -- Seven-time Formula One driving champion Michael Schumacher of Germany has been named this year's winner of the Prince of Asturias award for sports.

The retired 38-year-old German, who finished his career with Ferrari in 2006, was chosen out of 18 candidates from 10 countries. Among those considered were Russian pole vault world champion Yelena Isinbayeva and tennis aces Rafael Nadal of Spain and Roger Federer of Switzerland.

The award, given by Spain's Prince of Asturias Foundation, named for Crown Prince Felipe,l lives.    » read more »

Sixth-Seeded American James Blake Ousted

03 September 2007 (By VOA Sports) -- Former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick of the United States has reached the quarterfinal round in the men's draw of this year's tournament in New York.

The fifth-seeded Andy Roddick, the men's winner in 2003, advanced past number nine Tomas Berdych Monday when his Czech opponent retired while trailing, 7-6, 2-0.    » read more »

02 September 2007 (VOA Sports) -- Defending U.S. Open tennis champion and second seed Maria Sharapova of Russia has become the first big upset of this year's tournament in New York.

Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska shocked Maria Sharapova, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Another seeded Russian also fell in third-round play Saturday when unseeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary downed number seven Nadia Petrova (6-4, 6-4).

Other seeded women ousted Saturday include two Swiss players: number 11 Patty Schnyder and number 16 Martina Hingis.    » read more »

01 September 2007, Osaka, Japan (By David Byrd) -- The United States has won the gold medals in the men's and women's relay while an American took the pole vault title at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan. VOA's David Byrd was trackside and has this report on the action.

Tyson Gay of the United States won his third world championship gold medal this week. Gay, who won the men's 100-meter and 200-meters titles, was the third runner in the U.S. 4x100 men's relay.    » read more »

31 August 2007, Osaka, Japan (By David Byrd) -- Some of the marquee names in athletics take the track Friday night as competition continues at the World Athletics championships in Osaka, Japan. As VOA's David Byrd reports, Americans will try to win medals in at least three events.

Defending women's 200-meter champion Alyson Felix of the United States wants another gold medal. Felix, the top ranked runner in the 200-meters race the past two years, won her semifinal Thursday in 22.21 seconds.    » read more »