POLITICS
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton asked her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to bring home the idea to the Iranian authorities that talks between Iran and the Six international intermediaries are the last chance for Tehran to avoid war.
(Kommersant)
Politicians and analysts expect a major reshuffle of the government when president-elect Vladimir Putin takes office in May, with a new Cabinet possibly including members of the systemic opposition.
(The Moscow Times)
The presidential council on civil society development and human rights will draft a report on the March 4 presidential elections by the end of the month.
(Kommersant)
The Obama administration will not support any human rights or democracy legislation in exchange for Congress repealing the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment, the U.S. envoy to Russia said.
(The Moscow Times)
Outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev presented a bill on control over state employees’ expenditures. Property will be taken away from officials who are unable to explain the sources of money for apartments and vehicles.
(Kommersant)
The Justice Ministry has received 68 new applications to form political parties, a State Duma deputy said.
(The Moscow Times)
Syria’s opposition has for the first time openly called for foreign military intervention.
(Kommersant)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Aeroflot, the first buyer of the Sukhoi SuperJet, is receiving compensation from the liner’s manufacturer, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, for losses incurred due to downtime resulting from technical problems with the aircraft.
(The Moscow Times)
Alexander Shokhin, the president of Russia’s Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, voiced his proposals on luxury tax: the new tax should be applied to owners of real estate worth over 50 million rubles ($1.7 million) and vehicles worth more than 3.5 million rubles ($118,700).
(Vedomosti)
First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov is proposing a clampdown on offshore business, putting his weight behind draft legislation to widen the tax authorities' power to prevent illegal offshore financial activities.
(The Moscow Times)
SOCIETY
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin discussed a possible new use for webcams installed at polling stations in schools. The broadband internet the schools got during the web camera installation campaign may be used to broadcast education programs.
(Kommersant)
IT
Yandex launched a free navigation application for owners of mobile phones with iOS and Android operating systems.
(Vedomosti)
CRIME
License plates from some 20 cars owned by foreigners were stolen in Moscow overnight.
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
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