POLITICS
The Russian parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, will debate on Friday on the issue of stripping parliamentary immunity from Russian opposition MP Gennady Gudkov
(Vedomosti, Kommersant)
President Vladimir Putin invited Masha Gessen, fired from her job as editor of the Vokrug Sveta magazine last week for refusing to cover his hang-gliding stunt with cranes, to the Kremlin and offered to help her get her job back, but the opposition-minded journalist refused
(The Moscow Times)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
The Russian Economic Development Ministry prepared a draft law that could enable Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev control expansion of state companies
(Vedomosti)
An interview with Bruno Balvanera, a Mexican banker who has been promoting investments in Russia for much of the past 16 years, is not afraid of paperwork
(The Moscow Times)
According to a pollster, 72 percent of Russian support the idea of forming the Customs Union
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
OIL & GAS
Ukraine has submitted an application to purchase just 24.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russian gas giant Gazprom in 2013, down from 52 bcm contracted for 2012
(Kommersant)
WORLD
Protests against an anti-Islam film made in the United States have spread from Libya to several countries across the Middle East, including Egypt and Yemen, where demonstrations turned into violent clashes with police on Thursday
(Kommersant)
The European Parliament adopted a resolution that reflects its grave concern about "the deteriorating climate" for the development of civil society in Russia and refers to the recent legislation on demonstrations, NGOs, defamation and the Internet.
(Kommersant)
SOCIETY
Russia’s chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko says that members of the parliament involved in tobacco and alcohol production business should be expulled from the legislative body
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Going shopping in Russia may no longer be as unpredictable as it was in the 1990s, but modern-day retail is also not immune from some of the Soviet-era glitches
(The Moscow Times)
CRIME
Police in Moscow have detained members of a criminal gang on suspicion of trying to seize state property worth some 10 billion rubles ($311 million)
(Kommersant)
A prosecutor has lodged an appeal against the eight-year jail term handed down to Russian opposition activist Taisiya Osipova saying that the “unreasonable and unjust" sentence should be overturned
(Kommersant)
For more details on all the news in Russia today, visit our website at http://en.ria.ru
