POLITICS
President Vladimir Putin urged peace and inter-ethnic harmony during a working visit to the Muslim republic of Tatarstan on Tuesday, where he presented state awards to two high-ranking local muftis targeted in an apparent terrorist operation last month
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
A French-initiated extraordinary session of the UN Security Council on the situation in Syria may fail as many council members, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, decided not to attend
(Kommersant)
President Vladimir Putin's expensive taste is one of his "most serious reasons for holding on to power," according to a report authored by two of his harshest critics
(The Moscow Times)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Volkswagen plans to build a car engine manufacturing plant in Kaluga
(Vedomosti)
When President Vladimir Putin flew to Mexico for the G20 summit in June this year, it is unlikely he was plotting to use his visit to grow the Russian market for tortillas
(The Moscow Times)
Russia will diversify its currently-Eurocentric foreign trade to ensure 50 percent of it comes from countries of the Asian-Pacific region, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta, The Moscow Times)
France's Auchan hypermarket chain plans to launch its first Auchan Drive outlet in Moscow next year, where customers can pick up goods ordered on-line
(Vedomosti)
OIL & GAS
Russian officials insist that energy giant Gazprom must increase its efficiency or by 2016 it may face big problems in Europe, when shale gas exports from the United States become available
(Vedomosti)
Greenpeace activists have left the vicinity of the Prirazlomnaya oil rig, bringing to an end a five-day standoff at Gazprom’s pioneering ice-class oil platform
(The Moscow Times)
CRIME
A spiritual leader of Dagestan Muslims, Sheikh Said Afandi, and five other people were killed in a blast carried out by a female suicide bomber in the Dagestan settlement of Chirkey
(Kommersant)
Three militants were killed and several detained on Tuesday in a large-scale security operation in the town of Malgobek in Russia's southern republic of Ingushetia. The militants are thought to be behind the terrorist attack on a funeral for slain policement on August 19
(Kommersant)
A regional court in Smolensk sentenced Russian opposition activist Taisiya Osipova to eight years in prison on drug possession charges
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, The Moscow Times)
CULTURE
A group of Orthodox Christian activists accompanied by an NTV camera crew burst into a Pussy Riot theater event and scolded those present
(The Moscow Times)
SPORTS
Vedad Ibisevic made the difference again with a goal as VfB Stuttgart reached the Europa League group stage with a 3-1 aggregate win over Dynamo Moscow, after a fiercely-contested 1-1 draw in the second leg win in Russia
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
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