VLADIMIR PUTIN

Russia and China bolstered their close but increasingly imbalanced relationship on Tuesday when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ushered through a tentative gas supply agreement and deals worth $3.5 billion.

President Dmitry Medvedev faced a test of his pledge to boost Russian democracy on Sunday when polls opened for 30 million voters in regional elections the opposition says have been rigged.

Norway's Telenor and Russian partner Alfa Group have agreed to merge their Russian and Ukrainian holdings into a New-York listed mobile operator worth over $23 billion, ending one of the longest ever Russian corporate wars.

Norway's Telenor and its key partner in Russia, the Alfa Group, will pool their Russian and Ukrainian holdings into a New-York listed mobile operator, ending one of the longest corporate wars Russia has ever seen.

Alexander Afanasyev, a veteran worker at Russia's largest car plant, fears he could one day be stabbed by a friend.

The four cities bidding for the prize honor of hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics began three intensive days of lobbying on Tuesday with the Obama factor looming large ahead of Friday's vote by the IOC.

Chess legends Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov reignite one of the greatest rivalries in the history of chess this week with a re-match of their classic 1984 world championship contest.

General Electric Co, the largest U.S. conglomerate, will prioritise Asia and resource rich countries like Russia, GE's Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said on Friday.

NATO proposed a new era of cooperation with the United States and Russia on Friday, calling for joint work on missile defense systems after Washington scrapped a planned anti-missile system.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday that General Motors made the right decision to sell a 55 percent stake in Opel to a group led by Canada's Magna.

Russia's Vladimir Putin on Friday gave his strongest indication yet that he may run again for the presidency at the next election in 2012.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday he had not yet decided whether to run for president in 2012 when Dmitry Medvedev's current term ends.

Israeli media reports said on Wednesday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited Moscow on Monday in a bid to dissuade Russia from selling weapons to Iran.

(Corrects story published on May 27 to clarify in the second paragraph that Gunvor is handling 30-40 percent of oil exports from firms like Rosneft, not the bulk of exports)

Musicians from 40 countries gathered in the heart of former Nazi-occupied Poland on Tuesday to mark the outbreak of World War Two with a concert to persuade people making music is better than waging war.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rebuffed criticism on Tuesday of Moscow's role just before World War Two during ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland.

Russia's largest lender, state-run Sberbank, will lend power major RusHydro 20 billion rubles ($626.2 million) to help it repair a power station crippled in an accident last week.

Three suspects in the murder of journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya went on trial for a second time in Moscow Wednesday as supporters questioned the authorities' will and ability to solve the case.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plunged into the depths of Lake Baikal aboard a mini-submersible on Saturday in a mission that adds a new dimension to his macho image.

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom hopes this year to agree with U.S. energy major ExxonMobil Corp over gas supplies to a new far eastern pipeline, a senior Gazprom executive said on Friday.

A spoof song which makes fun of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's hard man image as the savior of Russia's battered economy has been winning fans on the Internet.