World Headlines: Issue #1689(51), Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The St. Petersburg Times Issue #1689(51), Wednesday, December 28, 2011
LOCAL NEWS
Numbers Down, Rallies Meet With Mixed Results		'Pearl Ensign' Avoids Time in Prison
	The Moscow anti-electoral fraud rally held as part of national campaign of protests on Saturday, was reported as having attracted even more people than the Dec. 10 demo estimated as more than 100,000, but the St. Read the story...		A former police officer was given a suspended sentence for beating up and insulting political protesters on camera last year, Interfax reported Monday. The defense and plaintiffs both promised to appeal, but Solidarity activist Alexei Ivanov, who testified in the hearings, called the verdict fair — a significant victory, given that the country's courts are widely alleged to be biased toward law enforcement. Read the story...
NATIONAL NEWS
Kremlin Keeps Silent on New Massive Protest		Kostenko Loses Release Appeal
	MOSCOW — Organizers of last weekend's anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow, allegedly the biggest street protest since 1993, were divided on whether they could press authorities into cooperating. Anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny wrote on his LiveJournal blog that "inhabitants of the Kremlin declared readiness to evolve for the sake of survival. Read the story...	The appeal court on Monday refused to free Filipp Kostenko, who — after serving 15 days in prison — was sentenced to another 15 days last week in what his lawyer describes as a "political reprisal." Originally, Kostenko, an activist and employee of the human rights organization Memorial Anti-Discrimination Center, was arrested amid spontaneous protests against the electoral fraud near Gostiny Dvor on Dec. Read the story...
Udaltsov Given New Jail Term
MOSCOW — Radical opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov will meet the new year in a Moscow prison, a city judge decreed in a ruling that sparked protests outside the courtroom. The new 10-day jail term for Udaltsov appeared to be a bad political move, fueling anti-Kremlin sentiment that is still riding high after a record protest rally on Prospekt Akademika Sakharova last weekend. Read the story...
NATIONAL BUSINESS
Ferrero's Spanish Director Leads With the Heart
	MOSCOW — Arturo Cardelus has spent hundreds of hours on Russian lessons in the eight years since he moved to Moscow to build up the local operations of Ferrero, the Italian family-owned chocolate giant. Read the story...
OPINION
Putin's Halcyon Days Are Over		always a dissident: Why Russia No Longer Emulates the U.S.
	In 2007, right before he stepped down after his second term in office, then-President Vladimir Putin was at the height of his political career, enjoying ratings of 80 percent. Since then, however, Putin's popularity has dropped significantly. Read the story...	Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has declared that those who participated in the recent wave of protests against rigged State Duma elections were encouraged and paid for by the United States. I don't know whether Putin was misinformed or misled others, but there is not an iota of truth in these assertions, just as it is patently untrue that the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine was engineered by former U. Read the story...
CULTURE
Girls on top		Vysotsky Recreated for First Biopic
	Iva Nova, a local all-women band that blends Slavic folk, punk and avant-rock into a wild, danceable mix, is preparing to perform its traditional New Year concert on January 1. This passing year brought a number of new songs and a video. Read the story...		MOSCOW — Thirty-one years after Vysotsky's death during the Moscow Olympics, the first-ever biopic has made it to the screen, drawing crowds, controversy and some displeasure from fans of one of the most revered artists in the Soviet Union. Read the story...
in the spotlight: Back to the Grindstone		THE DISH: Magnolia
	This week, the State Duma opened for business with the new deputies including actress Maria Kozhevnikova, 27, who once posed for Playboy and this year was voted Russia's sexiest woman by the readers of men's magazine Maxim. Read the story...	Gorgeous Georgia It should immediately be admitted that our attempt to get a feel for this relatively new Georgian on the Petrograd Side was hampered by one of those horrific events that assails Petersburg at this time of year. Read the story...
FEATURES
Journeying to Father Frost's Hometown
	The Russian north has always held a fairy-tale appeal for its wooden architecture, historical monuments and expanses of forest, marshland and lakes. Nestled in the northeastern corner of the Vologda region, the town of Veliky Ustyug is no exception. Read the story...