Jehovah’s Witnesses plans for stadium service in Russia blocked

Prosecutors in the northeast Russian city of Murmansk said on Friday that a planned series of Jehovah’s Witnesses services in a stadium cannot go ahead, as they contravene a law on the use of sports facilities.

The statement said that according to Russian law, sports facilities cannot be used for religious purposes. The group had signed a contract with the Murmansk Central Stadium for services from July 18-20.

In May 2007, the Murmansk branch of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which has around 800 members, clashed with the local administration when authorities refused to allocate land for the construction of a religious center in a densely-populated area of the city.

Archaeologists find 600-year-old chess piece in northwest Russia

Archaeologists in northwest Russia have discovered a chess piece dating back to the late 14th century, a spokesman for local archaeologists said on Friday.

“The king, around several centimeters tall, is made of solid wood, possibly of juniper,” the spokesman said.

The excavations are being carried out at the site of the Palace of Facets, in the Novgorod Kremlin in Veliky Novgorod. The palace is believed to be the oldest in Russia.

According to the city chronicles, chess as a competitive game emerged in Veliky Novgorod, the foremost historic city in northwest Russia, in the 13th century, but was banned in 1286 by the church.

Russian warship arrives in Norway for Northern Eagle 2008 exercise

A Russian ASW ship, the Severomorsk, arrived on Thursday in Norway’s main naval base of Haakonsvern on its way to participate in a joint U.S.-Russian naval exercise in the Barents Sea, a Navy spokesman said.

Northern Eagle 2008 is an annual naval exercise involving U.S. and Russian anti-submarine warfare ships. The ships practice maritime interdiction operations and search and rescue maneuvers. This year the exercise will also include two coast guard ships from the Norwegian navy.

Russia takes a double hit

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Tuesday was not the best of days for the Russians. Not only did the Serbian parliament usher in a new government — the most stable and pro-Western alignment the country has had since World War I — but also the United States and the Czech Republic signed a deal to install an X-band radar on Czech soil as part of an American ballistic missile defense (BMD) system.

Serbia, as a Slavic state surrounded by foes, has been a bastion of Russian influence for years. All of Serbia’s neighbors are now EU members, applicants or protectorates. And the change in Belgrade makes it likely that Serbia will firmly fall into the West and Russia will lose its last willing ally in Europe.

Serbia is surrounded by Europe, so the only means Moscow can use to seriously draw the country back into the Russian fold is to use lots of cold hard cash. The Russians may not even be too concerned about Serbia’s new government. In fact, the political shift could translate into good business for Russian investors if, through a western-oriented Serbia, they have access to the European Union. But business is hardly a substitute for the geopolitical influence that Russia previously enjoyed.