Russian governor gives final approval to skyscraper for St. Petersburg’s historic center

September 23rd, 2009 St Petersburg OKs skyscraper by Russian gas giantST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Preservationists and opposition politicians on Wednesday decried St.

August 12th, 2009 70-ton column is largest installed at WTC towerNEW YORK — Builders of the tallest office tower under construction at ground zero have set a 70-ton piece of steel into place — the largest column installed yet at the building. Three more columns are set to go up Thursday, and 24 by the fall at One World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower.

July 13th, 2009 NYC skyscraper body ID'd as missing cleaning womanNEW YORK — The New York City medical examiner has officially identified a body found in a Manhattan skyscraper as that of a missing cleaning woman. Police found the body of Eridania (ehr-ee-DAH'-nee-uh) Rodriguez in a 12th-floor air-conditioning duct on Saturday at a building near the World Trade Center site.

July 11th, 2009 WTC owners offer plan to finance 2nd skyscraperNEW YORK — The owners of ground zero have offered to partially fund the building of a second tower planned by a private developer. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it will provide $1.2 billion for a skyscraper as long as developer Larry Silverstein raises more than $600 million for it first.

July 10th, 2009 ArcelorMittal's Russian mines under threatMOSCOW — ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, could lose ownership of two West Siberian coal mines if it fails to bolster production, an Russian regional governor warned. Aman Tuleyev, who heads the Kemerovo region where the two coalmines are located, made the warning to ArcelorMittal chief executive Lakshmi Mittal in a letter posted on the government Web site Thursday.

June 25th, 2009 Judge gives final OK to bankruptcy financingNEW YORK — A bankruptcy judge says GM can have access to its full $33.3 billion in bankruptcy financing. Judge Robert Gerber gave final approval to the financing on Thursday.

June 2nd, 2009 Judge OKs use of GM bankruptcy financingNEW YORK — A bankruptcy judge says General Motors can have immediate access to $15 billion in government financing as it attempts to quickly restructure under court protection. U.S. Judge Robert Gerber gave interim approval to the Detroit-based automaker's use of a total of $33.3 billion in financing, with the $15 billion available for use over the next three weeks.

May 5th, 2009 Russian gays want parade before Eurovision finalMOSCOW — Russian gay-rights activists say they plan to hold a march and rally May 16 before the final night of the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. City authorities have banned gay pride parades in the past and Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has drawn international criticism by describing homosexuality as "satanic." Attempts to defy the bans have ended violently in some cases.

May 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet got a bird's eye-view of New York when she did a photo shoot in her underwear and a pin-striped jacket on a skyscraper rooftop. The 33-year-old also wore a slinky little black dress and stylish four-inch heels for the photo shot and posed for a series of shots for fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar, reminiscent of the famous 'Lunchtime Atop A Skyscraper' photograph of grubby '30s builders eating lunch hundreds of feet above the city streets, reports the Daily Mail online.

April 21st, 2009 MOSCOW - India will remain the main purchaser of Russian-made combat aircraft for the next 15 years under existing and prospective contracts, a Russian think tank has said. In its report titled 'The Forecast for Combat Aircraft Deliveries to India', the Center for Analysis and Technologies outlined the prospects for Russian-Indian cooperation.

February 13th, 2009 PATTAYA - India's Sania Mirza powered into the final of Pattaya Open tennis after defeating eighth-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia here Saturday. Unseeded Sania, ranked 126, lost the second set but came back with vengeance in the decider to win 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

February 7th, 2009 RANCHI - Security agencies in Jharkhand propose roping in villagers through inducement of rewards up to Rs.1.2 million to help in capturing Maoist rebels in the state, police here said. 'The proposal has been sent to the governor's house for final approval.

January 20th, 2009 MOSCOW - An opinion poll has shown that two- thirds of Russians believe that the embalmed body of the Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin should be removed from its mausoleum on Red Square and buried. Lenin's body has been on public display in a glass case in downtown Moscow since his death Jan 21, 1924.

January 9th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Saturday gave its approval to a European Union (EU) proposal for international observers to monitor Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine. An agreement to this effect was signed as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Czech Premier Mirek Topolanek - acting in his EU presidency capacity - looked on.

December 29th, 2008 MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday signed into law a bill extending presidential terms form four to six years, the Kremlin said. Medvedev's final endorsement of the constitutional amendment follows rapid legislative approval by both houses of Russian parliament as well as 83 regional chambers.