The presidential election in Ukraine will most likely end with another huge fight. Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russia candidate, the leader of the Party of the Regions, is less than three percent ahead of Ukraine’s sitting Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. All international observers from the OSCE, PACE and other Western institutions acknowledged that the presidential vote in Ukraine did not violate any international democratic standards. The media already refer to Yanukovych as Ukraine’s next president

As NATO gets ready for a massive troop surge in Helmand Province, the local population flees ahead of what both sides promise to be the Mother of All Firefights. The Taleban have sneered at NATO’s warning to move away or lay down arms in this important bastion, the center of the drugs trade which finances their operations and promise a bloodbath. But is it really necessary?

The Russian economy has been having dizzy ups and downs during the recent years. The main reason for such a fluctuation is Russia’s dependence on raw materials, presumably crude and natural gas. Russia successfully avoided an economic disaster, though. The basic part of the economic infrastructure and the banking system of the nation were preserved

Rumor has it that Timothy Geithner is on his way out as Treasury Secretary, due to his involvement in the AIG scandal that is now unraveling in hearings before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. But unlike the perpetrators of the Watergate scandal, who wound up looking at jail time, Geithner evidently has a golden parachute waiting at Goldman Sachs, not coincidentally the largest recipient of the AIG bailout

Psychologists believe that residents of large cities lose their human nature and turn into selfish, indifferent urban monsters. In reality, residents of Tokyo demonstrate that metropolises are full of romantics. Their tradition, similar to Valentine’s Day, is a good example for the rest of us because it serves as collective psychotherapy

If you are tired of eating frozen strawberries and cherries, give tropical fruits a try. They may be not only a great dessert, but a cure for many diseases. Cardiovascular problems, cholesterol, liver diseases, skin diseases - all of these and many other illnesses can be cured with tropical fruit

Western Museums are brimming with cultural heritage…from other countries. The Elgin Marbles are just one set of tens of thousands of artefacts looted from distant lands during colonial or imperialist times. However, the same desecration of cultural heritage continues. How many of the 13,000 artefacts stolen from Baghdad National Museum are today in the United States of America?

The police of the republic of Khakassia (Russia's Siberia),  are investigating the death of a married couple. Investigators found the couple’s two-year-old son next to the dead bodies. The police reported that the young woman died of knife injuries, and her common-law husband killed himself afterwards, hanging himself on the refrigerator handle