TODAY: United Russia sweep polls at regional elections; accusation of vote-rigging fly.  Mitvol receives unusual delivery.  Medvedev had no time for Yushchenko at CIS summit; positive on Obama's peace prize; Ecuador looking for weapons deals?; Russia bids to host World CupWith almost 90% of the votes counted in Moscow, the city's election Committee has reported that the United Russia party has garnered 66.10% of the vote, with the Communist Party coming in second at 13.28%, sufficient for three seats in the 35-member chamber.  Vladimir Putin's party is apparently likely to have dominated in other regions.  The Guardian reports on allegations of vote-rigging; talk of which has seen leading opposition candidates scorn Medvedev's promise to uphold ...

TODAY: Russia keeps its voting rights in Council of Europe; Lavrov says Russia wants unbiased discussions about human rights; French Foreign Minister argues Russia flouting ceasefire; Israeli diplomat makes swift exit; UK Foreign Secretary visit to ease tensions?; Scientology 1- Russia nil.At a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Sergei Lavrov has asserted that the Kremlin has not avoided discussing human rights issues with other European states, 'but that dialogue should not be politicized, it should be concrete'.  According to Bloomberg, Kouchner has said that Russia is not honoring the terms of the 'Sarkozy-Medvedev' ceasefire agreement.   Ex-Georgian parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze has blamed President Mikheil Saakashvili for last year's conflict with Russia and has affirmed ...

'We should admit, in all honesty, that direct government support of the stock market achieved nothing', President Medvedev has said in a meeting with politicians from A Just Russia.  Putin's unified property tax, is, however, worth considering.  After three years of growth, Russian bank assets have contracted for the second month in a row, and retail deposits have decreased slightly.  In April inflation dropped to 13.2%.  VTB may buy back shares from minority shareholders who bought them at its 2007 IPO.  Sedmoi Kontinent stocks have soared by about 30%, the most in the history of Moscow trading, when it was reported that French retail giant Carrefour had agreed to buy a controlling interest; the company has reportedly signed a preliminary letter of intent to buy 75%.  Aspersions are being cast upon Gaz's attempts to enter a ...