A while back we pointed to the Twitter feed of Russia's Amb. to NATO Dmitry Rogozin.  Today it looks like he has launched a personal assault on Radoslav Sikorski, the Polish MFA (everybody is just so prickly around this Berlin Wall anniversary).  I put Dima's tweets in chronological order to better understand his thought process:@Rogozin  Polish FM Sikorsky gave a very strange interview. Hu suggested demolishing the Stalin-style House of Science and Culture in centre of Warsaw about 6 hours ago from web ...

Sealed Air Corporation (SEE) recently reported its third quarter results. The company posted earnings of 38 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate 33 cents as well as prior-year EPS of 28 cents. Through its stringent cost-control measures and global manufacturing strategy, the company managed to offset the impact of lower sales on its earnings. The company’s global manufacturing strategy, along with its cost reduction program, resulted in approximately $20 million in savings during the quarter. Sealed Air is pursuing a multi-year global manufacturing strategy to revitalize its bottom line. The company plans to build manufacturing plants close to the markets it serves, with the bulk of production being transferred overseas. Under the first phase of this strategy, the company expects to realize cumulative savings of around $45.0 million in 2009 and $55.0 million in 2010. Apart from its global manufacturing strategy, the company ...

The International Energy Agency increased its forecast for 2010 global oil demand as the pace of economic recovery in Asia and the Middle East quickens, but has apparently cautioned that rising oil prices could jeopardize the green shoots of recovery. President Medvedev called for an end to Russia's 'humiliating' dependence on commodities in yesterday's state of the nation speech, whilst it is rebounding oil prices that are palliating Russia's current economic problems. Gazprom plans to increase its investment program by 5% next year, to $27.94 billion. The heads of the Russian state giant and Naftogaz are to meet to discuss the Ukrainian company's parlous financial status and issues related to the November supply of gas. Russia will apparently produce next-generation nuclear reactors and new types of nuclear fuel by 2014. Gazprom has confirmed plans ...

TODAY: Medvedev's state of the nation address warns opposition against using democracy to rock the boat; talks up modernization. Media unconvinced President can match word with deed. Topol-M problem for START replacement talks;  Litvinenko suspect Lugovoi willing to speak to London prosecutors?; is Russia really cracking down on nationalists; Putin world's third most powerful according to ForbesIn President Medvedev's second state-of-the-nation address, highlights of which can be found here, he warned opposition politicians not to use democracy as a way to 'destabilize the state and split society'. The fact that the speech emphasized long-term goals, related to cutting time zones, technology and industrial modernization, heralds a call for re-election argues one analyst, quoted in the Moscow ...

Twenty years ago this week, the Berlin Wall fell and in doing so, set off a string of momentous events that in short order saw the reunification of Germany, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and freedoms and democracy spread across a long-oppressed part of the world. Few events in modern history have had such a significant impact on the lives of so many people, but momentum for the wallrsquo;s fall began years earlier. A member of our investment team who grew up in Poland points out the important role played by Polish leader Lech Walesa, the shipyard electrician who led the Solidarity labor movement that drew support from around the world. Solidarityrsquo;s success in creating the first free trade union behind the Iron Curtain weakened the regionrsquo;s Communist governments and won Walesa the Nobel Peace Prize. Walesa, later Polandrsquo;s first post-Communist president, was in Berlin this week to tip over the first ...

This in from the Wall Street Journal on the somewhat disturbing, political dimensions of Russia's Nord Stream pipeline.  Approved just last week by Finland and Sweden after ecological concerns were overcome, the project is now ready to get off the ground, or rather under the ground.  For the pipeline will traverse the Baltic Sea floor to Germany, rather than crossing overground through former Eastern bloc countries; a divisive move, Alexandro Peterson suggests:[ . . . ] The Nord Stream project is part of an exclusionary agreement between Moscow and Berlin--nicknamed in circumvented Warsaw the "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact," after the 1939 Soviet-Nazi deal to carve up Poland. It would have been much cheaper to build an overland pipeline ...

German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom (DT) announced results for third-quarter 2009 with reported earnings per ADS of 31 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 25 cents. Net income of €959 million (US$1.4 billion) reflects a 7.2% increase from €895 million (US$1.3 billion) reported a year ago.   This year-over-year growth was fueled by the company’s ongoing cost-cutting initiatives under the "Save for Service" program. Total savings from this program reached approximately €5.4 billion (US$7.7 billion) at the end of the quarter, exceeding the annual savings target of up to €4.7 billion (US$6.7 billion) originally expected to be achieved in 2010.   Group Revenue & EBITDA   Reported revenues of €16.3 billion (US$23.2 billion) reflects 5.2% year-over-year growth, primarily due to the consolidation of Greek operator OTE group, in which Deutsche Telekom holds a 30% stake. Domestic revenues grew 0.6% year over year to €7.2 billion (US$10.3 billion), ...

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is apparently 'astonished' to hear that Poland's Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, asked NATO and the US to deploy troops in Europe to provide 'some strategic reassurance', on a recent visit to Washington.  Since the scrapping of the US Bush-designed missile defense scheme which would have seen troops deployed in Poland and Czech Republic, the former has apparently been feeling vulnerable . . . Kim Zigfeld points out on Pyjamas Media that Russia's recent war 'games', which simulated a full scale pipeline-sabotaging missile-battering attack of Poland, taking place in the same month that seventy years earlier Russia did actually invade, is hardly likely to reassure the Poles of the ...

TODAY: Markelov murder suspect reportedly confesses; vengeance a possible motive?  Activist abducted in Moscow.  Spy chief issues warning on Georgia; Lavrov surprised at Poland soliciting US help.  Medvedev reserves army use for emergencies. Luzhkov lays into Abramovich; new vodka pricing; toy story. The Moscow Times reports that revenge may be the motive behind the shooting of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov.  Apparently the alleged gunman Nikita Tikhonov may have been a suspect in the stabbing of anti-fascist activist Alexander Ryukhin in 2006, whose mother Markelov was a lawyer for.  The other suspect, Eugenia Khasis, 24, appears to have no prior convictions.  Apparently the killer has confessed - the Other Russia reporting it to be ...

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) reported earnings of 89 cents in the third quarter of 2009, up 16% from the year-ago period and a cent above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Strong sales of Copaxone and in the respiratory business helped drive earnings in the reported quarter. Net sales increased 25% to $3.55 billion, with the Barr acquisition contributing to sales across different geographical segments. The strengthening U.S. dollar adversely impacted net sales by $160 million or 6%. Revenue performance across key business segments was mixed. While the Pharmaceuticals Sales segment posted growth of 27% with revenues coming in at $3.4 billion, the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) segment reported an 8% decline in growth with sales coming in at $136 million. Pharmaceutical segment sales were driven by strong performances in the North American, European and International segments. The launch of generic versions of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo ...