Obama’s visit to Moscow is getting coverage in all of the Russian and US press. The Moscow Times says that the Russian government is eagerly rolling out the red carpet. A deal is expected on the reduction of nuclear arms, another on the transport of US military equipment through Russian territory to Afghanistan. Despite there being major differences in particular over Russian troops in Georgia, it seems every effort is being made to make the trip go smoothly.

The New York Times says that the Russian media has toned down its usual Anti-American rhetoric in tune with the Kremlin in recent months. Opinion polls are showing a slight thaw in Russian perceptions of the US. The Russian media is usually virilantly Anti-American.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, 80% of Russians had a positive view of the US. This May, those figures show just 38% with a positive view. The Russian state and media has taken very negative views of the US role in Yeltsin era economic reforms which were disastrous, the wars in Yugoslavia and Iraq and the eastward expansion of NATO. The last few months have left commentators in a sort of waiting period as they watch for concrete change in America’s Russia policy.

The Singaporian news portal AsiaOne is reporting on the violently repressed riots in the Chinese region of Urumqui on Sunday. It says that Chinese state television broadcast images today of what it said were deadly riots in the capital of the Xinjiang province. The report blamed this violence on members of the Muslim Uighur ethnic group who have long chafed at Chinese rule, says AsiaOne. Chinese television seems to have selectively broadcast footage showing protestors throwing stones at police etc. The report blamed exiled Uighurs for stirring the violence but in an emailed statement from these exiled leaders, they say Chinese security forces had overreacted in quelling peaceful protests.
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Pakistan Daily carries an article saying Michael Jackson is proof that the Muslim World doesn’t want war with America. It speaks about the paradox of Anti-American sentiment yet the popularity of American culture in the Muslim world. Michael Jackson took Central Asia and the Muslim World by storm in the 1980s despite US foreign policy. “Two things made America more influential and awe inspiring than any other nation on the face of the earth: cowboy movies and Michael Jackson.” There’s no empirical study to back up these claims but the paradox mentioned is worth noting!

Bloomberg has the latest on the Bulgarian elections. The opposition Gerb Party founded by Sofia’s Mayor has beaten the ruling Socialist Party. They have promised to root out corruption and drag the EU’s poorest country out of its worst economic slump in 11 years. It advocates a loan from the IMF as has already happened in Romania, Hungary, the Ukraine and Latvia.

The Sofia News Agency Novinite reports that a local mafia boss Plamen Galev failed to get elected to Parliament in this election. It had been predicted that he would win a seat. Galev is said to hold the citizens of his town on a leash – emotionally and financially. He and his girlfriend were in custody recently on numerous charges. If elected Galev would have been free from prosecution for the four year term.

The Times of London reports research from the University of South Florida which says caffeine may delay the progress of Alzheimer’s. A daily dose can suppress the degenerative processes in the brain that lead to confusion. This was demonstrated through a study on mice. The test was carried out on 55 mice who had been genetically engineered to develop dementia similar to that suffered by Alzheimer’s patients. Half of the mice studied were given the equivalent dose of 6 expressos a day. After two months, the caffeine-drinking mice were performing far better in memory tests than their uncaffeinated counterparts!