Global warming was in the news this week in Russia. The Voice of America and several other news sources are reporting that a Russian naval expedition is headed to the North Pole to secure Russia's rights to oil and natural gas under the Arctic Ocean. The VOA says that while an icebreaker is now sailing ahead of the research ship, global warming is melting the Arctic ice, which would make it easier to drill for oil in the region. The Russians apparently want to prove that a large area of the Arctic is actually an extension of continental Russia and, hence under their sovereignty. The U.S. considers it international territory; Denmark believes it is an extension of North America.

Russia's energy needs were also in focus on Thursday, when a natural gas pipeline exploded outside St. Petersburg. Russian officials said there were no casualties, and blamed the blast on the poor condition of the pipe. Reuters said half of St. Petersburg's 5 million residents could see the flames from the explosion.

In business news, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia should become a world leader in information technology--and do it by 2015. According to Kommersant, Russia’s IT and communications minister pledged to get phone service to every Russian village by late 2009, and to start working on Internet connections the following year. Separately, Putin also signed a bill this week creating Rosnanotekh, a government-owned nanotechnology company.

The world's leading video game maker, California-based Electronic Arts unveiled a Moscow-based subsidiary. According to a report in a video game news site, the company said the new Russia office will do more to tailor games to Russian players' interests, starting with Need for Speed and FIFA Football, two top-selling titles in Russia.

Russian vodka, American owner? It could happen according to the Economic Times of India. A company called Central European Distribution Corp., which has its legal base in the U.S., is eyeing a majority stake in Russia’s Parliament Group. The latter controls 2% of the Russian vodka market, but the paper says Diageo, Bacardi-Martini and Campari have been mulling a bid for its spirits operations. CEDC is reportedly the high bidder so far.

And finally, this disturbing survey: 54% of Russia's teenagers believe Josef Stalin did "more good than bad." Forty-six percent of the teenagers told Russian pollsters that they disagreed with the statement that "Stalin was a cruel tyrant." The kids might want to take a refresher course through Wikipedia: The Soviet dictator's actions are believed to have caused the death of up to 20 million of his citizens.