Small World Adoption Foundation of Missouri has been re-accredited! The decree is dated September 12, and was posted to the Ministry of Education's Web site today.

President Vladimir Putin's choice for a new prime minister, Viktor Zubkov, was easily confirmed by Russia's lower house of parliament on Friday. Its approval had been expected. The entire government of former Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov unexpectedly resigned on Wednesday and Putin named his choice for new prime minister almost immediately.

The RIA-Novosti news agency reported on Friday that Putin dismissed the government because it was becoming ineffective. "Unfortunately, the government members are above all human beings. I saw them slow down their work and start thinking about their personal future after the elections," RIA-Novosti quoted him as saying, referring to the December parliamentary elections.

No word yet on who will be in Zubkov's government, or what the changes will mean for the adoption agencies still waiting for re-accreditation. The decree issued to Small World shows, once again, there is a big gap in decree numbers (the MoE left off at 236 in August and picked up at 250), so I am hopeful those missing numbers are for good news.

While the government was imploding, an enormous bomb was exploding. On Thursday, the Russians military carried out a test of what news reports are calling the world's most powerful non-nuclear air-delivered bomb. According to CNN, Russian television described the weapon as being four times more powerful than the comparable U.S. bomb: The U.S. bomb is equal to 11 tons of TNT, and the Russian bomb 44 tons. The deputy chief of the Russian military's general staff noted that, while the bomb is extremely powerful, unlike a nuclear weapon it doesn't hurt the environment. As if that were reassuring.

In other news, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said a Russian lab is refusing to provide samples of a toxic chemical it makes and accused Russian officials of blocking a probe into his near-fatal poisoning by dioxin in 2004. Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg helped Harvard University return a prized monastery bell to Russia. The bell, one of 17 others that are also being sent back, was acquired by Harvard after St. Daniel's Monastery was closed by the Communists in 1930. And hackers messed up a Web site belonging to the U.S. Consulate General in St Petersburg.

In business news, OAO Polyus Gold, Russia's biggest gold mining company, said its mine in the Magadan region has reserves of 40.8 million ounces, more than previously estimated. Kimberly-Clark said Thursday that it will begin building a factory to make Huggies and Kleenex brand products in Russia.

And finally, September 12 was baby-making day in Ulyanovsk Oblast. No word yet on how many citizens will be joining the region next year on Russia Day.

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