Stories related to: St. Petersburg

Police Tased Rays pitcher Al Reyes twice today in a Tampa, Fla. bar before arresting him for unlawful violence, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Cops say Reyes was celebrating his birthday when he picked a fight, took a punch, and "began to spit blood on the people in the area." Reyes expressed regret before tonight's game, saying, “I tried to have a good time on my birthday." More »

A veteran Russian artiste is headed for retirement today: Monika, a 21-year-old female donkey. She has performed for 19 years as the trusty steed of Sancho Panza in the Mariinsky ballet's production of Don Quixote. "She loves to perform and she loves applause," said Tatyana Solomatina of the St. Petersburg zoo, where Monika lives between performances. More »

A leading Russia university, attacked by Vladimir Putin as an agent of American and European intervention, has been shut down, the Guardian reports. A court ordered the European University at St. Petersburg to close on Friday, ostensibly because its aging buildings posed a fire hazard, but school officials say the move is retaliation by the Kremlin for the university's involvement in election monitoring. More »

London's Royal Academy opened its blockbuster exhibition of Russian-owned paintings last night, after narrowly escaping cancellation by the Russians last month. Critics agree that the stunner of From Russia is Matisse's 1910 The Dance , which rarely leaves the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. "It blasts any picture near it off the wall," says the Telegraph 's critic. More »

Starbucks will finally open its first Russian store next month, the Seattle Times reports, but the coffee giant will need a jolt of caffeine to achieve the brand recognition of Western rivals who've been in the market for years. Traditionally tea drinkers, Russians have warmed up to domestic coffee purveyors, and few expect Starbucks' latest expansion to fail. More »

Russian archaeologists say they’ve unearthed remains belonging to two children of Nicholas II, the Russian czar executed along with the rest of his family almost 90 years ago. The discovery of Alexei and Maria Romanov may help prove the authenticity of remains found in 1991 that are believed to be those of their parents and their three sisters. More »

Russia suspects terrorism in a bomb that derailed a train on the busy Moscow-to-St. Petersburg line yesterday, reports Reuters. Thirty-eight people were hospitalized and more  treated at the scene, about 170 km from St. Petersburg. The bomb was planted on a bridge; the locomotive and most carriages derailed after crossing. More »