The New Cold War

(Newser) - Just a year ago, Russian natural gas titan Gazprom was burning through global competition on its way to becoming the world's largest corporation. Now the state-owned darling of investors worldwide is deep in debt and flirting with a government bailout. A symbol of Russia’s resurgence as a global economic power, the company has tumbled from third to 35th place in global market cap rankings, shedding 76% of its value along the way, the New York Times reports. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama would be wise to harken back to the no-meddling Monroe Doctrine and stop the West’s “addiction to interfering in the affairs of other countries,” Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi writes in the Washington Times . He blames NATO expansion to Russia’s border for moving the nuclear power to beef up its arsenal. “Intimidating Russia threatens the world, again, with nuclear war,” he writes. More »

(Newser) - The Pentagon says the latest test of its missile-defense system, performed today, was a success, Reuters reports. An interceptor missile dispatched from an Air Force base in California shot down a test projectile—similar to those Iran and North Korea claim to possess—fired from Alaska over the Pacific this afternoon. More »

(Newser) - The US will urge NATO today to put Georgia and Ukraine on the road to membership, Reuters reports. France and Germany, worried about Russia’s response, blocked a similar move at an April summit. Though members agreed in principle that the two former Soviet republics could someday be members, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to push for further compromise. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s main foreign policy challenge was supposed to be the Middle East, but Russia is giving its southern neighbors some competition, writes Ben Smith in Politico. Almost alone among foreign leaders in greeting the Obama victory with hostility, Dmitry Medvedev immediately threatened to move missiles westward if the new president goes through with Bush plans for a missile defense program in Europe, and the Russian navy sailed into port in Venezuela yesterday. More »

(Newser) - A former KGB agent accused of poisoning a Russian dissident in England wants to clear his name, he tells the Times of London. Alexander Lugovoi has offered to send a friend to London to speak with investigators, and may travel to the UK himself if officials pledge not to arrest him or turn his friend over to the German authorities seeking to extradite him.