| 2008-12-30 19:14 First round of voting for the Oscars begins |
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Voting members will decide which actors will be nominated ahead of an official announcement.
Bristol Palin gave birth on Saturday to a healthy 7 lb., 7 oz., baby boy in Palmer, Alaska. 
Russia has devalued the rouble for the third time this week.
The Disney Channel is headed for Russian television.
President Putin as “father of the nation” · 2007-11-08 13:58
The Kremlin is to help cast Vladimir Putin as a “father of the nation” who will remain influential after his presidential term ends next year.
A Kremlin-inspired blockbuster film, titled “1612,” now hitting theaters around the country, sets the tone for the campaign. It focuses on a popular uprising in 1612 that drove a Polish-Lithuanian army from Moscow.
The dark period in Russia’s history, known as the Time of Troubles, ended when a special national congress chose Mikhail Romanov as czar, ushering in the beginning of what became the Russian Empire.
“I’m convinced … that Russians have a strong desire for a czar,” said the film’s director, Vladimir Khotinenko, who is open about the state’s role in the film and has urged audiences to draw the appropriate lessons.
“I … consider the 17th century an extremely important period in our history. And now those times are really relevant.”
Like Mikhail Romanov, Mr. Putin has stood up to foreign powers and rescued Russia from a period of national turmoil, in this case the 1990’s, his supporters say.
After almost eight years in power, Mr. Putin has vowed to abide by Russia’s constitution and step down when his presidential term expires, Wall Street Journal writes.
But with polls showing that a majority of Russians want him to stay on, aides and supporters are floating ideas that would allow him to remain a compass for Russian political life in the years to come, perpetuating his political platform, now being promoted around the country as “Putin’s Plan.”
In recent weeks, top officials have made almost daily announcements saying Mr. Putin will somehow remain a “national leader” who will guide the government, even if he has no formal post there.
A senior ideologue in the United Russia Party has gone even further. In an article posted on the party’s Web site this week, Abdul-Khakim Sultygov proposed borrowing an archaic 17th century legal mechanism to codify Mr. Putin’s future role as a latter-day czar.
• Musical about Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich
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