Russian oligarch sucker-punches rival billionaire on talk show

In this clip from Russian TV, oligarch billionaire Alexander Lebedev sucker-punches another billionaire, Sergei Polonsky, hitting him twice.

Clad in very tight grey jeans, Lebedev showed a glimpse of his past as a KGB agent as he launched two blows at the former property developer Sergei Polonsky during a television debate on the financial crisis. Polonsky, once ranked Russia's 40th richest man, had said he wanted to "stick one in the mouth" of Lebedev. In the clip posted on the NTV channel's website, Polonsky was sent tumbling to the floor and Lebedev then stood over him in a crouched fighting stance.

The newspaper baron said later that he had been reacting to Polonsky's threatening manner. The colourful proprietor was quoted as saying: "In a critical situation, there is no choice. I see no reason to be hit with the first shot. I neutralised him."

Alexander Lebedev in Russian TV punch-up

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Russian space agency says unmanned supply ship bound for ISS fails to reach orbit

SpaceFlightNow reports that "an "emergency situation" occurred during today's launch of a robotic Russian resupply ship ("Progress") headed for the International Space Station," preventing the Soyuz rocket from placing the freighter into orbit. CNN has NASA's statement, and some context, here.

More, from Associated Press:

The brief statement from the Roscosmos agency did not specify whether the Progress supply ship that was launched Wednesday from the Baikonur cosmodrome had been entirely lost. Agency officials could not immediately be reached for comment by The Associated Press. The statement said the third stage of the rocket firing the ship into space had failed at 325 seconds into the launch.

The ship was carrying more than 2.5 tons of supplies, including oxygen, food and fuel. Since the ending of the U.S. space shuttle program this summer, Russian spaceships are the only supply link to the space station.

All 43 previous Progress flights for the ISS over the last 11 years have been successful. Here is the Roscosmos website, but don't expect much of a detailed report there.

NASA has a previously scheduled daily Space Station update at 11am EDT, and will likely replay video of the Russian rocket failure during this video webcast.

Update: NASA's statement on the incident is here. The phrase they use to characterize the incident is "off nominal," which is what I'll start saying instead of "fail" from here on in. And I just watched the Soyuz "off nominal event" video replay on NASA TV. So did Warren Ellis, who says, "I clearly heard someone say 'thank god our guys don't have to ride on those.' And then 'Oh. Shit.'"

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Retired Russian cop arrested on suspicion of organizing execution of journalist Anna Politkovskaya

In Moscow today, a retired police officer has been arrested on suspicion of organizing the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. She was shot dead in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building.

But this arrest, like the arrest of the suspected triggerman in May, still does not address the issue of who might have ordered the killing of Politkovskaya, a sharp critic of the Kremlin and its chosen strongman in Chechnya.

Tuesday’s arrest of retired Lt. Col. Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov was first reported by editors at Politkovskaya’s newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, and later confirmed by investigators.

Link to AP item.

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