“Prosim k stolu!” as they would say, or “please, to the table.” The Christmas and New Year holidays in Russia carry on from Jan. 1 to Jan. 8, during which time pretty much nothing happens in the city, and the fun is had at home with close friends and relatives. If you have to spend the holidays elsewhere, here are seven rules to keep in mind to re-create the Russian experience. 1. Buy fireworks. Lots of them. If you're in Russia, note that fireworks that are banned in the U.S. are legal here.

Namdakov’s work “Golden Shoria” was made in a Pietrasanta workshop. Buryat sculptor Dashi Namdakov was awarded the 23rd "Pietrasanta e la Versilia nel mondo" award last weekend at a ceremony in the Italian town of Pietrasanta. Namdakov was presented with a ceremonial "cavalletto," or sculptor's work bench.

The Russian government is increasing investment in nuclear energy both at home and abroad with more than 80.5 billion rubles ($2.5 billion) set aside for investment in the sector, statements on the government website said Wednesday.

A woman walking out of Shake Shack, a burger restaurant with origins in New York City that opens Thursday on the historic Arbat street. The chain’s owners say they expect their “fine casual” restaurant to transform the neighborhood and make Russians think differently about American cuisine. It's unusual for a company to expand into a foreign country — perhaps especially Russia — before conquering its home market. But with Russians flocking to Shake Shack in New York and Dubai , the popular U.S.

One can be fined for smoking in entranceways if presented with photographic or video evidence of the crime. Igor Tabakov Cigarette smokers of Moscow, already beleaguered by last month's ban on smoking in public places, must now be advised to beware any passerby with a recording device if they decide to risk having a smoke inside.

SAN FRANCISCO — Yury Milner, the Russian investor known for his bets on high-flying social media companies Facebook and Twitter, is raising his sights beyond the stratosphere. Billionaire Milner led a $52 million investment in satellite maker Planet Labs, the firm said in a statement. Planet Labs said it planned to put a fleet of 28 image-gathering satellites into orbit early next year.

Pussy Riot members Alyokhina, left, and Tolokonnikova, right, last year. Vladimir Filonov Trying to protect a woman could get you in trouble if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, Sergei Mokhnatkin argues. Mokhnatkin said he defended a woman from police officers at a monthly unauthorized rally devoted to the freedom of assembly on Triumfalnaya Ploshchad in Moscow in December 2009.

Liberal Democratic Party member Vladimir Zhirinovsky said that the United States was involved in the violent robbery of a Siberian governor at his villa in France this past weekend. "I am sure there was a tip-off. It wasn't a robbery of the Krasnoyarsk governor; it was all done by the Americans as revenge for Snowden," the politician said on Wednesday. For safety's sake, its better to have real estate only in Russia, he added.

Foreign currency makes bribes of large amounts easier, as they often hold more value than Russian banknotes. Chris Potter A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker has submitted a bill that proposes harsher sentences for those convicted of taking bribes in foreign currencies, versus those who take payment in rubles.

Exillon Energy said it was no longer actively engaged in offer talks and was unaware of any third party interested in making an offer for the company, a day after its largest shareholder, Seneal International Agency Ltd — controlled by Russian billionaire Alexei Khotin — said it would not raise its stake in the oil producer. Shares in London-listed Exillon fell as much as 24 percent on Wednesday, making it one of the top percentage losers on the London Stock Exchange.

President Vladimir Putin is showing increasing disdain for international law — a stance that is perhaps nowhere clearer than in his government's continuing military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. But in view of Putin's authoritarian rule at home, his perception of international law as little more than an instrument of foreign policy should come as no surprise.

Anatoly Serdyukov. Denis Abramov Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov started to read up on the criminal case against him but quickly lost interest, a news report said Wednesday. The former minister began the first of the 56 volumes of his 56 million ruble ($1.7 million) case on alleged negligence only to leave after one and a half hours of work at the military Investigative Committee headquarters, Kommersant reported.

Tennis star Billie Jean King has called on athletes to protest Russia's "gay propaganda" law. U.S. President Barack Obama has decided to skip the Sochi Winter Olympics and instead send two prominent gay Americans as members of the official U.S. delegation, drawing praise from gay rights supporters.

Russia could convert more of its RS-20 ballistic missiles to launch domestic satellites in place of other less reliable rockets, the commander of the country's Strategic Missile Force said. Nineteen RS-20 missiles, known in the West as the SS-18 Satan, have been converted for use by ISC Kosmotras to launch mostly foreign satellite payloads since 1999. The converted missile is known as the Dnepr rocket.

Truckmaker Kamaz, facing falling demand, said Wednesday that its board had approved targets for next year, including producing 43,000 trucks compared with 43,500 expected this year. Kamaz, in which German autos group Daimler has an 11 percent stake, said in a statement that it expected profit of 3.35 billion rubles ($101.61 million) in 2014. Between January and July, Kamaz sales fell 11.3 percent to 20,400 trucks because of slowing economic growth in Russia.