The Great Leveler: Muscovites Unite Against Housing Demolitions
(World News Russia)

As 300 angry voices drowned out Gennady Tokanov´s pleas, he retreated into a nearby police van to address the crowd from the loudspeaker inside. `Don´t worry,` the deputy head of Moscow´s Akademicheskiy district said. `Your homes will not be demolished unless you approve of it.` His improvised speech, however, failed to calm the assembled crowd. The meeting between municipal representatives and the district´s anxious residents whose apartments are slated for demolition was turning sour. An audacious renovation program which could see some 8,000 five-story buildings across the city reduced to rubble had many in the crowd worried for the future of their homes. `This is violating the...