The Moscow Times has an unnerving report on how nuclear material is being smuggled through cigarette packets in the Caucasus. Gazprom has defied negative forecasts for its second quarter, with a slightly smaller drop in profit than imagined. The company expects to generate a profit of $3.58-$3.90 billion this year from domestic gas sales. Germany’s Daily Süddeutsche Zeitung has reported that Chancellor Merkel hopes to reach an agreement this month with the Kremlin on the shipment of three loads of nuclear waste. A Reuters special report considers the numerous environmental hazards of drilling in the Arctic circle. The opening up of new shipping routes in the circle may be a boon for oil companies, but the ecology may well suffer, argues this article. India has signed a preliminary shale-gas accord with the U.S. to determine its reserves and prepare an initial auction of the unconventional gas.