LONDON – They were once said to be like father and son, vacationing, signing deals, and socializing at the Kremlin together. But these days two of Russia’s richest men can’t stand each other — and they’re trading insults in a spectacularly expensive public feud.

At more than $ 6.5 billion, the lawsuit brought by Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky against fellow oligarch Roman Abramovich is a financial drama of giant proportions.

“It’s the biggest claim currently being litigated anywhere in the world,” said Mark Hastings, one of the lawyers acting for Berezovsky in the case being heard at London’s Commercial Court. “I haven’t seen anything like it.”

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China's faster-than-expected military buildup has alarmed the United States and its Asian allies and could help the Pentagon gird against deeper defense cuts threatened in some corners of Congress.

But even though the sophistication of China's People's Liberation Army has exceeded U.S. military forecasts, there is a recognition within the Pentagon that some of its most-cited conventional capabilities are still in their infancy.

China's first aircraft carrier, a refurbished Soviet-era vessel known as the Varyag bought from the Ukraine, began sea trials in July. Chinese sources said Beijing is also building two indigenous carriers, a claim the U.S. military believes is misleading at best.

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PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – The federal drug raid on a Boeing plant that makes key U.S. military aircraft was the culmination of four years of stealth operations as agents infiltrated the factory and found workers to cooperate in undercover deals, authorities said on Friday.

More than three dozen people, all but one of them current or former Boeing employees, were charged with illegally dealing in prescription painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs after the arrests on Thursday at the factory in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

The federal investigation took four years — following a year-long internal probe by Boeing itself — to be thorough, said Patricia Hartman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office.

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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – In Oscar world, the biggest news of the week was probably the release of the first trailer for "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," director Stephen Daldry's film version of the Jonathan Safran Foer novel set in New York City after 9/11. And while it's virtually impossible to tell how good a movie will be based on its trailer, it's safe to say that this one does scream Oscar Bait.

In fact, Tom O'Neil all but dubs it a sure nominee in his review of the trailer at Awards Tracker: "Early Oscar buzz is confirmed: it's a serious player," he insists. "It touches all of the Academy buttons." (Awards Tracker)

I'd say it's risky calling a movie "a serious player" on the basis of a trailer — but here's the evidence, complete with emotional slow-motion shots set to U2's gloriously portentous "Where the Streets Have No Name." And after watching it a couple of times, I do see O'Neil's point…

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