Russia to Expand Interpretation of High Treason Laws
ALEXEY DRUZHININ/AFP/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — Russian lawmakers have voted to expand the government’s definition of high treason.Russia’s parliament has proposed a new law that would include support for “those seeking to damage Russia’s security” as an …
Pope Benedict XVI Is No Fan of Russian Punk Rockers Pussy Riot
L’Osservatore Romano Vatican-Pool/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — The Pussy Riot trial last summer captured worldwide attention and support from cultural icons like Madonna, Sting and Paul McCartney. Now, the case has attracted attention from a higher po…
Russian Prime Minister Declares War on Smoking
Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — The Russian government has supported a bill that would immediately ban smoking in playgrounds, schools and universities, and prohibit smoking in restaurants and cafés by 2015. The bill is expected to be co…
Russia Denies Providing Syria with Weapons
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — Officials are denying that Russia has provided the Syrian government with cluster munitions. Over the weekend, Human Rights Watch issued a report showing evidence that the Syrian military is dropping Soviet-made versio…
Turkey Claims Syrian Jet Was Carrying Russian-Supplied Ammunition
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(ANKARA, Turkey) — Turkey said Thursday its suspicions were proven correct that a Syrian passenger jet that its military forced to land a day earlier was carrying munitions.Adding more fuel to the growing tensions between Ankara …
Baby Born During Flight from Ukraine to Russia
David De Lossy/Digital Vision(MOSCOW) — A Russian woman gave birth aboard an Aeroflot flight from Simferopol, Ukraine to Moscow on Tuesday, according a statement released by the airline.The woman was in her 30th week of pregnancy with her third child …
Russian Court Frees One Member of Punk Band Pussy Riot
NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — An appeals court in Moscow has suspended the sentence for one member of the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Two other members of the group had …
Russia Denies Link to Alleged Agent Busted in the US
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — The Kremlin has denied any links to companies recently blacklisted by the U.S. for their alleged involvement in a complex scheme to smuggle sensitive technology from America to the Russian military and intelligence age…
Quotas on Hollywood Films Shown in Russia — Censorship or Country Pride?
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — It might soon be harder to get tickets to Hollywood movies in Russia. Russia’s Culture Ministry is considering quotas on the number of foreign films that can be shown there. Officials say it’s an effort to boost Russia…
Russia to Tighten Restrictions on Public WiFi?
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — A Russian government panel thinks it’s found the solution to the problem of exposing children to dangerous material online. In just a few years, ubiquitous, open WiFi has gone from a luxury to an expectatio…
Child Discovers Nearly Intact Woolly Mammoth in Russia
Photos.com/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — It was truly a mammoth discovery.An 11-year-old boy in Russia’s far north has reportedly uncovered a nearly intact woolly mammoth, complete with fur, bones, flesh and layers of fat. Scientists say they haven…
USAID Ends Work in Russia After Expulsion
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — The U.S. Agency for International Development ceased operations in Russia Monday after being expelled last month, a move widely seen as part of the Kremlin’s effort to intimidate and discredit the country’s…
USAID Ends Work in Russia After Expulsion
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — The U.S. Agency for International Development ceased operations in Russia Monday after being expelled last month, a move widely seen as part of the Kremlin’s effort to intimidate and discredit the country’s…
Jailed Russian Punk Feminists’ Appeal Delayed
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/GettyImages(MOSCOW) — An appeal hearing for three young Russian feminist punk rockers has been delayed after one of the women fired her lawyer and the judge said it would take some time to furnish another one. The hearing…
Vladimir Putin Gifts Hugo Chavez with Puppy
Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying what you might call a bit of “pet diplomacy.” He sent a 3-month-old puppy to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as a gift. The black Russian terrier doesn’t have a n…
Puckish Russian Offers Romney a Plane Whose Windows Open
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — After Mitt Romney joked that “the windows don’t open” on Ann Romney’s plane, which filled with smoke last Friday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin offered to send her a replacement: …
JFK Tapes Reveal New Insight into Tensions During Cuban Missile Crisis
Library Of Congress/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — In the heat of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy thought the nation was so close to war with the Soviet Union that he game-planned how American naval vessels would fire on Soviet ships, ma…
Russian Officials Want Access to Ranch Where They Claim US Parents Reportedly “Dump” Unwanted Kids
ThinkStock(MOSCOW) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry has again called on U.S. officials to allow them entry to a ranch in Montana where they claim American parents “dump” unwanted Russian adopted children. “We demand permission for Pavel Astakhov to visit t…
Smuggled iPhone 5s Sell for as Much as $3,700 in Moscow
Apple(NEW YORK) — In the days of the Soviet Union a tourist in Moscow could pay for his or her entire trip by selling a suitcase full of smuggled Levi’s jeans. Now, one could make substantially more sneaking a handbag full of the latest Apple products…
DNC Apologizes for Showing Russian Warships in Tribute to US Veterans
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Organizers of last week’s Democratic National Convention apologized Wednesday for accidentally showing an image of the Russian navy during a tribute to U.S. veterans.Soviet-era Russian warships were pro…