Vladimir Putin

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Putin Orders War Games in Black Sea

Military exercises could make Georgia, Ukraine uneasy

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin ordered surprise military exercises in the Black Sea today, in a move that could make neighboring Ukraine and Georgia a little uneasy, Reuters reports. Thirty-six warships and an unspecified number of warplanes will take part in the previously unannounced exercises, a Putin spokesman said. "The main goal...

Steven Seagal, Putin Latest Bizarre BFFs

Action star helping Russian prez promote physical fitness plan

(Newser) - How convenient: New BFFs Kim Jong Un and Dennis Rodman are probably looking for another pair to vacation with , and now they have one ... because Vladimir Putin and Steven Seagal have a similar world leader-washed-up celebrity friendship going on. Putin wants to reinstate a Stalin-era national physical fitness program, and...

Russia Gets Tough New Smoking Law

No more lighting up in bars, offices, playgrounds

(Newser) - Life is about to get tougher for smokers in a country with one of the world's highest rates of tobacco use. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed tough new anti-smoking measures into law, banning smoking in workplaces, restaurants, long-distance trains, and other public places like beaches and playgrounds, the...

Rumor Mill: Putin Has Love Child No. 2

Daughter with Alina Kabaeva said to have been born in November

(Newser) - Today in the Wacky World of Vladimir Putin , the Russian president is now rumored to have a second love child with former Olympian Alina Kabaeva. Putin has long been linked to the 29-year-old rhythmic gymnast, and the two were already believed to have a 3-year-old son together. The new child,...

Russia Moves to Ban 'Homosexual Propaganda'

In a bid to clamp down on Western values

(Newser) - Kissing his boyfriend during a protest in front of Russia's parliament earned Pavel Samburov 30 hours of detention on a charge of "hooliganism." But if a bill that comes up for a vote later this month becomes law, such a kiss could be deemed illegal "homosexual...

Russia Rolls Out Red Carpet for Depardieu

What 75% tax? Russia offers tax-dodger a free apartment

(Newser) - Things are looking up for Gerard Depardieu: Not only is the French actor a newly minted Russian , he's already broken bread with Vladimir Putin, gotten a hero's welcome, and scored a free apartment. Depardieu grabbed his shiny new Russia passport from Pooty-Poot last night over dinner in Sochi,...

Putin to Depardieu: You Are Now Russian!

No word on whether actor, upset over French tax plan, accepts the offer

(Newser) - Gerard Depardieu, who has waged a battle against a proposed super-tax on millionaires in his native country of France, has been granted Russian citizenship. A brief announcement on the Kremlin website revealed that President Vladimir Putin, who had previously expressed solidarity with Depardieu , signed the citizenship grant today. A representative...

Americans Now Banned From Adopting Russian Kids

With 60K US adoptions over 20 years, critics say children will be real losers

(Newser) - As expected , Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a controversial new bill banning US citizens from adopting Russian children, reports Reuters . In addition to the adoption ban, the Russian law, set to take effect Jan. 1, could close some Russian NGOs that receive US funding and bans Americans accused...

Putin: I Am Not Authoritarian
 Putin: I Am Not Authoritarian 
Dec 20, 2012 12:30 PM CST

Putin: I Am Not Authoritarian

But he thinks the US is arrogant

(Newser) - For a man with a bad back, Russian President Vladimir Putin sat up straight for more than four hours today in his annual marathon news conference, brushing off claims that he's an authoritarian leader and lashing out at the US:
  • He complained that a recent US law that allows
...

Ben Affleck for Senate? He Won't Say

Plus, Putin offers Depardieu a Russian passport

(Newser) - John Kerry is likely to leave his Massachusetts Senate seat to become secretary of state, and the rumor mill has now churned out one Ben Affleck to add to the list of his possible replacements. Affleck was actually meeting with Kerry and other lawmakers in DC yesterday to talk about...

Moscow Court Yanks Pussy Riot Video From Web

Says cathedral performance was extremist

(Newser) - Pussy Riot's band members are sealed away in a labor camp , and a Moscow court is looking to similarly vanquish video of their controversial "punk prayer" performance into the ether. The court today ruled that the clip should be removed from the web, reports the AP , with the...

Putin Hurt in Judo Fight: Belarus President

Russian prez twisted spine after 'throwing guy'

(Newser) - Maybe it wasn't the bird flight after all. The latest intel on Vladimir Putin's health is that he was injured in a judo match. Of course, it's not that he lost; rather, "he lifted a guy, threw him, and twisted his spine," says Belarus president...

Merkel Slams Putin—to His Face—Over Pussy Riot

They really deserved 2 years in a labor camp? she asks

(Newser) - Usually, joint public appearances involving heads of state are filled with small talk and diplomatic niceties. Not so today with Germany's Angela Merkel and Russia's Vladimir Putin as the two sparred over the jail sentence handed down to punk rockers Pussy Riot in Moscow, reports the Guardian .
  • Merkel:
...

Russia's Tough Treason Law Now in Effect

Putin promised to review bill 2 days ago, signed it instead

(Newser) - An ever-benevolent Vladimir Putin listened to fears surrounding a vaguely worded treason bill on Monday, ultimately promising to proceed with caution and "return to this again, to look more attentively." The next day, he just signed it, reports Reuters . The ruling expands the definition of treason to include...

Kremlin Insists: Putin Not Hurt During Bird Flight

But he did pull a muscle...

(Newser) - Breaking news out of Russia: Vladimir Putin pulled a muscle. But the Kremlin insists it didn't happen while flying with birds. Putin, as you'll remember, took to the skies last month, leading a flock of endangered Siberian cranes to their winter feeding grounds. Rumors about the president's...

Pussy Riot Members Sent to Prison Colonies

Russia sends remaining 2 members hundreds of miles from capital

(Newser) - A lawyer for the two jailed Pussy Riot band members says they have been transferred to prison colonies hundreds of miles from Moscow to serve their sentences. Mark Feygin said today that Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were transferred over the weekend from the Moscow prison where they were kept...

Russia Court Frees 1 Member of Pussy Riot

Two others still facing 2-year sentence are defiant at appeal hearing

(Newser) - A trio of judges has freed one of the three members of the Russian activist punk rock group Pussy Riot, while the other two still face up to two years in prison following their raucous anti-Putin protest at the altar of Moscow's main cathedral, reports the BBC . The bandmates...

Russian Church: OK, Free Pussy Riot

If they repent for their 'punk prayer'

(Newser) - The Russian Orthodox Church is again getting in on the Pussy Riot controversy, today reversing course and urging clemency for the imprisoned punk rockers if they repent for their "punk prayer," reports the AP . The church issued a statement today—a day before the women are set to...

How Putin Channels Stalin

 How Putin 
 Channels  
 Stalin 
OPINION
Sep 22, 2012 10:12 AM CDT

How Putin Channels Stalin

His intervention on behalf of writer plays to Russian tradition: Author

(Newser) - After a Russian editor refused to cover Vladimir Putin's latest goofy stunt and promptly got fired as a result, Putin himself called her to sympathize and pulled strings to get her job back. (She refused, as she recounted in the International Times Herald .) But hey, Putin's gesture...

Russia's Medvedev: Pussy Riot Should Go Free

Prime minister's stance may mean release is near

(Newser) - The members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot who were thrown in prison could be freed soon after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called for their release today, reports AP . The three women were sentenced to two years in prison in August for entering Russia's main cathedral and...

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