Russia

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This American Just Won Gold&mdash;for Russia
 This American Just 
 Won Gold—for Russia 
olympics
Feb 19, 2014 11:57 AM CST

This American Just Won Gold—for Russia

Vic Wild didn't get support he needed from US, he says

(Newser) - Vic Wild is an American, born and raised in Washington state—but the gold medal he won at the Sochi Olympics today was for none other than ... Russia. Why? Wild decided to compete for Russia because his event, men's snowboarding parallel giant slalom, wasn't getting much support in...

Whip-Wielding Russia Militia Roughs Up Pussy Riot

Members get roughed up at performance, though no one was arrested

(Newser) - Things got nasty in Sochi today when Pussy Riot tried to perform an anti-Putin protest song. Cossack militia members descended on six members of the group (this time including one man) just as they were starting to perform, reports AP . Video shows the officers using horsewhips and roughly pulling the...

Plushenko: Russia Made Me Skate Hurt. Er, No, It Didn't

He initially says yes, then backtracks

(Newser) - In a surprise move, Russian figure skating star and three-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko pulled out of the men's individual competition at the Sochi Olympics just before he was supposed to skate his short program last week , due to an injury, then quickly announced his retirement from the sport....

2 Pussy Rioters Briefly Detained Over Sochi Theft

Police say the women were released 3 hours later

(Newser) - Not long after their release from prison, two members of the Russian band Pussy Riot have again been detained, NBC News reports. This time, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were accused of theft, tweeted Tolokonnikova: "On the 16th we were detained for 7 hours, on 17th we spent 10...

Oops: 5th Olympic Ring Flops in Sochi Ceremony

Not that TV viewers in Russia would know

(Newser) - Poor Sochi . Today's opening ceremony for the Olympic Games had the usual pomp and circumstance—along with one high-profile glitch. During the ceremony, five floating snowflakes were supposed to come together, turn into Olympic rings, and then explode into dazzling pyrotechnics, reports Fox News . Trouble is, one of the...

US Blames Russia for Leaked F-Bomb Call

Diplomat slams EU in bugged Ukraine discussion

(Newser) - American diplomats have been seriously embarrassed by the release of an apparently bugged phone call in which frank comments on the Ukraine crisis are exchanged—and a speaker believed to be Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says "F--- the EU." The US strongly suspects Russia is behind...

Cameras in Bathrooms? Sochi Official Raises Ruckus

But Russia now swears guests' hotel rooms aren't under surveillance

(Newser) - We've had missing yogurt , dog poisonings , concerns about toothpaste bombs , and complaints about gross hotel rooms , but this probably takes the lead as the weirdest/scariest story out of the Sochi Olympics so far: Alleged shower surveillance. The fuss started when a Russian official, in rebutting claims of those lousy...

With Billionaire's Help, Sochi Strays Escaping Death

Shelter has saved 80 dogs so far

(Newser) - Hundreds of stray dogs have been killed ahead of tomorrow's opening ceremony in Sochi, but some may escape that fate thanks to a shelter funded by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Volnoe Deloe—or Good Will, roughly—has been grabbing up as many stray dogs as it can around Sochi...

The Disaster That Is My Sochi Hotel

Stacy St. Clair had quite the morning in Sochi

(Newser) - American journalists are turning to Twitter to moan about their Sochi hotel accommodations, and the complaints go well beyond there being no mints on the pillow. A sampling of the issues, per the Washington Post : no hotel lobby floor built yet; only one of 11 rooms booked five months ago...

US Ambassadors to Syria, Russia Both Leaving

Robert Ford, Michael McFaul will be gone by the end of the month

(Newser) - By the end of the month, the Obama administration will have lost its top diplomats in two of its most important posts. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul both announced their impending resignations today, the AP reports . Here's what you should know about each:

Sochi Poisons 'Threatening' Stray Dogs

Man hired to cull dogs calls them 'biological trash'

(Newser) - Visitors to the winter Olympics in Sochi won't have to worry about stray dogs pestering them—because the city is killing them off with poison, Business Insider reports. Homeless dogs are a common feature throughout Russia, but now dog bodies are lying around Sochi and "don't appear...

Vodka Killing Huge Numbers of Russian Men

Binge-drinking behind alarmingly high early death rate

(Newser) - Russian men who down large amounts of vodka—and too many do—have an "extraordinarily" high risk of an early death, a new study says. Researchers who tracked about 151,000 Russian men from 1999 to 2010 found that the risk of dying before age 55 for those who...

Teacher Stabs Friend in Poetry vs. Prose Dispute

Russian men were drunk at the time, say police

(Newser) - A Russian man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing his friend, because that friend preferred prose to poetry, police revealed today. You will be shocked to learn that both men were drunk. The alleged killer, a 53-year-old former teacher, had been lodging in the 67-year-old victim's home...

Russia Is Keeping Snowden
 Russia Is Keeping Snowden 
Jan 24, 2014 7:52 AM CST

Russia Is Keeping Snowden

Eric Holder says he'd 'engage' with Snowden's lawyers

(Newser) - Edward Snowden is free to keep on enjoying Russian hospitality. Russia won't send Snowden back to the US, and will extend his asylum when the initial year it granted him runs out, the head of the Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee said today in Davos, according to CNN . In...

Why the Olympics Should End
 Why the 
 Olympics 
 Should End 
OPINION
Jan 21, 2014 10:17 AM CST

Why the Olympics Should End

Human costs now outweigh benefits: Charles Lane

(Newser) - The founding ideals of the modern Olympics were admirable: France's Pierre de Coubertin wanted to foster peace and understanding between nations. But things haven't worked out that way, and the Games have ultimately caused more harm than good, writes Charles Lane in the Washington Post : "What we...

US Prepared to Evacuate Americans From Sochi

Air, naval assets will be on standby

(Newser) - As Russia hunts "black widow" bombers believed to be targeting the Sochi Olympics, an offer of help has arrived from the Pentagon. The US military says it is "conducting prudent planning and preparations" in case American support is needed to deal with militant threats and it will have...

Militants: We Have a 'Present' for Olympic Visitors

Threat sparks Sochi security fears

(Newser) - A chilling threat for visitors to next month's Sochi Olympics: Islamic militants say they have a "present" ready for those attending the Games in southern Russia. The threat was made in a video that surfaced yesterday, sparking serious security fears with the event less than three weeks away,...

17-Year-Old Wrote Target Hack Malware: Report

Boy wasn't involved in attack: intelligence firm

(Newser) - The malware behind the Target breach —and possibly one at Neiman Marcus —was written by a Russian boy about 17 years old, according to an intelligence firm's report. As noted by Gawker , the boy isn't thought to have been directly involved in the hack on the...

Gay Protester in Russia Detained at Torch Relay

He unfurled a rainbow flag

(Newser) - A gay Russian protester was detained today for unfurling a rainbow flag during the Olympic torch relay as it passed through his hometown of Voronezh. Photos uploaded by his friends show Pavel Lebedev pulling out the flag and then being detained by Olympic security personnel, who wrestle him to the...

Dying Kalashnikov Wrote of His Guilt
 Dying Kalashnikov 
 Wrote of His Guilt 
in case you missed it
Jan 18, 2014 7:34 AM CST

Dying Kalashnikov Wrote of His Guilt

Russian daily: He wrote of 'unbearable ... spiritual pain'

(Newser) - In our own obituary of AK-47 inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov last month, we included this quote: The rifle was invented "for the protection of the Motherland," he said. "I have no regrets and bear no responsibility for how politicians have used it." It turns out "no...

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