Russia

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Russian Gay Activist: Cops Kidnapped Me

'They pressured me to drop gay rights case for days,' he says

(Newser) - One of Russia's leading gay rights activists says he was kidnapped by security services as he tried to board a flight from Moscow to Geneva last week. Nikolai Alexeyev, who has repeatedly clashed with authorities in Moscow over his efforts to organize gay rights demonstrations, says he was taken from...

Gates, Russian Counterpart Look to Downsize Militaries

Full-day meeting seeks ways to cut waste

(Newser) - Robert Gates today becomes the first US defense secretary to show his Russian counterpart around in almost six years, devoting an entire day to Anatoly Serdyukov, the New York Times reports. The two men are looking for common ground on a topic that would have been unthinkable during the Cold...

How Russia Uses Microsoft to Crack Down on Dissenters

Confiscates computers on pretext of looking for pirated software

(Newser) - Russia is suddenly very concerned with the rampant pirating of Microsoft software—but apparently only in dissidents' computers, which the Kremlin is confiscating at a breathtaking clip. Typical is an environmental group that protested Vladmir Putin's decision to re-open a factory that had polluted a lake. One afternoon, police appeared...

Schwarzenegger Mocks Palin on Twitter

 Schwarzenegger 
 Mocks Palin 
 on Twitter 
I spy alaska!
Sep 10, 2010 12:07 PM CDT

Schwarzenegger Mocks Palin on Twitter

Subtle jab aimed at the woman who can see Russia

(Newser) - The Governator got in a subtle dig at Sarah Palin late last night. Headed for a trade mission in Asia, Arnold Schwarzenegger tweeted , "Over Anchorage, AK. Looking everywhere but can’t see Russia from here. Will keep you updated as search continues." He attached a picture of himself...

Russia: To Be Patriotic, Smoke and Drink More

(Newser) - While governments in the West worry about reducing alcohol and tobacco consumption and their related deaths, our Russian comrades have a different message for their people: Smoke and drink more! As the country plans to raise excise taxes on booze and double those on cigarettes over the next three years,...

Medvedev Rips Into Pol: No Tweeting!

Tweet-happy official immediately blames another for squealing

(Newser) - Dmitry Medvedev is mod enough to have a vlog, but that didn't stop President Crankypants from slamming a lawmaker who was busily tweeting during a Kremlin meeting yesterday. "There's Nikita Yurievich Belykh sitting there and writing in Twitter right from the State Council session," Medvedev sniped. "Apparently,...

WWII Vet Sets Self on Fire, Kills 8 in Nursing Home

Fellow residents died from smoke inhalation

(Newser) - The suicide of a World War II veteran is disturbing enough on its own: The resident of a Russian nursing home set himself on fire. But it gets even more depressing: Eight people in neighboring rooms also died, falling victim to smoke and gas inhalation, the AP reports . The 86-year-old...

Skinhead Mob Attacks Rock Festival

14-year-old girl killed by thugs with iron clubs

(Newser) - A 14-year-old girl was killed and dozens of people injured when a mob of some 100 skinheads armed with iron bars rampaged through a rock concert crowd in central Russia over the weekend. Close to 15 members of the neo-Nazi mob were detained by police, but most of them escaped,...

Putin Shoots Whale With Crossbow

'Action man' PM joins scientific expedition

(Newser) - In his latest effort to remind his countrymen of his machismo, Russian leader Vladimir Putin yesterday shot a gray whale with a dart from a crossbow. The prime minister, on a rubber boat in choppy seas, hit the gray whale on his fourth attempt to collect a skin sample, the...

Canada Intercepts Russian Bombers—Again

(Newser) - Russian bombers have once again put Canada to the test, this time while the Canadian prime minister was visiting the Great North to affirm sovereignty in the Arctic. Two CF-18s were launched yesterday to intercept the Russian bombers as they approached Canadian airspace, some 30 nautical miles off Inuvik, in...

'Grand Prince of All Russia' Claims Ownership of Kremlin
'Grand Prince of All Russia' Claims Ownership of Kremlin
wacky lawsuits dept.
Aug 19, 2010 3:50 PM CDT

'Grand Prince of All Russia' Claims Ownership of Kremlin

Rurik descendant sues to get historic complex back

(Newser) - The descendants of a dynasty that ruled Russia for 600 years are suing for ownership of the Kremlin, AOL News reports. The claim is being made by Valery Kubarev, a man who can trace his family back to the Rurik dynasty, and is in fact its designated "Grand Prince...

Moscow Bans Booze Sales After 10pm

No more midnight vodka runs after Sept. 1

(Newser) - It’s only 10pm, and you’re all out of vodka: No problem! Except in Moscow. Starting Sept. 1, stores in the Russian capital will not be allowed to sell any beverages with more than 15% alcohol between 10pm and 10am, the Telegraph reports. (You can still, however, buy beer...

Bolton: Israel Has 3 Days to Attack Iran

Before nuclear reactor is unsafe to attack

(Newser) - Israel only has three days to launch a military strike on Iran’s nuclear reactor before it contains live fuel, and it should probably take the shot, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton told Israeli radio today. Russia has announced that it will begin installing fuel rods in...

Russian Tycoon: Find God or Find a New Job

Boss bans abortions, 'living in sin'

(Newser) - A Russian tycoon who believes his country's devastating wildfires are a message from an angry God has ordered his employees to stop displeasing the deity. Vasily Boyko-The Great—who legally changed his last name from Boyko—says all 6,500 workers at his agricultural holdings need to attend refresher courses...

Swapped Russian 'Spy' Wants to Go Back to Russia

Igor Sutyagin insists he was innocent, calls exile a kind of prison

(Newser) - Believe it or not, Igor Sutyagin didn’t like the prisoner swap deal that freed him from the Russian prison he spent 11 years in. “It’s a very simple deal: you give your honor in exchange for your freedom,” he tells the New York Times . “If...

Iran Will Fire Up Nuke Plant
 Iran Will Fire Up Nuke Plant 
Aug 13, 2010 6:55 AM CDT

Iran Will Fire Up Nuke Plant

Russian will load the uranium fuel next week

(Newser) - Russia's nuclear agency said today that it will load fuel into Iran's first nuclear power plant next week, defying US calls to hold off the start of the launch. The uranium fuel will be loaded into the Bushehr reactor on Aug. 21, beginning the startup process. "From that moment...

Russia's New Fear: Chernobyl-Tainted Smoke

Wildfires encroach on contaminated regions

(Newser) - As Russia continues to battle raging wildfires in 100-degree temperatures, environmentalists are raising a scary cause for concern: radioactive smoke courtesy of Chernobyl. Regions of western Russian remain contaminated with radioactive residue from the nuclear disaster 24 years ago, and now wildfires are threatening those regions, explains the New York ...

People Flee Moscow as Death Rate Doubles

Some believe government covering up smoke's effects

(Newser) - People are leaving Moscow in droves, as smoke from surrounding wildfires chokes the city. The daily mortality rate has almost doubled from 360 or so to "around 700," the city’s top health official said yesterday, though he blamed the punishing heat wave, rather than the smoke. He...

Wildfire Smoke Chokes Moscow
 Wildfire Smoke Chokes Moscow 
Aug 6, 2010 2:04 PM CDT

Wildfire Smoke Chokes Moscow

Fires rage over 500,000 acres

(Newser) - Huge wildfires have blanketed Moscow in a fog of heavy smoke, stinging the eyes and throats of the city's 10 million residents. Firefighters are wrestling with almost 600 distinct fires covering 500,000 acres, CNN reports. The resulting smoke has seeped into subways and apartments throughout Moscow, driving carbon monoxide...

You'll Be Paying More for Bread Soon

Blame parched Russia, which is stopping wheat exports

(Newser) - Russia today said it would ban wheat exports for the rest of the year amid a brutal drought, sending prices for the grain soaring to their highest level in two years. The upshot is that US shoppers will likely have to pay a bit more for bread, cereal, or pasta...

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