Kremlin Foe Denied Bid for Parole

It's trains, yachts, and limos for North Korea's aerophobic leader

(NEWSER) - So what did the Kim Jong Il think of his multi-day journey from Pyongyang to a small Siberian town on a custom-built, armor-plated train to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev? "We're having a fun trip," said the aerophobic North Korean leader. In his first visit to Russia since 2002, Kim met Medvedev to discuss nuclear disarmament, energy deals, and economic aid—and to have "fun" by way of a visit to a hydroelectric plant on Sunday, a yacht tour of Lake Baikal yesterday, and a meal of traditional Buryat meat dumplings and fish, reports the AP . More»

Video of child being forced into ice hole sparks outrage

(NEWSER) - Chucking unwilling children into holes in the Siberian ice isn't the great idea some Orthodox believers appear to think it is, Russian authorities warn. The trend for "ice baptisms"—usually carried out during the Russian Orthodox festival of Epiphany in January—has been in the spotlight since video surfaced of a screaming, naked boy around 5 years old being repeatedly plunged into an ice hole by a priest. The video caused a huge outcry in the Russian media. More»

Mikhail Khodorkovsky will remain behind bars until 2017

(NEWSER) - Russia watchers were keeping a close eye on the sentencing of tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky today on seemingly trumped up embezzlement charges to see whether Vladimir Putin might be loosening his grip. With a judge giving Khodorkovsky the maximum 6 years on top of his earlier 8-year sentence, that answer seems to be a "resounding no," writes Kathy Lally in the Washington Post . More»

Leader's writings released in new memoir

(NEWSER) - Nelson Mandela sat in a prison cell for 27 years, alone and separated from his family, with not much more to do than write—waves of words documenting his anguish that are now being released in a new memoir, Conversations With Myself. Some excerpts, as per the BBC:

• To wife Winnie Mandela, he wrote in 1969 that his main problem was "my waking up without you close to me, the passing of the day without my having seen you."
• To his daughters, aged 9 and 10, as both he and Winnie were imprisoned in 1969: "Now you will get no birthday or Christmas parties, no presents or new dresses no shoes or toys." Later: "Long may you live as orphans."
• A year later, he wrote Winnie that "I feel I have been soaked in gall, every part of me, my flesh, bloodstream, bone and soul, so bitter am I to be completely powerless to help you in the rough and fierce ordeals you are going through."

Tusk treasure trove lies beneath Siberian ice

(NEWSER) - Russia is turning to the Siberian soil to satisfy an appetite for "ethical ivory." Entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the worldwide ban on elephant ivory and digging up giant woolly mammoth tusks to sell abroad.Michelle Obama has been spotted wearing jewelry made from the ancient tusks of the animal that first walked the earth 4.8 million years ago. Russia is currently exporting some 60 tons of mammoth ivory annually to China, the world's biggest ivory market, and officials don't expect to run out of the goods anytime soon. Experts believe millions of dead mammoths still lie frozen beneath the Siberian tundra. More»