Russians Kasparov, Karpov Rekindle Chess Rivalry

More rallies expected for today

(NEWSER) - Mikhail Gorbachev is stepping into the fray, and urging Russian authorities to annul the results of Sunday's scandal-ridden elections and hold a new vote. His voice is joined by those of thousands of Russians who have taken to the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg since Monday, and Gorbachev warned that the unrest would only rise if new elections were not held, reports the AP . To wit, more rallies are expected today, and a protest scheduled for Saturday was announced on Facebook. More»

Ex-Soviet leader attacks 'conceited 'Putin regime

(NEWSER) - Mikhail Gorbachev has launched his most blistering attack yet on Vladimir Putin's regime. The last Soviet leader, speaking at a press conference ahead of his 80th birthday, described Putin's Russia as a sham democracy, the Guardian reports. "We have everything—a parliament, courts, a president, a prime minister and so on," he said. "But it's more of an imitation." More»

He writes critical op-ed on 25th anniversary of perestroika

(NEWSER) - Mikhail Gorbachev warns that Russia is in danger of backsliding into the dark days of the Soviet Union in a critical op-ed piece that seems aimed directly at Vladimir Putin. The country's parliament is no better than a rubber stamp, its courts lack independence, and there's still no real party system. "There is a growing feeling that the government is afraid of civil society and would like to control everything," Gorbachev writes on the 25th anniversary of his perestroika reforms. More»

'No prospect' for military victory, says former Soviet president

(NEWSER) - Mikhail Gorbachev—the man who pulled the Soviet Union's troops out of Afghanistan after a decade of stalemate—says the US should do the same. "There is no prospect of a military solution," he tells Bloomberg . The nation is too fragmented among clans, dooming even a troop surge to failure, he says. “They should be preparing the ground for withdrawal rather than additional troops.” More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama began his second day in Russia by meeting with Vladimir Putin at the president-turned-prime minister's country home outside Moscow. The two leaders both expressed a desire for improved relations, and observers said they had a cordial discussion. The president then addressed a Moscow economics university, where he told students that the US and Russia are not "destined to be antagonists." More»