Mills Stiffs Fellow Amputee

(NEWSER) - A CD of Mikhail Gorbachev singing traditional Russian ballads has sold for $164,940 at a charity auction in London, the Guardian reports. The sole copy is now in the hands of an “anonymous British philanthropist.” The benefit was held to raise money for a foundation, named after the former Soviet premier’s late wife, committed to fighting childhood cancer. More»

Mills gives soy burgers, hot dogs to poor Bronx neighborhood

(NEWSER) - Heather Mills certainly has plenty of money after her divorce with Paul McCartney, and she’s spending $1 million of it to buy soy hamburgers, hot dogs, and other vegan meat replacements for one of the Bronx’s poorest neighborhoods, the AP reports. Mills is a vegan animal rights campaigner and says she wants to make sure the poor “have as many nutritional advantages as anyone else.” More»

Chabad-Lubavitcher gets money and access—and falls into Kremlin's line

(NEWSER) - A rabbi from an ultra-orthodox Jewish group is ultra-powerful in Russia's shrinking oligarchy, using Putin's patronage to raise funds and revive Judaism across the country, the Wall Street Journal reports. But critics charge him with selling his soul for the cozy position, downplaying anti-Semitism and becoming an apologist for the anti-democratic president. More»

Measure could become law next week

(NEWSER) - Basking in his re-election glow, Vladimir Putin yesterday backed a move to jack up the fine for illegal protesting—to a hefty $9,500, reports the New York Times . Despite furious opposition, the measure could become law as early as next week. "We must protect people from extreme radical manifestations," said Putin, apparently desperate to prevent more demonstrations like those last December against some very dodgy election results. The law could have been a lot worse, though, as an earlier version called for fines as high as $47,000. More»

Penn State charities to get $1.5M

(NEWSER) - Joe Paterno's 61 years at Penn State brought him a state pension of $13.4 million. His wife will get an initial payment of $10.1 million this month, and the family will donate $1.5 million to Penn State charities, the AP reports. Paterno didn't get any special treatment, the family says: The figure was based on the standard State Employees' Retirement System. More»