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25 Dead in Israel Bus Crash
 25 Dead in Israel Bus Crash 
Dec 16, 2008 11:31 AM CST

25 Dead in Israel Bus Crash

Russian tourists among victims of accident

(Newser) - At least 25 people were killed when a bus full of Russian tourists plunged into a ravine in Israel today, Haaretz reports. At least 12 more are in serious condition. The bus contained roughly 60 passengers traveling from St. Petersburg to the Red Sea resort of Eilat. The incident is...

Russian Slaps &trade; On ;-)
 Russian Slaps ™ On ;-) 
Dec 12, 2008 6:01 AM CST

Russian Slaps ™ On ;-)

Entrepreneur seeks to nudge businesses into paying $$$ for use of emoticon

(Newser) - A Russian businessman says he has been granted the trademark for the ;-) emoticon and will start charging for its use, the BBC reports. The entrepreneur, president of the Superfone mobile phone advertising company, doesn't plan to go after individual users but intends to ask corporations to pay for a...

Despite Reforms, Russian Firms Most Likely to Bribe

Survey names Belgium, Canada most graft-free nations

(Newser) - Russian and Chinese companies are most likely to mix business with bribes when traveling abroad, a corruption watchdog found, despite promises from their governments to root out graft. Transparency International, which said the kickback trend points to firms from emerging economic powers, cited the practice’s “damaging impact on...

Russia's Credit Rating Lowered
 Russia's Credit Rating Lowered 
Dec 9, 2008 1:59 PM CST

Russia's Credit Rating Lowered

Putin in trouble

(Newser) - The plummeting ruble might just bankrupt Russia, the Financial Times reports. Standard and Poor’s has dropped the G8 member’s credit rating from BBB+ to the lowly BBB, warning that the country may have to spend all $200 billion in its sovereign wealth funds to recapitalize the banking system...

Books Map A-Bomb's Spread
 Books Map A-Bomb's Spread 
Dec 9, 2008 11:49 AM CST

Books Map A-Bomb's Spread

Authors track nations' paths to nuclear club

(Newser) - When it comes to the spread of nuclear weapons, all paths lead back to the US, the New York Times reports in a look at two books. In The Nuclear Express, the authors chart the rise of the world's nine nuclear nations and conclude that "since the birth of...

Putin Pounces on Private Companies
Putin Pounces on Private Companies
Dec 8, 2008 8:42 AM CST

Putin Pounces on Private Companies

Kremlin uses financial crisis to further its aims of 'renationalizing'

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin has insisted for years that Russia made a colossal mistake by privatizing the nation's giant reserves of oil, gas, and other natural resources after the fall of the Soviet Union. The president-turned-prime minister has made muscular efforts to renationalize those industries—most notoriously the Yukos oil company, whose...

Jagr Happy, Rich in Siberia
 Jagr Happy, Rich in Siberia 
GLOSSIES
Dec 7, 2008 6:38 PM CST

Jagr Happy, Rich in Siberia

Former NHL star finds 'real freedom' playing (for big money) in outpost of Omsk

(Newser) - Jaromir Jagr is far from New York, playing hockey in Siberia, yet he tells the Atlantic he’s happy in the outpost of Omsk. Indeed, his $11 million salary helps cushion the blow of not being re-signed by the Rangers. And "in Russia, you have the real freedom, which...

Stalin Planned to Destroy Moscow Ahead of Nazis

Bombs, booby traps set in 1,200 buildings

(Newser) - Stalin would have all but destroyed Moscow if the Nazis had taken the city, the Telegraph reports. Secret 1941 documents now on display detail the rigging of 1,200 buildings with explosives so that the Germans—only 19 miles from the city at the time—would conquer little more than...

Head of Russian Orthodox Church Dead
Head of Russian Orthodox Church Dead
OBITUARY
Dec 5, 2008 12:24 PM CST

Head of Russian Orthodox Church Dead

Patriarch Alexiy unified denomination, was suspected of KGB ties

(Newser) - The iconic leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, who healed an 80-year rift in the church and restored its prominence in Russian society, died today, the Times of London reports. No official cause of death was given for Patriarch Alexiy, but the Kremlin’s first post-Soviet Orthodox leader had been...

Putin Sees Warmer Relations With US

(Newser) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the "positive signals" coming from Barack Obama's camp could lead to warmer relations between the two countries, Reuters reports. “If these are not just words, if they get transformed into a practical policy, then of course our reaction will be adequate and...

US Renews Push to Bring Georgia, Ukraine Toward NATO

Summit to focus on membership, Russia

(Newser) - The US will urge NATO today to put Georgia and Ukraine on the road to membership, Reuters reports. France and Germany, worried about Russia’s response, blocked a similar move at an April summit. Though members agreed in principle that the two former Soviet republics could someday be members, Secretary...

Auction Houses Counting on Russians

Buyers prop up industry staggering from economic crunch

(Newser) - With dwindling sales and empty showrooms, art auction houses are increasingly relying on what they have dubbed RR: rich Russians. Houses are hoping the record price drawn by a Kasimir Malevich painting earlier this month is proof that the Russian market will escape the downturn that's affecting other sectors. Of...

Medvedev Gets Cozy With Castro

Moscow seeks to extend influence in Latin America

(Newser) - Russian president Dmitry Medvedev is in Cuba strengthening ties with the Castro regime and attempting to broaden Russia's influence in Latin America, the BBC reports. Medvedev arrived in Havana yesterday from Venezuela where he and Hugo Chavez signed deals promoting nuclear energy and developing closer military ties. Russia is expected...

Russian Cyberattack Hits US Central Command

Malware targeted combat systems

(Newser) - Defense Department computers have been hit by a computer virus from Russia, Los Angeles Times reports. Malware has infected large parts of the military system, including Central Command systems and computers used in Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones. The military scrambled to stop the infection and banned the use of...

Feisty Medvedev Gives Obama Russian Headache

Bush avoided dealing with Russia; Obama likely to engage

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s main foreign policy challenge was supposed to be the Middle East, but Russia is giving its southern neighbors some competition, writes Ben Smith in Politico. Almost alone among foreign leaders in greeting the Obama victory with hostility, Dmitry Medvedev immediately threatened to move missiles westward if the...

Obama Should Seek Detente With Medvedev: Buchanan

Russian leader leaves opening to derail march toward new Cold War

(Newser) - President Dmitry Medvedev is signaling that Russia and the US could have a less contentious relationship under Barack Obama, and Obama should heed the call, Pat Buchanan writes in the American Conservative. “Russia does not want the Cold War II that the departing neocons wish to leave on his...

Ch&aacute;vez Welcomes Russian Navy
 Chávez Welcomes Russian Navy
Nov 25, 2008 12:45 PM CST

Chávez Welcomes Russian Navy

Medvedev makes first visit to Caracas

(Newser) - Russian warships arrived in Venezuela today, a show of strength aimed at the US as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America. Venezuelan sailors fired off cannons in a 21-gun salute as the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko docked in La Guaira, near Caracas. Russian sailors dressed in black-and-white uniforms...

Georgia Prez Charges Russians Fired on Motorcade

Shots fired as Georgian leader travels with Polish president to refugee camp

(Newser) - Shots were fired close to a motorcade ferrying Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili and Polish President Lech Kaczynski  to a refugee camp in Georgia near the border with the breakaway region of South Ossetia, officials said. Saakashvili blamed Russian troops at a border checkpoint for the gunfire, reports Voice of America....

KGB Radiation Poisoning Suspect Ready to Talk

Lugovoi offers to meet with UK investigators

(Newser) - A former KGB agent accused of poisoning a Russian dissident in England wants to clear his name, he tells the Times of London. Alexander Lugovoi has offered to send a friend to London to speak with investigators, and may travel to the UK himself if officials pledge not to arrest...

Putin Promises to Help Sliding Russian Economy

With many paychecks weeks behind, crisis reminds nation of '90s collapse

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin proposed steps yesterday to stabilize the Russian economy as layoffs and deferred wages cause rising insecurity about the nation’s finances, the Wall Street Journal reports. Russian firms now owe $145 million in delayed wages to 300,000 people, and those figures may actually be higher—a fifth...

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