Russia

(Newser) - Russia is lifting a fifty-year old ban on hunting polar bears, expressly to save the endangered species from extinction. Poaching has been endemic in Siberia since the injunction, but it's increased since shrinking sea ice has forced bears to search for food on shore, making them easier to kill.

(Newser) - An exiled Russian billionaire says he is bankrolling a coup to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin. Boris Berezovsky tells the Guardian: "It isn't possible to change this regime through democratic means. There can be no change without force, pressure." Asked if he is fomenting a revolution, he responds:...

(Newser) - Expect floods, droughts, fires—and resulting starvation, conflict, and mass migration—as climate change becomes more pronounced, says a U.N. report released today. And expect the poor to get hit the hardest, as deserts get drier, deltas flood more often, and small islands are overwhelmed.