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4 dead as Russian airliner breaks apart, catches fire

Last updated Saturday, December 29, 2012 - 11:46am

MOSCOW -- A passenger airliner careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport and partly onto a highway while landing on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing at least four people.

Plane Crash, International Read more Comments

Opposition activists hold posters reading "Do not involve children in politics" and "Lawmakers, children are not your ownership" during a protest against a bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. Defying a storm of domestic and international criticism, Russia moved toward finalizing a ban on Americans adopting Russian children, as Parliament's upper house voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a measure that President Vladimir Putin has indicated he will sign into law. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Russia ban on U.S. adoptions approved

Henry Meyer, Ilya Arkhipov Bloomberg News

Last updated Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - 2:16pm

MOSCOW - Russia’s upper house of parliament unanimously approved a ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children in retaliation for human-rights sanctions passed by Congress.

Adoption, Russia, International Read more Comments

(Fabio Ferrari/The Associated Press)
Zenit St. Petersburg's Danny, center, celebrates after scoring during a Champions League, Group C, soccer match between Zenit St. Petersburg and AC Milan, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012.

Zenit soccer fans demand all-white, non-gay team

Max Seddon The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, December 17, 2012 - 5:35pm

MOSCOW — Fans of two-time defending Russian champion Zenit St. Petersburg are calling for non-white and gay players to be excluded from the team.

Gender bias, Racial bias, Sports, Soccer Read more Comments

Russia to battle terrorism with new ski resorts

Kathy Lally The Washington Post

Last updated Monday, November 5, 2012 - 11:12am

ARKHYZ, Russia - After years of trying to suppress religious and ethnic tensions in its southwestern mountains with guns and troops, Russia is offering new incentives to combat unrest and terrorism: ski slopes and sandy beaches.

Ski Areas, Terrorism, International Read more Comments

Russia counts 500 days to Sochi Winter Olympics

Max Seddon The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - 3:28pm

MOSCOW — Russia celebrated the 500-day countdown to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi on Tuesday with a series of nationwide events and the launch of a new slogan — "Hot. Cool. Yours."

Olympic Sports, Sports, Winter Olympics Read more Comments

This image taken from video filmed by the band Pussy Riot and made available for APTN shows two unidentified band members wearing their trademark balaclavas and brightly colored miniskirts climb down an abandoned building in undisclosed location. In a new video, members of punk band Pussy Riot thank pop star Madonna for her support and burn President Vladimir Putin's portrait for what they call his suppression of feminists, sexual minorities and opposition. Three band members are serving two-year jail sentences received in August for their "punk prayer" at Russia's grandest cathedral, in which they asked the Virgin Mary to deliver Russia from Putin. Their trial caused an international furor, and a string of Western celebrities, including Madonna and Paul McCartney, called on the Kremlin to free the women. (AP Photo/APTN)

Pussy Riot music fest held in Russia

Irina Titova The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, September 10, 2012 - 9:40am

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — A music festival to support jailed members of the Russian band Pussy Riot went forward despite official pressure to cancel it, organizers said Monday.

International, Music Read more Comments

This image taken from TV footage provided by The Associated Press Television News shows a place where two women stabbed to death were found under this sign on the wall of their apartment in the central Russian city of Kazan on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. The sign is presumably written with blood, prosecutors said adding that the murderer probably tried to mislead police by the writing that supports three members of the provocative feminist band jailed for their "punk prayer" at a Moscow cathedral.(AP Photo/APTN)

Are Russian killings linked to Pussy Riot?

Mansur Mirovalev The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, August 30, 2012 - 10:29am

MOSCOW — The bodies of two slain women were found in Russia beneath a scrawled message demanding freedom for the jailed members of the Pussy Riot band, officials said Thursday.

Crime, Murder, International Read more Comments

Supporters of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot walk through downtown Warsaw, Poland on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. A Moscow judge has sentenced each of three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot to two years in prison on hooliganism charges following a trial that has drawn international outrage as an emblem of Russia's intolerance to dissent. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Demonstrations around the world support Russian punk group

The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, August 17, 2012 - 1:03pm

Band, Courts, Gallery, Musician, Protests, Russia, Slideshow, Vladimir Putin, Featured Read more Comments

A security guard at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, right, runs toward Pussy Riot supporters holding Cyrillic letters reading "Blessed are The Merciful" in Moscow, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. The global campaign to free Pussy Riot is gaining speed: Supporters of the punk provocateur band mobilize this week in at least a two dozen cities worldwide to hold simultaneous demonstrations an hour before a Russian court rules on whether its members will be sent to prison. (AP Photo/Novaya Gazeta, Yevgeny Feldman)

Global activists gear up for Pussy Riot rallies

Nataliya Vasilyeva The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - 11:40am

MOSCOW — The global campaign to free Pussy Riot is gaining speed: Supporters of the punk provocateur band mobilize this week in at least a two dozen cities worldwide to hold simultaneous demonstrations an hour before a Russian court rules on whether its members will be sent to prison.

International, Music Read more Comments

In this Sunday, Aug 12, 2012 photo Shamil Ibragimov, a former member of an Islamic sect, speaks to The Associated Press outside a house where members of the Islamic sect have lived in seclusion since the early 2000s outside Kazan, the capital of Russia's Volga River province of Tatarstan. Shamil Ibragimov and his wife lived for 10 years with a reclusive Islamic sect inside a ramshackle property that prosecutors describe as an “eight-level ant house” with cells dug into the ground. All four of their children were born there. (AP Photo/Nikolay Alexandrov)

'Creepy cult' shocks Russia

Mansur Mirovalev The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 9:20am

KAZAN, Russia — Authorities spoke of a creepy cult living in an "eight-level ant house" dug deep into the ground, where children were kept in unheated cells and starved of daylight. A visit to the compound suggests a more ordinary reality.

Religion, International Read more Comments

Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. Prosecutors on Tuesday called for three-year prison sentences for feminist punk rockers who gave an impromptu performance in Moscow's main cathedral to call for an end to Vladimir Putin's rule, in a case that has caused international outrage and split Russian society.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Entertainers rally around Russian female punk rockers on trial

Nataliya Vasilyeva The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, August 8, 2012 - 9:52am

MOSCOW — A Moscow judge wrapped up the trial of three feminist punk rockers on Wednesday and said she would issue a verdict in the controversial case next week.

Religion, International, Music Read more Comments

This Sunday, July 8, 2012 photo shows an overall view of main stadium of the city of Krymsk. The water rushed into Krymsk early Saturday with such speed and volume that residents said they suspected that water had been intentionally released from a reservoir in the mountains above, a claim government officials deny. (AP Photo/Vladimir Smolyakov)

Death toll at 170 in Russian floods

Benedikt Von Imhoff, Ulf Mauder Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Last updated Monday, July 9, 2012 - 12:42pm

MOSCOW - Russia’s emergency situations minister on Monday accused local officials of "making mistakes" in their handling of flash floods that killed 170 people and caused damage estimated at $125 million, according to official figures.

Floods, International Read more Comments

Woman who 'returned' adopted Russian boy must pay $1,000 a month

Michael Muskal Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, May 18, 2012 - 3:07pm

An American woman who set off an international furor when she sent a Russian child whom she had adopted back to Moscow has been ordered to pay $1,000 a month in child support and $150,000 in various fees.

Adoption, Lawsuit, International Read more Comments

This image taken from video and released Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 by The Kavkaz Center, a website affiliated with Chechen rebels, shows insurgent leader Doku Umarov speaking in a video in which he claims responsibility for deadly suicide bombing at Russia's largest airport. It was not clear when or where the video was recorded. Russia's secret service said Thursday, May 10, 2012, that it had foiled terror attack plans in the Black Sea resort of Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Games. The FSB said it suspects the attacks were being masterminded by Doku Umarov. The FSB also said that it suspects that Umarov has close links to the secret service in Georgia. (AP Photo/The Kavkaz Center)

Russia says it foiled terrorist attacks planned for 2014 Olympics

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 9:53am

MOSCOW -- Russia's secret service said Thursday it had foiled terror attack plans in the Black Sea resort of Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Games.

Terrorism, Winter Olympics, International Read more Comments

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second right, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, right, watch the Victory Day Parade, which commemorates the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 9, 2012. Putin told the annual massive military parade in Red Square that the country will stand up for its positions.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Putin says Russia will stand up for itself

Jim Heintz The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - 9:54am

MOSCOW -- Speaking to thousands of soldiers at the annual Red Square military parade, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Wednesday that the country is a force for world security and that Russia will stand up for its positions.

Putin's speech, two days after his inauguration for a third term in the Kremlin, came less than a week after the nation's military chief of staff warned that Russia would consider pre-emptive strikes, if a dispute with the United States over a Europe-based missile defense system worsens.

Russia, Vladimir Putin, International Read more Comments