The U.S. is overtaking Russia as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, a startling shift that is reshaping markets and eroding the clout of traditional energy-rich nations.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says he recognizes the problems holding back the country’s economy. Sadly, nobody has much confidence in his plans to address them.
A member of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot has released a public letter alleging “intolerable” prison conditions and a death threat when she complained.
Jailed Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who is on the fifth day of a hunger strike, has been transferred to a prison hospital.
Elton John won’t cancel his forthcoming Moscow show, despite protests from homophobic activists in Russia about his visit later this year. The singer will go ahead with his concert on 6 December and hopes to be able to “talk to some people” at the Kremlin.
Russia is ready to help guard Syrian chemical weapons sites and destroy President Bashar al-Assad’s stockpiles but will not ship any of the chemical arms to Russia for destruction, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday.
After nearly two months, the state of emergency declared after record flooding in the Khabarovsk region has been lifted, though residents still face the difficult task of cleaning up all the damage.
A Russian court has remanded six Greenpeace activists in custody for two months for allegedly trying to seize a Russian oil platform.
Envoys from the United States, Russia,France, China and Britain have come to an agreement on the core of a U.N. Security Council resolution to get rid of Syria’s chemical weapons, three Western diplomats said on Wednesday, but Russia denied such an accord had been reached and insisted work was “still going on.”
The International Olympic Committee has dismissed concerns over Russia’s law banning gay propaganda, saying it doesn’t violate the Olympic charter’s anti-discrimination clause, and pronounced Russia ready to host the 2014 Winter Games.
