Section: Newsweek (USA)
Putin-critic Khodorkovsky Unveils Free Online University To Help Peaceful Revolution
“Revolution in Russia is inevitable,” Mikhail Khodorkovsky, formerly Russia’s richest man and possibly the most famous living critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in December 2015. “Our goal is to make it peaceful,” he added. Khodorkovsky and his Open Russia organization have unveiled the first step to what they hope will...
ISIS Could Use Russians Who Visit Turkey As Human Shields: Tourism Agency
Russia’s state tourism agency has issued a warning to Russian citizens against going to Turkey, saying they are likely to be targeted by the Islamist group Islamic State (ISIS). Turkey and Russia have been embroiled in a bitter diplomatic row since the Turkish military downed a Russian Su-24 fighter in November. While Turkey accused the...
Russia Less Corrupt Than a Year Ago: Transparency International
Russia has improved its global standing with regards to corruption according to anti-fraud organization Transparency International’s annual league table for 2015. The ranking takes into account the transparency of each country’s public sector and rates it out of 100, with zero signifying little transparency and high corruption, while...
The Kremlin Shows the World How to Make an AIDS Crisis Worse
“I may be small, but I am strong,” says Anya Alimova, a 29-year-old with green hair, as she picks up a heavy backpack bulging with syringes, condoms, HIV tests and other related items. It’s a snowy winter’s evening in east Moscow, and Alimova and her co-worker, Lena Plotnikova, will spend the next few hours distributing these...
Coca-Cola, Jeans and Playboy Caused Moral Decline in Ukraine, Rebel Leader Says
Coca-Cola, Mickey Mouse, jeans and Playboy are to blame for an apparent moral decline in east Ukraine, a leader of the pro-Russian separatists told propaganda channel News Front. Alexander Zakharchenko heads Donetsk People’s Republic, one of two self-declared republics in eastern Ukraine. Russian-backed rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk...
Syriza Anniversary: What Has Alexis Tsipras Achieved?
Power can do funny things to a person. Just look at the panel Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sat on at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. There, the former firebrand, besuited and sporting a fancy watch, shared a stage with an old foe, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, and other EU leaders. Tsipras solemnly warned an...
Coca-Cola and Pepsi Face Criminal Probe by Ukrainian Government in Crimea
The Prosecutor of Ukraine’s regional government in exile in Crimea has launched a criminal probe against officials of the Coca-Cola Company and Pepsi, after the two companies presented Crimea as a part of Russia in separate incidents. The Crimean peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014 from the territory of Ukraine and Moscow’s...
Burkina Faso: Three Al-Qaeda Attackers At Large, Says French PM
Three attackers linked to the Al-Qaeda-coordinated assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso are still at large, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Tuesday. Reuters reported that three gunmen were killed in the operation by Burkinabe forces to retake the Splendid Hotel and other nearby buildings in the capital Ouagadougou. Militants...
Kremlin Rejects Petition to Open Soviet Secret Police Archive
The Russian government’s commission on state secrets has rejected a call from over 60,000 Russians to open the archive of Soviet secret police forces and spy agencies, detailing their activities from 1917 to 1991, news website Meduza reports. The files will instead remain classified until 2044. Activist group Komanda 29 collected 60,342...
Putin’s Approval Rating Will Be the Last to Fall, Says Pollster
Despite the economic crisis in Russia, President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating will be the last to suffer as Russians view him as a “savior” to the country and are much more likely to turn on other politicians, the head of Russia’s Public Opinion survey firm told national daily Izvestia. While Russia is in recession and will remain...
