Russia Says No to a No-Fly Zone over Syria
Even before Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin could meet to discuss what to do about Syria, the Russian foreign ministry has made it clear that a no-fly zone is off the table.
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President Obama defended the administration's decision to "ramp up" their support to Syrian rebel forces by, among other things, providing some lethal aid, during a sprawling interview with Charlie Rose that aired late Monday night on PBS.
Even before Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin could meet to discuss what to do about Syria, the Russian foreign ministry has made it clear that a no-fly zone is off the table.
After the White House stepped out, officials in Moscow said Friday they've seen the evidence the U.S. says is proof that Syria has used chemical weapons, but it's not going to be enough to get the Russians to turn their back on their man.
When Rep. Peter King referred to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden as "a defector," he seemed to be channeling the political lexicon of 1983, not 2013 — much less 1984. Or maybe he was being prescient. Reports this morning indicate that Russia would consider a request by Snowden to seek asylum in that country. Here's how that would work.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, went national television this evening to announce that they have separated and their "marriage is over" — a swift departure for a first family about which very little is known, even in Russia.
A group of GOP congressmen, with Steven Seagal as tour guide, wrapped up a fact-finding trip to Russia, where they apparently failed to find any significant clues related to the Boston bombings. But the mission had a secondary effect.
Emboldened by recent gains on the ground and and new wave of support from its allies, Bashar al-Assad gave a new interview today, boasting about the arrival of new Russian missiles meant to scare off foreign intervention
Russia's Federal Security Service claims to have thwarted a terrorist attack being planned for central Moscow, killing two suspects in the process.
Though he isn't considered a suspect, a former Chechen separatist who is now a refugee in the United States has become a key target of information in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.
Russia, one of the few remaining friends of Bashar al-Assad's regime, just sent the Syrian government some advanced antiship missiles.
If you weren't already convinced that the Russian evidence against accused American spy Ryan Fogle is rock solid, this newest revelation has to seal the deal.
Russian security forces have detained an employee at the American embassy in Moscow, accusing him of recruiting spies for the CIA. Whether the charges stick or not, this bizarre incident won't help relations one bit. Here's why Ryan Fogle might not really be a spy anyway.
Today in viral videos: sometimes Russian dash cams (and Russians) will make you feel better about life, Kristen Wiig is prepping her SNL comeback, and the forbidden love between an owl and a dog.
Boston bombing investigators continue to probe the idea that Tamerlan Tsarnaev knew or was influenced by someone in the Islamic militant community in Russia. Unfortunately, all the potential suspects who could talk about it happen to be dead.
Russian forces killed two suspected terrorists Monday in the region of Dagestan, in what looks to be part of a post-Boston crackdown on their own homegrown militants.
What do President Obama, the Russian mob, Tobey Maguire, hedge funds, Olympic figure skaters, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Bill Clinton, A-Rod, France, and the "London Whale" have in common? They're all connected (more or less) to a complicated web of money, celebrity, politics, and illegal poker that may have cost one innocent millionaire an ambassadorship in France.
During his annual Q&A media session on Thursday, Vladimir Putin spoke at length about Russia's connection to the Boston Marathon bombing, complaining that the Western media has a double standard when it comes to discussing terrorism in other countries.
Even before the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing were linked to Russia, the nation saw how the attacks could resonate at the Sochi Olympics. Now, the fast-moving terror situation in America is having a ripple effect on the Games.
Russia and the United States are in the middle of a sanction-off.
A fire broke out at a five-star hotel in the capital of Chechnya on Wednesday, damaging nearly every floor of the 35-story building — including an apartment owned by French tax-dodger Gerard Depardieu.
A corner in England has ruled that Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky died by hanging, and despite the temptation to assume otherwise, there are no signs of foul play.
Boris Berezovsky, a 67-year-old former Russian oligarch, was found dead in his home in Berkshire, England on Saturday. No one knows how or why he died and Berezovsky had a lot of powerful enemies, so the conspiracy theories are already flying.
This week in viral videos: the silliest running scenes in movie-making history, some unnecessary censorship that gives us the giggles, and animals who have learned to smile and entertain you.
The government of Cyprus has until Monday to figure out how raise 6 billion euros worth of emergency funds or the European Central Bank will pull the plug on their end of the bailout deal. And the one and only backup plan is in the hands of the one country you probably don't want to be in hock to: Russia.
While Europe and the U.S. hem-and-haw about finding ways to support Syria's rebel army — and get threatened for even considering it — Iran appears to have no reservations about funneling money to their enemies.
In this week's New Yorker, David Remnick takes us behind the scenes of the Bolshoi, the institution at the center of the acid-throwing attack, revealing that, behind all the pirouettes, there has long been strife that mirrors Russian society.
Now that they've all been arrested and are facing serious jail time, the men accused of orchestrating an acid attack on the director of the Bolshoi Ballet are all pointing the fingers at each other.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
On Tuesday, Moscow police detained a dancer from inside the Bolshoi company, who was allegedly in charge of ordering the hit. Now this gets even more interesting. Let's take a look at the players in a sordid tale of disfiguration and pointe shoes.
From amateur astronomers to space junk traders to Canadian satellite makers to dashboard cam enthusiasts, the flaming Russian Meteorite has captivated the whole planet by offering a little something for everyone.
The Guardian offers some context to the cosmic event with map of meteorites throughout history — at least the recorded ones — and it shows that America gets a lot more of these sightings than Russia.
With an oversaturation of obvious jokes coming from get-followers-quick users who jump on major news events, one comedian's bold move to squat on a newsy handle is, indeed, an heroic gesture. But it's also futile.
This is about more than just the cool videos. This is a meteor! Actually, it's a meteorite, and it wasn't the meteorite that hurt all those people, exactly, and, yes, you have meteorite insurance — and, no, this is not all John Kerry's fault. Here are those and other answers you'll need to talk about this cosmically awesome event all weekend long.
A 10-ton meteor blazed through the sky and struck Central Russia this morning, leaving nearly 1,000 people injured along with a goosebump-inducing sonic boom that provided an amazing collection of videos from citizens who caught the whole thing on tape.
For the second time in one week, Japan's foreign ministry has had to lodge an international complaint after a neighboring military power got a little too close for comfort.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi to be perfect, so when he found out who was behind the delays of the site's ski jumping complex, he did the understandable thing and axed the Russian Olympics Committee deputy chief.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the members of Pussy Riot has been hospitalized in her prison colony in Mordovia, for what the Associated Press is calling a "full medical check-up."
A Russian judge recently thought it would be a good idea to take his holiday in Syria and pretend to be a war correspondent. And guess what happened: he got shot in the face and almost died.
Today federal authorities charged three men with building and disseminating a virus that crippled NASA computers and brought in tens of millions of dollars for cybercriminals. The new court documents detail the inner workings of Eastern Europe's cybercrime market.
Russia's "Emergencies Ministry" has reportedly sent two airplanes to Lebanon, so that it can evacuate more than 100 Russian citizens who have fled Syria
Things just keep getting bleaker for the two Pussy Riot members still in prison. Today, Maria Alyokhina asked a Russian court to defer her sentence until her 5-year-old becomes a teenager. They denied her plea at an emotional hearing, sending her straight back to jail.
Tim Weiner on John Brennan, Jonathan Chait on elusive centrist debt solutions, J. Michael Cole on Japan-China hostilities, David Hirst on a possible Kurdish state, and Leonid Bershidsky on Gerard Depardieu taking Russia.
Another famous French film icon is griping with the government of France and threatening to denounce their heritage to become, of all things, Russian if their demands are not met. Depardieu may have started a trend, but Brigitte Bardot brings a prettier face to the French exodus.
In the midst of a French flap over taxing the rich, Putin publicly offered Depardieu a Russian passport. But that was only the start: According to the Kremlin's official Twitter account, Depardieu is now an actual citizen of Russia.
Don't laugh: Lagers, ales, and pilsners were long considered "food" by the Russian government, but thanks to a new rule going into effect in 2013 (any minute now over there), it's going to be a lot tougher to find a brewski in the motherland.
Eric Singer on how the fiscal cliff affects paychecks in Congress, Jonathan Chait on Obama's fiscal caving, Bill Keller channels the NRA's president, John O'Sullivan on mass firings at Russia's Radio Liberty, and Gordon Chang on the Japanese economy.
Imagine driving down the highway one day when a plane suddenly careens into the side of the ramp you're driving on and debris starts flying everywhere. Horrifying, right? For some in Moscow, that became a reality on Saturday. And there's video, too.
As Vladimir Putin signed the bill, heartbreaking mid-adoption stories began to emerge, from New York to Ohio to California, of would-be parents to many of the approximately 1,000 Russian children taken in by U.S. families each year.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
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