My Eye on Russian News

Syrian rebels have seized twenty UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights on the border between Syria and Israel. The United Nations Security Council demands the convoy’s immediate release.

Despite the icy relationship between the United States and Russia, which have squabbled recently over everything from Syrian aid to orphan adoptions, the two countries have formed an unlikely alliance that is leading a global fight this week to save polar bears.

IMF confirmed that the AUD and CAD will appear as reserve currency within three months. This emphasizes the spiraling demand for additional reserve currencies and the New Zealand dollar has the best chance to join the list, according to experts.

Google has revealed receiving up to 999 national security letters a year asking for the private user data of thousands of people. The company said the FBI is authorized to make such requests without warrants or disclosure to users.

A US lawmaker on Wednesday denied a Russian newspaper report suggesting he supports punishing Russian officials who backed Moscow’s controversial ban on US adoptions under the auspices of the Magnitsky Act.

The EU Commission has ordered Microsoft to pay $732mn for breaking an agreement to offer users a choice of internet browser four years after fining the American software giant for just the same infraction.

The upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, on Wednesday ratified an agreement with Italy on the railway transit of Italian personnel, arms, ammunition and military equipment to Afghanistan via Russian territory.

Google has revealed receiving up to 999 national security letters a year asking for the private user data of thousands of people. The company said the FBI is authorized to make such requests without warrants or disclosure to users.

Most Russians approve of women participating in political activities, and would like them to occupy top state posts on a par with men, according to an opinion poll published by the Levada Center on Wednesday.

Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank are “systematically” ill-treated, which is a violation of the international law, UNICEF has stated in a report.

The Russian Ministry of Labor has come up with a list of phrases not to be uttered by government officials, as they can be perceived as encouraging bribery.

The Arab League has issued a statement saying Arab states are free to offer military support to the Syrian rebels and has offered them a seat. The UK Foreign Secretary also announced Wednesday that the UK will increase aid to rebel forces in Syria.

Revealing deep rifts in Russian society, online detractors target the new Miss Russia, an ethnic Tatar, for her exotic looks.

One of the world’s leading metal companies, Russia's Severstal is suspending foreign projects in India and Trinidad and Tobago, after failing to reach agreement with its partners abroad.

Russia’s Audit Chamber has disclosed massive over-expenditure of budget allocations while constructing venues for Sochi Olympics. The wasteful spending of the state-run company responsible for most of construction works has reached US$506 million.

An election to be held in Venezuela in 30 days will likely see a tough stand-off between “the Chavez man” Nicolas Maduro and the late president’s main opponent, US-supported Henrique Capriles Radonski.

Vietnam will get its own submarine fleet as soon as this year, said Russia’s defense minister while on a visit to Hanoi.

The Libyan authorities should do everything possible to stop the spread of Libyan weapons in the region and beyond, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Wednesday.

American President Barak Obama says the death of Venezuela's iconic leader Hugo Chavez opens ‘a new chapter in the country’s history’. This means Chavez will continue to be demonized in the US, believes investigative journalist Pepe Escobar.

North Korea has imposed no-fly and no-sail zones off both its coasts, South Korean government sources tell Yonhap news agency.

The news of the Venezuelan leader's death has had a moderate impact on crude prices, but has opened a Pandora's box about the future of the nation's oil reserves, the world's largest.

The State Property Management Agency, which is seeking the return of a plot of land in southern Russia embezzled by corrupt Defense Ministry officials, has unexpectedly faced resistance from the ministry.

Igor Sechin, President Vladimir Putin’s special representative and former deputy prime minister, will head the Russian delegation at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s funeral, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday amid concerns about the future of bilateral business ties.

Georgian officials say Moscow has so far granted nearly 40 wine companies permission to export their products to Russia, moving away from a ban on wine and mineral water imports from Georgia imposed in 2006.

The upper house of Russia’s parliament, the Federation Council, has no data on how many of its senators might have foreign bank accounts, its deputy speaker said on Wednesday.

Russia’s top human rights official has addressed a court with a request to cancel the prison sentences of the members of the world-famous feminist punk band Pussy Riot, saying they are unlawful.

In power for 14 years, the late leader of the New Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chavez, has left enough memorable quotes for his successors. Part of his political legacy, some of the phrases showing great wit and sense of humor have made history.