A Syrian Air Airbus A320 Turkish fighter jets have forced a Syria-bound civilian airplane heading to Damascus from Moscow to land in the Turkish capital Ankara. The Airbus A320 was intercepted by Turkish F-16 jets late on Wednesday as it entered the country’s airspace. The plane, reportedly carrying 35 passengers onboard, was then escorted to Ankara’s Esenboga Airport. Questioned by Turkey’s... 

Russia’s space agency wants to send a mission to Apophis, the notorious asteroid which may change its course and eventually collide with Earth. It will plant a radio beacon, which will help track the celestial body and assess the risks it poses. ­The 300-meter-wide asteroid first made headlines in 2004, when NASA reported that it has 1 chance in 223 of impacting on our planet in 2029. It was even... 

A group of Moscow residents has suggested outlawing animal sacrifices in the capital as a reply to the recent ban on the film Innocence of Muslims. In a press release forwarded to all major media the group, apparently formed by the NGO called Public Coalition for Defense of Moscow, said they will soon write a draft of the bill banning all animal sacrifice and submit it to the legislative bodies of... 

The Luzhniki stadium in Moscow FIFA President Sepp Blatter appeared on Russian national television to name the eleven cities where the 2018 World Cup will be played. ­There were 13 venues in the running, which were all visited by the FIFA inspectors during the two years after Russia won the World Cup bid. Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said earlier that the positions of Moscow, Saint... 

After a French study suggested that rats fed on Monsanto GMO corn suffered tumors, Russian researches plan their own, this time public, experiment. The unique reality show with rats is expected to prove or deny GMO’s health-threatening influence. ­The Russian scientists, who oppose genetically modified organisms (GMO) in food, expect that their year-long experiment will show whether the controversial... 

An unprecedented event took place at the conference on youth policy of the members of the Council of Europe. The declaration on the rights of the youth was not signed. It happened so because Russia refused to sign the document, as members of European delegations suddenly set forth a new paragraph, trying to make it the key one in the whole declaration. The paragraph was about the rights of homosexual... 

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at the conference “From Ancient Russia to the Russian Federation: History of Russian Statehood” at the Moscow State University Patriarch Kirill said the Orthodox Church did not intend to merge with the state but advised to stop copying western ways and values as this would mean ‘an eternal lagging behind’. Speaking to Moscow State University... 

Russian authorities temporary suspended the import and sale of Monsanto’s genetically-modified corn after a French study suggested it may be linked to cancer. ­The Russia’s consumer-rights regulator Rospotrebnadzor asked scientists at the country’s Institute of Nutrition to review the study. The watchdog has also contacted to European Commission’s Directorate General for Health & Consumers... 

The US Senate has threatened to impose political sanctions on Ukraine over the jailing of former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, urging Kiev to immediately release the opposition leader. The Senate adopted a resolution on Saturday that stressed that the Tymoshenko trial was “politically motivated” and urged her immediate release citing her poor health condition. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry... 

A State Duma deputy, the head of the Committee on Economic Policy and Entrepreneurship of the Russian State Duma, Yevgeny Fyodorov, told Pravda.Ru of his impressions from visiting the APEC summit in Vladivostok. According to him, the meeting showed that the U.S. gradually loses absolute power in the world economy and politics. The power and influence of other countries, such as Russia and China, grows... 

Russia to remain independent political power center The West has formed a political-military coalition that does not include Russia; China, a fiercely insular country has a historical wariness of building alliances. This forces Russia into a position of severe self-reliance and pragmatism. Following his trip to Russia at the start of the Cold War, the American poet Robert Frost summed up his visit... 

Russian Human Rights association Agora has addressed the Prosecutor General with a request to stop the practice of blocking access to the infamous anti-Islamic film before there is a court ruling on the subject. Agora reminded in its letter that neither the Prosecutor General’s Office nor the Federal Service for Control over Communications have the right to demand the blocking of access to information... 

The St. Petersburg governor has been asked to limit propaganda about the end of days. A member of the legislature in Russia’s second-largest city has proposed the law be introduced. The deputy, Andrey Gorshechnikov, writes in the official letter to Governor Aleksandr Poltavchenko that eschatological moods are growing in the community and the mass media, always thirsty for ratings, only add up to... 

Russia and North Korea signed an agreement to settle the debt of $11 billion. 90 percent of the debt is forgiven, and the remaining amount will be used in exchange for aid. Russia made it clear that it was ready for partnership. But will the courage of Moscow return North Korea into the ranks of the allies? The DPRK debts stem from the loans granted by the former Soviet Union, said Deputy Finance... 

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced it will close its offices in Russia. After 20 years of working in Russia, USAID officials said they were informed by the Russian government that their services were no longer required. According to the Foreign Ministry, USAID was attempting to manipulate the election processes in the country. “The character of the agency’s...