In 1991, after the Soviet Union dissolved, everything changed but stayed the same. As a result, today’s stakes are far greater, presenting much larger threats to world peace. In America, neocons are still dominant. Obama is more belligerent than Bush, waging four wars and various proxy ones. The Israeli Lobby, Christian Right, and other extremist elements drive them. Conflict is preferred over... 

Pro-Western media are completing the “artillery preparation” against Syria. In the West they have already built an image of Assad as a tyrant hated by the people and who is inferior to Gaddafi only in terms of the degree of his undemocratic attitude. Now Western journalists are arguing how many “peaceful demonstrators” he has killed – one hundred, five hundred or two... 

For the first time ever, ordinary Russians can now see documents that appear to confirm long-standing rumors that Vladimir Lenin had Jewish heritage. In a country long plagued by anti-Semitism, such heritage can be a significant taint, especially for the founder of the Soviet Union who is still revered by many elderly Russians. Among dozens of newly released documents on display at the State History... 

Doomsday scare in Russia A 14-year-old girl from the Republic of Mari El in Central Russia has committed suicide, allegedly because she was afraid of the upcoming doomsday, predicted by the American radio preacher Harold Camping. Nastya Zachinova believed the news that the world would end on May 21, her family told the tabloid LifeNews. The once lively teenager became angsty and withdrawn. On the Saturday... 

The talks about the doomsday have been ongoing for ages. It does not matter that it gets regularly postponed; it is the process of waiting for it is that matters. There is even a calendar which indicates the dates of the Apocalypse to the minute. Many of them are long gone into oblivion, some of them will take millenniums of waiting. Panic attitudes subside and then flare up with renewed force, reminding... 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has decided to run for the presidency next year, raising the possibility of a power struggle with his protege Dmitry Medvedev, the incumbent Kremlin leader, say highly placed sources. The once-close relationship between Mr Putin, the tough-talking former KGB officer who has inspired a personality cult, and Mr Medvedev, a softly spoken Twitter enthusiast, has become... 

The influx of migrants from former Soviet republics has long been out of control. It is understandable because the illegals receive “assistance” from employees of the involved agencies and ordinary citizens. The latter marry illegals without love, but with profit and no liability under the law. MPs have decided to shut down the marriage business. Each year the quota for migrant workers... 

File photo shows Israel's embassy in Moscow. Russia has expelled Israel’s military attaché to Moscow over alleged espionage charges, saying he has passed sensitive information to Tel Aviv. Air Force Colonel Vadim Leiderman was arrested during a May 12 meeting with Russian officials, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported on Wednesday. He was then questioned and told to leave the country... 

Topol-M missile. In a thinly-disguised message to NATO, which remains uncommitted to the idea of co-operating with Russia in a European missile defense system, the commander of Russian Strategic Rocket Forces (RSVN) said its ICBMs will soon be “invincible”. According to the commander of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces (RSVN), Lt. Gen. Sergey Karakayev, Russia’s RS-24 new intercontinental... 

Vladimir Zhirinovsky A top Duma political leader caused shock waves in a recent television interview when he warned that Russia could deploy an arsenal of new technology to “destroy any part of the planet” and kill over a hundred million people using secret weather weapons if the United States, the UN or Georgia tried to stop Russia’s entry into the WTO. Vladimir Zhirinovsky is Vice-Chairman... 

Melting of the polar ice cap has made Arctic resources more accessible. WikiLeak cables show fears that Arctic resources rivalry could lead to military conflict between Nato and Russia. The US government has signalled a new determination to assert its role in Arctic oil and gas exploration by sending secretary of state Hillary Clinton and other ministers to a summit of the region’s powers for... 

Moscow has greeted the reconciliation between the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas groups with enthusiasm, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesperson, Aleksandr Lukashevich. ­“On May 4, 15 Palestinian movements, including the two largest, Fatah and Hamas, signed an inter-Palestinian reconciliation agreement. Based on this, a transition government of independent “technocrats”... 

DPNI members Leaders of several nationalist groups have created united organization called “the Russians,” the former head of the banned Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) has said. ­According to Dmitry Demushkin, earlier this week the political council of the new organization elected the leadership and decided issues of the management. The new union’s immediate goal is to facilitate... 

Romania has agreed to host US missile interceptors on Romanian territory. Russia has issued a warning after Romania agreed to host the US missile system site at a Soviet-built base in the country’s southern town of Deveselu. Moscow warned that the deployment of US interceptor missiles on Romanian territory comes without considering the talks between Moscow and Washington on the issue. Earlier... 

From Moscow to St. Petersburg via rail transportation there are 649.7 kilometers. Russia will receive high-speed railway line Moscow – St. Petersburg in 2018. According to experts, the price of a one-way ticket for a high-speed train could reach $100. The expected passenger traffic is forecast at 12.8 million passengers a year, and the construction cost of the line will reach approximately 700...