The Russian Duma has passed a second reading of a religious offense law that has provoked a firestorm of controversy. The legislation has been softened, but still represents a significant ramping up of punishments compared to existing laws.Read Full Article at RT.com read more

The Industry and Trade Ministry representatives could be placed in Russian embassies in China, India, United Arab Emirates and Cuba, according to a draft presidential decree published on the government's official website. read more

French actor Gerard Depardieu, visiting Grozny to film a new movie, said the ethnic Chechen brothers accused of the Boston bombing had been raised American and that residents of Chechnya were not to blame. read more

If you blinked you might have missed it, but NASA cameras captured video of the largest explosion it has ever seen on the moon, when a meteorite crashed into the lunar surface in a bright burst of light visible to the naked eye.     read more

For months now, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been treating his numerous social media followers to a blow-by-blow account of his life. Besides posting posting pictures of mundane activities such as a trip to the dentist's, Kadyrov has used the Instagram photo-sharing service to display images of him hanging out in a bathrobe with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and chatting with French actor and tax exile Gerard Depardieu. Now he has added another luminary to his collection of pix. read more

The Russian Central Bank has issued into circulation 700,000 Sochi 2014 bullion coins.Read Full Article at RT.com read more