Russia's effort to promote a demographic revival may be working. Tatyana Golikova, Russia's minister of health and social development minister said Friday that 1.6 million babies were born in the country last year in 2007, the highest number of births since 1991. According to the McClatchy-Tribune news service, the birth total for 2007 was up by 122,750 from 2006. Last January, Russian legislators approved incentives to encourage Russians to have more children.

And maybe some good news for those of... more

This is a very nice way to end the month of January: Seven more adoption agencies have been accredited by the Russian government. The decrees, all dated January 28, cover three agencies from the United States, and one each from France, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

Here's who they are and a little bit about what they do:

The agencies accredited from the U.S. are ABC Adoption Services of Roanoke, Virginia, Beacon House Adoption Services of Pensacola, Florida, and... more

Russia signed a $15 billion agreement with Bulgaria on Friday to build a natural gas pipeline under the Black Sea. The deal will allow Russia to ship gas to Europe but bypass Turkey. According to The New York Times, analysts are worried that it could also make Europe more dependent on energy from Russia: The European Union has been trying to pull together its own pipeline project through Tukey, which... more

Russia named nationalist politician Dmitry Rogozin as its new representative to NATO. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the 44-year-old Rogozin has led several marches and demonstrations to assert the rights ethnic Russians. He has been strongly critical of the West and NATO, and is opposed to the missile-defense shield that the United States has proposed deploying in Poland and the Czech Republic. Rogozin kicked off his tenure by giving a... more

I don't know what to make of the story that showed up on RIA Novosti yesterday.

RIA Novosti is a news agency owned and operated by the Russian government. It grew out of a news service started by the Soviets in 1941. And as such, you probably wouldn't be surprised to see stories on it that reflect an official viewpoint.

The story that showed up yesterday on its English-language site (RIA Novosti publishes in Russian, English, German, French, Arabic, Persian, Japanese and Chinese) carried the headline "40,000... more

With Russia on holiday break until after Russian Orthodox Christmas, this week's news is all business.

The lead story is energy: According to a report in the London-based newspaper The Financial Times, Russia's Gazprom is negotiating for a major stake in Nigeria's energy reserves. The talks, which a Nigerian official characterized as "mind-boggling" were confirmed to the paper by a Gazprom executive. Nigeria is Africa's biggest supplier of crude oil... more

In case you haven't noticed, there's a presidential election coming up in the United States. Many voters have litmus tests by which to judge the candidates. Mine is healthcare reform. But if, as someone who has adopted from Russia or is preparing to adopt from that country, your measuring stick is a candidate's policy on Russia, The Washington Post has a piece that might interest you. (Only two candidates have so far come out with positions on adoption, former New York... more

Russia's population continued to fall in 2007, but the decline was slightly less than the drop in 2006. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, Russia's population had fallen by 207,600 to 142 million as of November 1. Citing the government's statistical service, it said that there had been an 87.9% jump in immigration to Russia, with most of the newcomers coming from former Soviet republics. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been working to improve Russia's demographics with measures like increased maternity... more

The biggest news this week was, by far, Russia's re-accreditation of 12 more adoption agencies. The group, which included nine agencies based in the United States, brings to 26 the number of American agencies re-accredited.

Time magazine chose Russian President Vladimir Putin as its man of the year for 2007. In explaining its choice, the magazine noted that "Russia is central to our world--and the new world that is being born." It added that "if Russia succeeds... more

This week, we learned who the next president of Russia will be and who will be his prime minister.

On Monday, President Vladimir Putin--who cannot run for a third consecutive term--named First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his choice for president. One day later, Medvedev returned the favor by saying that Putin was his choice for Prime Minister. Yes, there will still be a presidential election on March 2, but given the strong win by the pro-Putin United Russia party in the December 2 parliamentary elections, Medvedev seems to have a lock on the presidency. ... more