Did they or didn't they? The week began with a story, sourced to European and U.S. officials, that Russia was withdrawing its experts from an Iranian nuclear reactor site. The Iranians had been slow to pay the Russians for their work, but the reported move came against a background of growing international pressure on Iran to drop its nuclear plans. But no sooner was the first story out than, perhaps predictably, the Iranian... more

In late February, Elizabeth Brainerd, an associate professor of economics at Williams College who studies the impact of economic transition and globalization on countries, gave a lecture on the causes and consequences of Russia's current demographic crisis.

I wasn't able to get to Williams to hear the talk, but Prof. Brainerd just let me know that the college has made her 40-minute lecture available as a podcast. It makes for interesting listening if you are trying to understand the pressures that right-wing politicians in... more

Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nichego. Nichto.

I clicked hopefully on the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow late last night. What I wanted to see was confirmation of a whisper campaign that's been circulating on some Russian adoption blogs lately that March 20 would be accreditation day. The day that all the agencies that have trudged so patiently through the paper morass created by Russia's ongoing revisions to its adoption procedures would be rewarded with their... more

An adoption story leads the news from Russia this week. Russia's Supreme Court overturned three guilty verdicts in a seven-year case about the adoption of Russian children by foreigners and ordered a retrial. Last September, a court in Volgograd convicted a former Russian citizen and the former director and doctor of the Kirov orphanage of bribery and forging documents. All were given suspended sentences, however.

In technology, Russian tech companies have shown up in force... more

Ordinarily, this kind of news might not merit a full post. But after another excruciating bus ride into New York City with some clod who had to broadcast every detail of his business over his cell phone, I find what the Alexandrinsky Theater has done worthy of applause.

The Alexandrinsky, located in St. Petersburg, is Russia's oldest theater. I think this is where I saw a production of Lucia di Lamermoor (Italian opera, but sung in Russian) on my trip to the city in 1982, but I no longer have the playbill. What makes... more

Roman Abramovich, who was orphaned as a child, is now the 16th-richest man in the world according to the latest list of the world's richest people from Forbes, released on Thursday. Forbes pegged Abramovich's wealth at , $18.7 billion, which put him at the head of a list of 53 Russian billionaires.

Since I date my news weeks from Monday to Friday, I missed out reporting on the... more

Roman Abramovich still didn't crack the top 10, but don't feel badly for him.

Abramovich, who was orphaned as a child, is now the 16th-richest man in the world according to Forbes, with a fortune estimated at $18.7 billion that got its start in oil. He leads a pack of 53 Russian billionaires. Think of that--53 billionaires in a country that less than a decade ago was in economic shambles, a country that two decades ago barely knew the meaning of the word capitalism. Russia's 53... more

I made a promise, when I started this blog, that I would write not only about the process of adopting from Russia and raising children adopted from Russia, but philanthropic efforts to help the Russian children who may not be able to find forever families. That was how I came to write about an orphanage aid program started by a Hawaiian Rotary Club, and that is why I am writing today about ArkAngels.

ArkAngels For Russian... more

Over the last two years, many prospective parents have experienced lengthy delays in their adoptions in Russia as a result of changing regulations there. Late last week, the National Council For Adoption posted on its Web site the text of a letter to the Russian government asking politely, but firmly, for the delays to come to an end.

For those of you not familiar with the Council, it is an Alexandria,... more

This week, Russia offered more reassurances about the recent outbreak of bird flu. A veterinary service official told Reuters that Russia has cleared up outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in two areas. H5N1 is the virus that public health administrators fear could be transmitted from human to human and result in a pandemic. But Nikolai Vlasov, head of veterinary surveillance at animal and plant health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, also said that Russia expects more bird flu... more