Score one for common sense in New Jersey.

Yesterday, a state parole board denied releasing Robert Matthey, who, together with his wife Brenda, has been serving time for manslaughter and child abuse in the death of a child that they adopted from Russia.

That child was a little boy named Viktor, who was adopted from the Siberian town of Svobodniy with his younger twin brothers in December 1999. Less than a year later, Viktor was dead, having been starved, beaten and locked in an unheated basement room. His death and the senselessly light sentences handed... more

The big news for the week was, of course, the big win by President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in the December 2 legislative elections. According to a preliminary tally, United Russia won 64.3% of the votes cast and A Just Russia, a party loyal to the Kremlin, won 7.7%. The ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party won 8.1% of the vote, while the Communist part won 11.6%. Among those elected: Andrei Lugovoy, a businessman sought by British police in connection with the murder by radioactive poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006.... more

If you live or work in New York City and you want to get involved in a new philanthropic effort for Russia's orphans, head to the Times Square area today or Saturday.

St. Malachy's Church/Actors' Chapel Square is hosting a two-day exhibition and sale of art work created by orphans in Saratov. The church is located at 239 W. 49th, which is between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. There will be a piano concert from... more

Apologies. A host of reasons--personal, professional and most of all technical--kept me from getting this news to you as fast as I should have: There has been a new round of accreditations issued in Russia. The accreditations apparently were signed on November 22 or 23, but word of them did not get out until last week.

The list includes nine agencies, four of which are American, and the rest from Belgium, Canada, Israel and Italy. That was somewhat disappointing news to those of us who have been waiting for a large group of American agency re-accreditations. But given... more

Two years ago, as I was completing my second adoption from Russia, there was talk that Russia would soon begin requiring some sort of psychological test to determine parental fitness. Remember that, two years ago, Russian adoptions were being roiled by three high-profile cases of Russian-born children murdered by their American adoptive parents. An independent test of someone's suitability to be a parent didn't seem at all out of place.

Russia still hasn't passed a law mandating a psychological examination. But, speaking at the recent Adoptive Parents Committee conference,... more

You might remember that, last month, I told you about a special issue of American Express Publishing's Departures magazine, devoted solely to the luxuries of modern Moscow.

Moscow has had luxuries before. But under the Soviets, the baubles and beluga were pretty much limited to Communist Party favorites, and the luxuries might not have seemed terribly luxurious on Madison Avenue, Rodeo Drive or Avenue Georges V.

The clothiers, restaurateurs... more

Still no news on the news we all most want to see, the next round of accreditations, but plenty of other news in Russian business and politics this past week.

Let's start with the latter. On Friday, Russian prosecutors charged one of the country's deputy finance ministers with planning to embezzle $43.4 million. Sergei Storchak, described in news reports as one of Russia's leading liberals, had been arrested the week before. According... more

One bit of adoption news this week, though not the accreditation news we are all waiting to see. A former office manager and bookkeeper for the Florence Crittenton League Adoption Agency is facing federal mail fraud and tax evasion charges after allegedly stealing more than $600,000 from the agency. The Lowell, Mass.-based agency, which handled adoptions in Russia, Guatemala and China, said in a statement that the theft was uncovered in April 2006 and that it "in no way, shape or form" affected any adoptions... more

Two employees at Children's Hope International have been found to have forged documents in connection with adoptions in Russia.

The story was first reported by Missouri television station KSDK on Tuesday evening. Children's Hope, which handles adoptions in almost every state in the U.S. through its 16 regional offices, posted this statement from its executive director, Dwyatt Gantt, about the forgeries... more

Today, I want to circle back to a point I made very briefly in the post on our trip to the Smithsonian: Explaining to the children that you have adopted from Russia that the United States and Russia have not always been the best of friends. (Apologies to my non-U.S. readers, but some of what I am going to say here will also be applicable to your countries.)

Don't worry, I'm not going to launch into some long dissertation about U.S.-Russian relations. There are folks who do that for a living, and... more