A bit of news on the adoption front, but not the big news on accreditation that we all want to see.

As expected, Robert and Brenda Matthey were sentenced to four years in a New Jersey state prison for causing the death of the child they adopted from Russia, Viktor Alexander Matthey, in December 1999. The couple had pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter on April 12 and dropped all outstanding appeals. But, given the time they have already served for their initial conviction of child abuse in the case, the Mattheys will, unfortunately, be eligible for parole in December.

Pamela Anderson is saying "maybe" to adopting from Russia. Several blogs are reporting, citing the British celebrity tabloid OK!, that the actress seems to be weighing an adoption. She visited an orphanage near Moscow last month after hosting the MTV Russia Film Awards. OK!'s Web site isn't searchable, however, so I can't immediately confirm this. Oh, and there's a story on Reuters this morning that is more of the usual mish-mash that happens when the mainstream press tries to tackle the issues of Russian adoption.

In politics, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered another blunt assessment of international relations at his Victory Day speech on Wednesday. (Victory Day is a Russian holiday that marks the defeat of Germany in 1945.) He didn't name the country he heaped criticism upon, but many news sources agreed that it was the United States. You can read the full text of Putin's speech here.

In business news, Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska has made a $1.54 billion investment in the Canadian auto parts maker Magna International. The deal will apparently also include Magna building a factory in Russia, but there are no details on that yet. And on Friday, VTB, Russia's second-largest bank, raised $8 billion in an initial public offering on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

In sports, Russia has refused to sign a new player transfer agreement with the NHL. According to Reuters, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation said that the fallout was not over money. However, its president, Vladislav Tretiak, also said the NHL's offer of $200,000 for developing players was nothing more than a "handout". Tretiak said players like the Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin and Pittsburgh Penguins player Evgeni Malkin were worth $1 million.

And further proof that some things don't change no matter where you are on the planet: A Russian legislator has introduced a bill that would require any foreigner seeking a work permit to pass a language test.