Russians—urbane, successful Russians—aren't happy that Vladimir Putin will likely be their next president, again. Over 30,000 took to Red Square over the weekend to protest against ongoing election-tampering and the sense of inevitability that Putin's party, United Russia, will rule in perpetuity. But billionaire oligarch and majority owner of the New Jersey Nets Mikhail D. Prokhorov, announced that he will collect the 2 million signatures needed to run as an independent in March. “I made a decision, probably the most serious decision in my life: I am going to the presidential election," Prokhorov said at a press conference. more ›

So far, ex-IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn's has had slim pickings in terms of people coming to his defense on charges that he sexually assaulted a maid; when Ben Stein is the best you got, you know you're in trouble. But someone who knows a thing or two about conspiracies has come to his aid—(terrifying) Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin: "It is hard for me to evaluate the hidden political motives. But I cannot believe that it looks the way it was initially introduced. It doesn't sit right in my head," Putin said in comments posted on the official Kremlin Web site. more ›

You know what ex-boyfriends are good for? Selling naked photos of you to Playboy after you're unmasked as a Russian spy and deported from the United States. Anna Chapman became infamous as the "sexy," if not very good, spy—her cover: NYC party girl— attempting to gain access to American secrets, thanks to some fetching Facebook pictures and is now basically a national hero in Russia (she is heading up the youth wing of Vladimir Putin's party). Now, Playboy is publishing nude photographs of the 28-year-old in its January issue. more ›

WikiLeaks makes the news again today with more leaked diplomatic cables dealing with the relationship between Italy's Silvio Berlusconi and Russia's Vladimir Putin (as well as the whole Amazon dropping them from their servers thing). Meanwhile, some critics are noticing information found in the leaks—specifically about Iranian ballistic missiles—that isn't making most of the mainstream coverage and infers government meddling. more ›

Aw, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin celebrated with the "Deep Cover" Russian spies who were arrested in the U.S. and sent to Moscow in a "spy swap" earlier this month. He said, "I met them. We talked about life. We sang, not karaoke, but to live music. We sang From What the Motherland Begins," which the Guardian explains is a "a sentimental Soviet song... about a daring Russian agent who is sent to Germany during the second world war and infiltrates the SS." Putin added, "I'm not joking, I am serious. And other songs with a similar content." more ›

A day after Mayor Bloomberg got people talking with some comments that seemed to leave the door open for the possibility of bonus term in office in four years time, he took out any room for the imagination. On his weekly radio show, the mayor said, "12 years would be quite enough. I would be 71 ... not that there's anything wrong with 71." On Thursday Bloomberg gave the sort of vague response to a question about a possible fourth term that rekindled the sort of speculation that kept him in the headlines as a potential third party candidate for president in 2008. His answer also conjured up his last reversal on term limits—Politico said he was "looking a little like Putin." On the airwaves yesterday, Bloomberg said, "N-O. Under any circumstances," and said he thinks he'd get "tired and bored" with sixteen years as mayor. more ›