PUTIN

Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday called off a much anticipated visit to the US where he was to join the other world leaders in a key summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations and meet with US President Barack Obama, the Kremlin announced, citing domestic concerns as the reason behind the change of plans.

Hacktivists boasting allegiance to the Russian branch of hacker collective Anonymous are claiming responsibility for temporarily shutting down the websites of the Kremlin and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

The group of hackers known as Anonymous on Wednesday kept its promise to join the protest against President Vladimir Putin by temporarily shutting down the Kremlin website, the official online page of the presidency.

Among the flurry of decrees Vladimir Putin issued after returning to the presidency for a historic third term were calls for faster privatization and government-sponsored boost in capital investment and closer ties with the US, based on equality, non-interference in internal affairs and respect for one another's interests.

Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's government to boost investment and shake up state-run industries in a flurry of decrees issued after he returned to the presidency on Monday with a call for a new economy.

The former KGB strongman is replacing his 'protégé' Dmitry Medvedev, who will almost certainly return to being Prime Minister in a job swap first agreed upon last year.

Russian riot police beat protesters about the head with batons and detained 250 Sunday after clashes broke out at a Moscow rally by thousands of people against Vladimir Putin on the eve of his return to the presidency.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that he will step down as the leader of United Russia, the nation's dominant political party, after he assumes the presidency in May.

Lyudmila Putin seems to have disappeared from public view, and the Kremlin is tight-lipped about her whereabouts. Relatively little is known about Lyudmila, but these photos give us a rare glimpse into her past.

It seems like Russia might be moving the world closer to a zombie apocalypse. Last week Anatoly Serdyukov, Russian defense minister, announced plans for a new electromagnetic weapon. Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia has been working on mind-bending psychotronic guns that can effectively turn people into zombies.

Bulgaria cites a lack of funding for not pursuing a planned nuclear power plant at Belene

Russia's president criticized the Republican presidential candidate for expressing views that smacked of Hollywood stereotypes about relations between the former rivals.

Putin, now Russia's president-elect, has said he would boycott the Group of Eight summit at Camp David and the NATO conference in Chicago this spring if U.S. missile defense plans weren't scrapped.

Beginning with a priceless shot of President Obama looking pretty happy at a bar on St. Patrick's day, here are seven high-profile political figures who might regret raising their glass during a camera flash.

A senior Republican senator on Thursday warned the White House that passing legislation to bolster trade relations with Russia won't be a slam dunk because of concerns over that country's record on human rights and foreign policy actions.

Sergei Udaltsov was one of the ringleaders behind protests in Moscow that drew tens of thousands of activists angry at the re-election of Vladimir Putin as President for a third time.

President Moncef Marzouki made the same proposal last week, but it is unclear if Assad responded to him or not.

The numerous benefits of high oil prices for the Russian economy have concealed the bigger picture that over the past decade they have also served as a hindrance to much-needed political and economic reform, and hence, faster growth according to a report by Capital Economics.

Russia's ruble-denominated Micex index dropped 3.9 percent, while the dollar-denominated RTS fell more than 4.3 percent a day after Monday's Putin bounce lifted both to record highs.

Russian police released hundreds of protestors and activists who were detained during anti-Putin rallies in Moscow on Monday, including opposition leaders Alexei Navalny and Sergei Udaltsov.

The widespread assumption among investors that Vladimir Putin's decisive victory in Sunday's presidential election will deliver stability to Russia's economy and its financial markets seems misplaced, according to a report.