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Russia is checking papers that suggest some $4bn (£2.5bn) of state funds was stolen during the building of a big oil pipeline.

The head of Russia's deep cover U.S. spying operations has betrayed the network and defected, a Russian paper said on Thursday, potentially giving the West one of its biggest intelligence coups since the end of the Cold War.

The video appeared on a Russian news Web site on Monday, illustrating the severity of an attack that drew attention from domestic and foreign groups defending journalists’ rights.

Jailed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky used his closing argument at his second trial on Tuesday to raise his profile as a political prisoner, saying he would sacrifice his life for the rule of law in Russia.

Volcanic eruptions on Russia's far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula have tossed massive ash clouds into the air, forcing flights to divert and blanketing a town with ashes.

Across Eastern Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan and the Gobi Desert - it certainly was a long way to go without getting lost... The vehicles, equipped with four solar-powered laser scanners and seven video cameras that work together to detect and avoid obstacles, are part of an experiment aimed at improving road safety and advancing automotive technology.

President Dmitry Medvedev says he has lost trust in Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. But Luzhkov, targeted in a recent negative media campaign, has said he would refuse to resign in his dispute with the Kremlin.

Microsoft said it was barring its Russian division from taking part in piracy cases against opposition groups.

One of the authorities’ new tactics for quelling dissent in Russia is confiscating computers under the pretext of searching for pirated Microsoft software.

While flying over Alaska on his way to Asia, Gov Schwarzenegger couldn't help but take a lighthearted jab at the state's former governor... He said he was "looking everywhere but can't see Russia from here."