Topic: U.S.S.R.

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Briefing Chechnya: How a remote Russian republic became linked with terrorism

The main suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing are two brothers from Chechnya, a Russian republic that has been the scene of cyclical revolts and brutal crackdowns for the past 200 years.

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Energy Voices Nuclear power tries its sea legs

Russia has announced plans to build a floating nuclear power plant by 2016.
Nelson Mandela and the qualities 'within easy reach of every soul'

President Obama shouted him out today. Only recently has Mandela's private thinking during his darkest days come to light: 'Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.'
NASA's new astronaut class marks changing of guard for US spaceflight (+video)

NASA named its first new astronauts in four years Monday. Of the eight new recruits, four are women, and all are members of the 'space shuttle generation.'
Opinion On Iran's nuclear program, Obama should take a cue from JFK and 'go first'

Fifty years ago, John F. Kennedy announced the US would stop nuclear tests in space. The move was meant to build trust for negotiations with the Soviets, and it worked. President Obama should follow the JFK example by, for instance, waiving some sanctions on Iran.
Estonian believers shop a spiritual 'marketplace'

Though often cited as one of Europe's most agnostic countries, Estonia is not so much a nation of atheists as a place where seekers can explore traditional and non-traditional beliefs equally.
Chinese premier visits India, talks up trade and trust

Premier Li Keqiang arrived this weekend in New Delhi on his first foreign trip. India has become China's biggest market for infrastructure contracts, but the two countries remain wary neighbors.
Olive Press Israeli artist Sovar Lerner sees harmony in a teapot

A new art piece on exhibit in New York highlights how Israel is an immigrant nation.
Decoder Wire Russia spy case: Was US diplomat set up? (+video)

From the ill-fitting wigs to wads of cash and a 'recruitment letter,' the whole affair seemed more like a spy scene from a Judd Apatow comedy than a brooding John le Carré novel.
The Real North Korea

Are North Korea’s leaders insanely ideological – or merely pragmatic?
Latin America Monitor Move over Beyoncé: Another American explores Cuba, 'people to people'

Like Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the Monitor's Linda Feldmann travels Cuba on a 'people to people' tour. Since 2011, such trips have had the sanction of the Treasury Department – a legal way for Americans to see the long-forbidden island.
Energy Voices US oil boom means oil prices must drop, right? Wrong.

Even though production of oil from new fields in the U.S. is booming, there is a consistent decline in production from old fields around the world, and OPEC members have not increased production. Meanwhile, though demand for oil is falling in the US, it continues to grow around the world.
Energy Voices Is nuclear fusion power now possible?

The quest for nuclear fusion power is well known, Daly writes, having been around since the dawn of the nuclear age, but the physics have precluded significant research. Until now.
The Monitor's View In postelection Venezuela, why nonviolence must win

Since its flawed April 14 presidential election, Venezuela has experienced violence over opposition demands for a vote recount. Pro-democracy forces must keep the moral high ground of nonviolence to avoid another Syria.
How NASA dodged a derelict Soviet spy satellite

In March 2012, NASA's Fermi space telescope could have collided with a Russian naval signals satellite, were it not for an untested maneuver.
Opinion Reminder from Boston Marathon bombings: A need to integrate immigrant children

The Boston Marathon bombings could not have been foreseen in the case files of 8-year-old asylum seeker, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and his 15-year-old brother, Tamerlan. What should be questioned is whether US authorities do enough to integrate immigrant children once they arrive.
Syria chemical weapons: Where did they come from? (+video)

The roots of Syria's chemical weapons program lie decades in the past, perhaps back to the 1970s. Other countries were early suppliers. What's uncertain now is if Syria can make its own chemical weapons.
Briefing Chechnya: How a remote Russian republic became linked with terrorism

The main suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing are two brothers from Chechnya, a Russian republic that has been the scene of cyclical revolts and brutal crackdowns for the past 200 years.
Chechen strongman corrects his minister - with a boxing glove to the head

Ramzan Kadyrov's sparring match – ostensibly good-natured 'criticism' of the minister's job performance – is seen by some as reflective of the darker undertones of Kadyrov's hard rule.
Return of a King

William Dalrymple looks for contemporary lessons in the story of Britain's disastrous 19th-century invasion of Afghanistan.
Global News Blog Fundamentalism and the Chechens' fighting history

The ancestral home of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has long been a land of fighters, but it took on the character of an Islamic jihad in the 1990s.
Opinion Boston bombing: Media haste makes mistakes

The rush for information about the Chechen suspects in the Boston bombing has led to mistaken reporting and pointing to innocents. The authorities, though, have not misled the public. It is important to let them do their jobs, and not rush to a judgment that may well be false.
Chechen identity looms over Boston Marathon bombing suspects

If true that the two suspects were raised in Chechnya, its warrior tradition - which stresses male independence and defiance of authority - would likely have shaped their childhood.
Can Pakistan drive the Taliban out of its tribal belt?

With the 2014 withdrawal of NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan looming, Pakistan is turning its attention to the impoverished tribal areas where regional terror groups have long sought haven.
Antares vs. Falcon 9: How the two rockets ferrying NASA's cargo differ

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has already proved itself able to get a cargo payload to the International Space Station. Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket, set for its first test launch Wednesday evening, is a very different animal.
Energy Voices How oil exporters reach financial collapse

High oil prices are good for oil exporters while low oil prices are good for oil importers, Tverberg writes. The result is a price tug of war between oil importers and oil exporters.