Never a Dull Moment

NYT on Former Russian Agent's Death

The Latest From the Moscow Times

I don't know how much press this is getting in the states, but it seems like I am finding articles on it every day in the newspapers on-line. The whole affair seems very bizarre and I am quite sure that no one is telling the whole truth (except for the London police when they say they have no clue what is going on.) The whole thing seems like something from a John la Carre novel. When people ask why Russia is so interesting, this is one good example: there is never a dull moment.

The Moscow Times (usually a Kremlin critic) talks about the tracing of the polonium through BA flights back to Moscow. Sounds a little suspicious, right?

Another recent development involves Yegor Gaidar, who was one of Yeltsin's revolving door of Prime Ministers. He presided over some of the most catastrophic of the economic privatization shocks of the early '90s, but is now not seen as much of a big player. He suddenly became very ill last week in Ireland and turned of the next day in a Moscow hospital with what appears to be the after effects of a poisoning attempt. The plot thickens...

On a lighter note, a Russian version of one of my favorite TV shows, "Law and Order," is due out soon. Here is a link to an article about it.
Law and Order Po-Russkii
My favorite part is the quote, "For most Russians, a police force without corruption might sound as implausible as borshch without sour cream, or a legal document without a stamp. But if you tune in next February to watch the Russian adaptation of "Law & Order," don't expect to see Moscow's finest planting evidence, beating confessions out of witnesses or extorting cash out of illegal Tajik workers."