Vodka and isolation: welcome to rural Russia
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Friday is when the action  happens in this isolated Russian village, six hours&#39; drive  north from Moscow along icy roads, past smoggy industrial towns  and through vast pine forests.
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Putin signs law restricting airtime and content in effort to curb his country&#39;s alcohol intake. MOSCOW  - A sweeping ban on beer advertising in Russia became law Tuesday in a move to curb the country&#39;s
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DEMIDYV, Ukraine  - Nikolai manoeuvred his bike through the ruts in a dirt road and shook his head in disgust. "Can you call this a civilized country with roads like this?" he asked after swerving to avoid a deep mud puddle.
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It's been nearly 13 years since the break-up of the former Soviet Union, and many Russians still are getting used to the freedoms which have followed.
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Rupert Wingfield-Hayes makes a gloomy prediction for Russia's car industry as he travels along the Volga river to sample everyday life in Russia.
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BOROVSK, Russia -- Not much was happening in Borovsk, population 12,000, a place of cottages slouching on grassy slopes. Then, five years ago, amateur folk artist Vladimir Ovchinnikov was possessed by a vision that the town should become one giant artist canvas.
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UST-BOLSHERETSK, Russia  - For a rare visitor to the volcanic Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East, no other custom reveals more about the local economy, lifestyle and environment than salmon poaching.
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By Mark Landler and John Markoff John Markoff reported from San Francisco. Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Moscow.
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MOSCOW -- Even critics of Pavel Lungin concede that his films -- from his debut, the festival-darling "Taxi Blues," to the true-to-life tale "Tycoon" -- have a knack for hitting a nerve in Russia. His most recent film, "The Island," has touched on something more ephemeral. For many, it speaks to the Russian soul....
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A battle over the definition of vodka that has divided eastern and western Europe nears its climax with a vote in the EU parliament.
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Off-color language by young Russians is proving a money-spinner for authorities in a southern region.
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NEW YORK  - Heavy drinking, including alcohol-based liquids not meant to be ingested, such as cologne or cleansers, caused nearly half of all deaths among working-age men living in Izhevsk, Russia, between 2003 and 2005, investigators report in The Lancet.
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A breakdown of which former Soviet republics enjoy generally warm official ties with Russia and which have a chillier relationship:
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Spent the last week sick as a proverbial dog. A nasty cold snap, combined with too much schmoozing and boozing, has put my heinie in a sling. So Iâve been home, nursing my few remaining brain cells back to health and perusing my favorite news sites. Itâs been an interesting few days.
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PEREDELKINO, Russia -- The unpaved, unlit roads are clogged with traffic. Getting to and from work in the center of Moscow is a 90-minute crawl each way. The schools are lousy. There are no stores within walking distance. Local healthcare facilities are primitive.
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TSOVKRA-1, Russia  - By a quirk of history that goes so far back in time no one really remembers it, nearly every man, woman and child in the remote mountain village of Tsovkra-1 can walk the tightrope.
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Russia's MPs are urged to consider a cheap "people's vodka" to reduce high death tolls caused by fake alcohol.