Sudden Putin Death Syndrome

Let's just say I have my theories about this one:

Natalya Estemirova, who won numerous international awards for her work, was bundled into a car as she left her home in Grozny, the Chechen capital. Her body was later found by the side of a road in the neighbouring province of Ingushetia. She had been shot twice in the head at close range.

Mrs Estemirova, a single mother in her early 40s, was the seventh opponent of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed Chechen president, to have been murdered in the past 10 months.

***

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, was said to have been "indignant" over the killing but there was no response from Mr Putin, the prime minister, who appointed Mr Kadyrov to restore order in the troubled republic. Mr Putin was criticised in 2006 after he remained silent for three days following the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist who campaigned on injustices in Chechnya.

Mr Kadyrov has denied accusations that he ordered the killing of Mrs Politkovskaya, insisting that he did not "kill women".

In the past 10 months many of his rivals have been found dead after killings in Vienna, Istanbul, Dubai and Moscow.

Although she was not a political rival, Mrs Estemirova was one of the few figures in Russia who dared to expose abuses in Chechnya.

Hours before she died, activists held a press conference that called for Mr Putin's prosecution before an international criminal court.

Putin involved? Nahh, couldn't be. He would be that obvious, would he?

Vladimir Putin Gets Some New Homeboyz

A friend alerted me to this BBC story, which only sounds like a Dave Chappelle skit:

Russia's energy giant Gazprom has signed a $2.5bn (£1.53bn) deal with Nigeria's state operated NNPC, to invest in a new joint venture.

The new firm, to be called Nigaz, is set to build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Nigeria. (emphasis added.)

Analysts say the move could further strengthen Russia's role in supplying natural gas to Europe.

The agreement comes during a four-day African tour by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

As well as forming Nigaz, Russia is keen on developing a trans-African pipeline to transport Nigerian gas to Europe.

Read the whole BBC article here, which has a few more mentions of the company's name.

Uh-Oh, I Don't Like The Sound Of This

Czar Putin is considering joining OPEC. That cannot be good:

The OPEC oil cartel is struggling to put a floor under plummeting oil prices, but even its largest production cut in history Wednesday failed to prevent prices from falling to a four-year low near $40 a barrel.

Oil producers are being squeezed so hard by the global recession that Russia, the world's second-largest producer, is flirting with joining the cartel - a move that only six months ago would have sent oil prices soaring to $200 a barrel, analysts say.
***
Countries like Russia and Venezuela that have to spend far more than $40 a barrel to extract oil, and which have ambitious social programs to fund with their oil revenues, have been hit particularly hard by the collapse in prices.

Russia, whose economy has been in a deep crisis since August, sent a delegation to the OPEC meeting to announce it is curbing output by 320,000 barrels a day - an amount that analysts said reflects the natural decline of production in fields where Russian oil companies have not kept up investments needed to maintain output.

Russian delegates said they have decided against joining the cartel for now.

Yoga With Vladimir Seemed Gay; Judo Much More Manly

Fresh off his latest hit, Fishing with Topless Putin comes this:

First we saw him shirtless while fishing.
Then he was pictured at the wheel of a massive racing truck and shooting dead a tiger in the Siberian forest.

He has also appeared operating a train, sailing on a submarine and co-piloting a fighter jet.

Now Vladimir Putin - the world's most manly leader - has released yet another display of his own masculinity: a DVD entitled 'Let's learn judo with Vladimir Putin'

Full story here.