By John Helmer, Moscow Radosław Sikorski (lead image, left), the ex-foreign minister of Poland, ousted Speaker of the Polish Sejm (parliament), and premature retiree from the Bydgoszcz constituency, doesn’t speak his mind so much as his interest. So why has he announced he is now in favour of leaving Crimea in Russia; a separate peace […]

by Editor - Wednesday, July 6th, 2016
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By John Helmer, Moscow A week ago, Russia’s leading retailer of shoes, TsentrObuv (“Shoe Center”), was taken to the Moscow Arbitrazh Court by 99 plaintiffs, the largest group of creditors ever recorded against an insolvent business of TsentrObuv’s size and national name recognition. This is only the most recent claim to be filed against TsentrObuv […]

by Editor - Tuesday, June 28th, 2016
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By John Helmer, Moscow In countries where sugar is grown as a consumer staple or for export, the stuff is proverbially blamed for the temptation to exaggerate and to steal. In Madagascar, they say “truth is like sugar cane. Even if you chew it for a long time, it is still sweet.” But in Malawi, […]

by Editor - Thursday, June 23rd, 2016
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By John Helmer, Moscow Between August 9 and 12, 1941, taking their battleships in turn to meet in a Canadian bay, US President Franklin Roosevelt (centre, left) and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (centre, right) discussed what to do about their adversaries at the time, Germany and Japan. Roosevelt had whispered, and Churchill later reporting […]

by Editor - Sunday, June 19th, 2016
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By John Helmer, Moscow An Australian coroner and a firm of Sydney, Australia, lawyers have taken the global lead in fabricating criminal charges and billion-dollar compensation claims for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 — without producing evidence. Michael Barnes (lead image), a former tabloid journalist and now coroner for the state of New […]

by Editor - Tuesday, May 24th, 2016
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By John Helmer, Moscow The ex-Polish Foreign Minister and ex-Speaker of the Polish parliament, Radoslaw Sikorski, has failed to disclose his wife, Anne Applebaum’s (lead, right) income for 2015, in the annual disclosure required by Polish law for government officials and members of parliament. He has also failed to report his own income for several […]

by Editor - Friday, May 6th, 2016
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by Editor - Thursday, April 7th, 2016
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By John Helmer, Moscow The Marche Slave and The Farewell of Slavianka, Tchaikovsky’s and Agapkin’s marches against the Turks, are always going to be popular in Moscow, whatever the Turks do. John Philip Sousa is not a name that’s heard on Moscow radio, and his Stars & Stripes Forever will not be broadcast. Far from […]

by Editor - Wednesday, April 6th, 2016
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By John Helmer, Moscow It’s not often that a king of venerable line comes to Moscow to bargain over the price of a tangerine. It’s also unusual that President Vladimir Putin tells his state guest that he doesn’t understand why the trade between their two countries has fallen sharply. That’s a question which should have […]

by Editor - Sunday, March 20th, 2016
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By John Helmer, Moscow For Women’s Day, Mark Kurtser has a secret present for Russian women. His gynecology, obstetrics and maternal care company, Mother & Child (aka MD Medical Group, MDMG), is offering medical services at a rising price in cities across the country where the local governments have been persuaded to close down the […]

by Editor - Thursday, March 3rd, 2016
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