Three men went on trial Wednesday in connection with the killing of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency reported. Ibragim and Djabrail Makhmudov, who are brothers, and former interior ministry officer Sergei Khadjikurbanov, are not accused of killing Politkovskaya themselves, but being accomplices. It is the second time the three are being tried in connection with the 2006 murder. They were found not guilty in February, with the jury saying there was not enough evidence to convict ...

The former Soviet republic of Georgia and one of its breakaway territories, Russia-backed South Ossetia, accused each other of violating the cease-fire that ended last year's Russian-Georgian war, days before the conflict's anniversary. The European Union, which monitors the boundary in place since the 2008 conflict, said on Tuesday it had not seen any evidence to confirm either side's claims but expressed concern about the allegations. "The EU urges all sides to refrain from any statement or action that may ...

Maria Sharapova continued her rehabilitation from injury with a comfortable victory at the L.A. Women's Tennis Championships on an opening day that saw early exits for three of the four seeded players in action. The unseeded former world No. 1 improved her record since returning from nine months out with shoulder problems to 14-5 as she crushed Australia's Jarmila Groth 6-0 6-4 on Monday night. The Russian, who was blown away by Venus Williams in the quarterfinals at Stanford on ...

Michael Phelps wrested back his world 100-meter butterfly record after another titanic showdown with Milorad Cavic at the world swimming championships in Rome on Saturday evening. Olympic champion Phelps, who saw his Serbian rival beat his leading mark in Friday's semifinals with a time of 50.01 seconds, came home to win in a stunning 49.82. Cavic, who controversially finished second behind the American in a photo-finish in Beijing last year, also went below the previous best as he was runner-up ...

On July 30, Russian president Dmitri Medvedev sat down for talks with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, two countries that sit in the crosshairs of the U.S.-led war on terror. The meeting with Afghan president Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Zardari, took place in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan. Reportedly on the table were plans to beef up trade ties as well as improve cooperation in the fight against Islamist extremism — clear signs, experts say, that ...

Ninety-two years after the Russian Revolution and 20 years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, Europe's last Soviet-style government is finally on its way out. In Moldova this week, four months after popular upheaval, the Communist Party accepted defeat in a national election. Four pro-Western opposition parties must now scrabble together a coalition which they say will distance the country from Moscow, more fully embrace democracy and integrate with Europe. "This is definitely the beginning of something ...

From the mid-1980s, Hungarian-born investor and philanthropist George Soros pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into foundations in Eastern Europe dedicated to promoting the idea of the "open society" and challenging the region's Soviet-backed regimes. Here, writing exclusively for CNN.com, he describes how the work of his foundations ultimately contributed to the collapse of communism. I set up my first foundation in Hungary in 1984. The idea behind it was simple. The state dogma, promoted by the ruling communists, was ...

Barbie turned 50 this year, and she's been celebrating her birthday with a whirlwind world tour, christening a new store in Shanghai and strutting the runways of New York's Fashion Week. As curvaceous and sprightly as ever, the petite doll even paid a visit to the nation's capital for a recent weeklong convention, and the reception there proved that much of the world still has a love affair with the leggy blonde. The 29th annual Barbie Convention sold ...

To say that Courtroom 76 is shabby doesn't begin to convey its dilapidation: the walls are a mess of peeling paint, and a cascade of empty boxes partly blocks the entrance to this attic annex of London's Royal Courts of Justice. It's a far cry from the limestone and sandblasted glass interiors of the city's designer shops that are such a magnet to Russia's superrich. Yet here and in a neighboring courtroom, four prominent Russian oligarchs have been indulging ...

It's easy enough to buy a smoke at Isa Yakubu's grocery store on a busy street in Lagos, Nigeria. Never mind if you don't have much money. Most local merchants are happy to break open a pack and sell cigarettes one at a time — single sticks, as they're known — for about 10 Nigerian naira, or 7 cents. "St. Moritz is the most popular brand," says Yakubu. "But [people] also like Rothmans and Benson & Hedges." Single sticks ...