Free Republic

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's prison service on Friday announced it would transfer Pussy Riot punk Nadezhda Tolokonnikova to another penal colony after she went on hunger strike complaining of slave-labour conditions and threats. Tolokonnikova, 23, is serving a two-year sentence in a penal colony in the Mordovia region of central Russia for the band's protest against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow church. On September 23 she began an eight-day hunger strike demanding to be moved to another penal colony. It ended with her being taken to a hospital run by the prison service and placed on a drip. On...

On a blazing summer afternoon in Moscow, Stefania, an Italian professional in her early 30s, manages to look picture-perfect. In a belted tangerine dress, with an impeccable manicure and glossy hair, she fits right in to a local culture that celebrates ultra-feminine style. “You have to dress bright, like a traffic light – high heels, short skirts, hair, nails – to attract men’s attention,” she explained. “Dating in Moscow is a war, and your looks are your only weapons.” Yet even as she turns heads in the street, Stefania admits that her love life is a struggle. “Dating Russian men...

Women in America's armed services will have new options for what units they can join in coming years, the Pentagon says. The military said in January that it will end its combat exclusion that set a minimum size for units in which women could be deployed; the limit kept many women away from front-line combat units. The shift means women could join elite forces such as the Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. Depending on the job, women could begin training to join combat units in the next one to three years, according to several military officers who spoke at a...

Feminism could destroy Russia, Russian Orthodox patriarch claims. Kirill, head of church and close ally of Putin says feminist organisations 'proclaim the pseudo-freedom of women' Feminism is a "very dangerous" phenomenon that could lead to the destruction of Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church has said. "I consider this phenomenon called feminism very dangerous, because feminist organisations proclaim the pseudo-freedom of women, which, in the first place, must appear outside of marriage and outside of the family," said Patriarch Kirill, according to the Interfax news agency. "Man has his gaze turned outward – he must work, make money...

The Democrat Comic-Strip Narrative Series present: TALES FROM THE WAR ON WOMEN™ By the DNC-Media Complex SYNOPSIS It's the beginning of the 21st century. The US economy is crumbling because of George Bush. The Republicans prevent young President Obama from fixing it because they get rich off the people's suffering. To distract from the economic issues, the Republicans begin an unprovoked War on Women with a surprise attack on a young attractive activist, who has quickly become a sex symbol for all American men and a role model for all women - except Republicans. The narrative is still being created,...