With their horn-rimmed glasses, casual cigarettes and vinyl records, the feisty and colorful 20-year-olds in director Valery Todorovsky's films look like your average hipsters. But this is Cold War Russia, and these youths have never been to America. Kimberly Scarsella '16 is pleasantly surprised by Hipsters, playing at Cornell cinema this weekend.

Dale Corson, the University's eighth president, was under investigation in part because, from 1944 to 1946, his name had appeared on a list of members of the American Soviet Science Society, Inc.

Jing Jin '13 discusses the irony and absurdy of the trial finding punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism.

Nathaniel Rosen '13 argues that the United States needs to address its failed "reset" with Russia. 

The largest country in the world by area, the Russian Federation, has frigid winters and moderate summers, in which temperatures rarely top 70 degrees. This July, record temperatures exceeded 105 degrees, hitting the nation with a high price - wildfires began on July 29 and spread to central and western Russia.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union the United States has been incrementally increasing its influence in the former Eastern Bloc, as well as countries that have historically been considered part of Russia (whether or not that’s good is a separate issue from whether or not it's true.) The recent crisis over Georgia is the first of what will most likely be a long and sustained reaction and attempt to reassert Russian control in its former backyard.

Cornellians are often said to be living in the “10 square miles surrounded by reality” that is Ithaca. Yesterday afternoon, however, the Guerlac Room in A.D. White House was packed with students attending a panel discussion called “A New Cold War? The Crisis in Georgia and Its Implications for East-West Relations.”

In the event organized by the Cornell International Affairs Review, Prof. Valerie Bunce, government, joined Georgian author and political figure Irakli Kakabadze and spoke to about 100 people. About 20 members of the audience stood at the entrances of the small room throughout the two-hour discussion.

Cornell boasts of having one of the most diverse student and faculty populations in the world. With undergrads, grads and professors from over 120 countries, few are better suited to keep you up-to-date and informed on rapidly changing world events. This weekly section will highlight prominent global issues through a Cornell perspective.

Last Saturday, hundreds of Georgians in T-shirts emblazoned with the red crosses of the Georgian flag linked hands along New York City’s Fifth Avenue to protest the Russian attack on Georgia.

WIESBADEN, Germany (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Monday that he would travel to Iran despite reports about a possible assassination attempt, saying if he paid attention to all the threats against him "I would never leave home."

Russia's Interfax news agency, citing a source in Russia's intelligence services, said Sunday that suicide terrorists had been trained to carry out the assassination in Iran. The Kremlin said Putin was informed about the threat.

But the Russia president said his trip was planned long in advance and that he would talk with Iranian leaders about their disputed nuclear program, although he stressed the original purpose of the trip was to discuss issues affecting states bordering on the Caspian Sea.

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Monday he would lead the dominant party's ticket in December parliamentary elections and suggested he could become prime minister, the strongest indication yet that he will seek to retain power after he steps down as president early next year.

Putin is barred from seeking a third consecutive term in the March presidential election, but has strongly indicated he would seek to keep a hand on Russia's reins.

He agreed to head the United Russia party's candidate list in December, which could open the door for him to become a powerful prime minister — leading in tandem with a weakened president.

Putin called a proposal that he become prime minister "entirely realistic," but added that it was still "too early to think about it."