Russia

News Hour: Russia blamed politics for a decision to bar its Paralympians from taking part in next month’s Rio Games because of a state-sponsored doping program, saying on Monday it would press ahead with a legal...

News Hour: A Swiss court rejected appeals by Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and track-and-field athlete Sergei Shubenkov, who had been trying to overturn a decision banning them from taking part in the Rio Olympics, the...

News Hour: All 11 Russian boxers who qualified for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics have been given the all clear to compete at the Games following confirmation from the IOC, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) said...

News Hour: US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged Russia to “restrain” itself and the government in Syria as fierce fighting there continues on the day he had hoped political transition could start, reports...

News Hour: Partial sanctions against Russian athletes over the country’s state-run doping system are preliminary, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on Sunday, defending the organization’s position amid vocal criticism, reports Reuters. The IOC...

News Hour: The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on Friday formally suspended Russia’s eight-strong weightlifting team, effectively excluding it from next month’s Rio Olympics, because of doping offences. Last month, the IWF said its Executive Board had...

News Hour: Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov has landed safely in a field on a private property in West Australia after setting a world record for circumnavigating the world solo in a hot air balloon. The 64-year-old...

News Hour: The United States and Canadian Anti-Doping Agencies want a complete ban on Russia competing at the Rio Olympics after next week’s key report into allegations of state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics...

News Hour: A Russian warship sailed uncomfortably close to a US navy ship in the eastern Mediterranean this week, conducting maneuvers that US army officials denounced as “aggressive” and “erratic”, reports BSS. The Yaroslav Mudryy frigate...

News Hour: At least 14 children on a summer camp in northeast Russia drowned when their boats capsized in a storm on a lake, investigators said on Sunday, reports BSS. The accident happened overnight on Lake...