The mother of an autistic child claimed Friday that a Moscow aquarium refused to allow a tour group of autistic children on the grounds that "visitors do not like to see disabled people." The mother of an autistic child claimed Friday that a Moscow aquarium refused to allow a tour group of autistic children on the grounds that "visitors...

Dozens of Russian parents stripped of their parental rights abroad following difficult custody battles called for help Thursday from Russia’s top children’s ombudsman. Dozens of Russian parents stripped of their parental rights abroad following difficult custody battles called for help Thursday from Russia’s top children’s ombudsman. Irina Bergseth, of the public advocacy group Russian...

... industry, Anna Jackson-Stevens is one of many expatriates working side by side with Russians at the Dr. Romanov Center in St. Petersburg. Founded in 1989, the charity offers free treatment and rehabilitation to children struggling with autism and other neurological disorders. After almost two decades in Moscow's PR and publishing industry, Anna Jackson-Stevens is one of many expatriates working side by side with Russians at the Dr. Romanov Center in St...

Eighteen people were injured and four were killed when a school bus full of children collided with another bus in the Stavropol regionEighteen people were injured and three were killed when a school bus full of children collided with another bus in the Stavropol region. Seventeen people were injured and four were killed when...

... festivities on Saturday aimed at expats and Muscovites. From noon until dawn the next day visitors will be able to take part in various activities such as a ping-pong tournament, a vintage garage sale and children's games as part of the free event which is supported by the Dutch Embassy. Moscow's Flacon Design Factory hosts a day of Dutch-themed festivities on Saturday aimed at expats and Muscovites. From noon until dawn the next day visitors...

... last week prompted a senior official to renew calls for fewer foreign adoptions. Nine-year-old Anton Fomin immigrated to the United States with his birth parents, not through intercountry adoption, the embassy said in a statement. A spokeswoman for children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov confirmed that Fomin was given up for adoption after arriving in the United States. Fomin died last week in a house fire at the home of his adoptive parents in Davey, Nebraska. Astakhov hinted in several Twitter messages...

... started it tried to really look at the situation fairly." But any lingering cynicism about politics, or the system which she says every citizen has participated in creating, is swept away by the positive emotion she exudes when she talks about the children she and others at Gift of Life have helped. Chulpan Khamatova Education 1992 – Kazan State Finance and Economics Institute (degree not completed) 1993 – Kazan Theater School (degree not completed) 1999 – Russian University...

Ksenia Chernyavskaya is the fundraising manager for Downside Up, a Russian charity providing support for children and families affected by Down syndrome. Ksenia Chernyavskaya is the fundraising manager for Downside Up, a Russian charity providing support for children and families affected by Down syndrome. The charity also works toward raising...

... hundreds of babies in a Tbilisi cathedral as part of an effort credited with helping raise his country's birthrate. Patriarch Ilia II has promised to become the godfather of all babies born into Orthodox Christian families who already have two or more children. Since he began the mass baptisms in 2008, he has gained nearly 11,000 godchildren. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has said the patriarch deserves much of the credit for the rising birthrate, which in 2010 was 25 percent higher than...

... the child was disturbed, violent and she didn't want him anymore. The incident created an international uproar and prompted Russia to temporarily put a moratorium on its adoption program with the United States. Afterward, the World Association for Children and Parents, the agency that helped Hansen adopt the child, filed a lawsuit seeking child support. Hansen has since moved to California and has failed to show up at any of the hearings. She has hired three separate Tennessee lawyers to represent...

The Muscovite "get out of my way" attitude can be overwhelming when you first arrive here, but if you come to Moscow with young children in tow, the situation is completely different. It has to be said that Russians are not universally perceived as being caring people. A friend told me recently that when her father slipped on some ice and broke his hip here a few years back...

... its own pool, kindergarten or grade school, as is common at such complexes. A handful of residents have tried to learn more about the use of the fee income but haven’t received answers. One Westerner who lives at Angelovo with his wife and two children said he “can’t understand where the money is going,” and he expects more for the amount he pays. The man, who asked that his name be withheld because he worried about damaging his relationship with management, said that when...

My grandfather was born in Manchester in 1912. His parents had only recently arrived from Lithuania, and they soon moved on. After losing two children to scarlet fever in filthy industrial Manchester, they left for much healthier Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. My grandfather was born in Manchester in 1912. His parents had only recently arrived from Lithuania, and they soon moved on...

... in the run-up to the March 4 presidential vote, he pitched a strategy to increase the population from the current 143 million to 154 million by 2050 with the help of measures like providing financial and other support for families with more than two children and by raising migration into Russia by 300,000 people a year. 179742

Responding to local residents’ complaints of filth and an unsafe environment for children, a Moscow court ordered police to do something about a protesters’ camp in a Chistiye Prudy park on Tuesday. Responding to local residents’ complaints of filth and an unsafe environment for children, a Moscow court ordered police...

... there's no substitute for first-hand experience." Yelena Fomenko and Bo Knutson, also of the American Councils, outlined the program in slide after slide, showing teens how to make the most of their experience and reassuring parents that their children will be in good hands. Parents were asked to let their children "spread their wings" in the United States: Don't visit, don't solve their problems for them and don't panic. One phone call every two weeks. Again and again, the students...

... Russia, leaving their luxury market in the hands of rich bureaucrats, who neither want to draw attention to their wealth or spend on art that is often critical of the Kremlin. "When the richest people are bureaucrats — deputy ministers, the children of governors, the wives of mayors — then these people are ashamed of their wealth," Gelman said. "They would rather buy some expensive yacht far from everyone." Each of the three trendsetting galleries is changing in its...

... picketing City Hall with a sign reading, "Homosexuality Is Not a Perversion" on April 12. As proof of its verdict, the judge read out statements from several people who had expressed concern to the court that Alexeyev's actions might harm their children, Interfax reported. Alexeyev denied wrongdoing in court, saying, "I do not know what it means to promote homosexuality, and I do not admit my guilt." He said his protest had aimed to show that homosexuals have the same rights as other...

... been accused of being a kulak — an enemy of the state — even though he and his family were actually quite poor. He was arrested and given a long sentence in a gulag prison in the far north. He was never heard from again. His wife and four children struggled to survive because they also were branded as enemies of the state. They were not able to obtain paying jobs, and the children were denied all but the most basic education. Often food was impossible to obtain, and their two youngest...

... form and what its aim was," police spokeswoman Anzhelika Meshcheryakova told Interfax. She added that it was normal for police to give extra attention to students before the three-month summer vacation, which starts at the end of this week. "Children will spend more time on the streets. During this time we always do more to prevent crimes both committed by them and against them," Meshcheryakova said. However, an unidentified police spokesperson told Ura.ru that the request was aimed...