Uniquely among Soviet leaders, Mikhail Gorbachev made no secret of his warm and supportive relationship with his wife Raisa, an elegant woman who often appeared in public with him and whose premature death from cancer was a devastating blow.. In a 2012 memoir titled "Alone with Myself", Gorbachev said Raisa at first was not interested in a relationship.
A Soviet reformer, Mikhail Gorbachev continued to innovate after leaving the Kremlin -- as the first leader in Russia's modern history to play a public role in his years after power.. Long after leaving power, he continued to meet with world leaders to promote green causes.
Mikhail Gorbachev changed the course of modern history by triggering the demise of the USSR and allowing Eastern Europe to free itself from Soviet rule, earning him accolades in the West but the scorn of many Russians.. Lionised in the West for championing freedom and change at a time when many feared the Cold War would never end, Gorbachev became a figure of hate for many Russians who held him responsible for the destruction of the once-mighty Soviet empire.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died in Moscow aged 91, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday.. "Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev died this evening after a serious and long illness," the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow said, quoted by the Interfax, TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies.
South African actress Charlbi Dean -- who appeared in Palme d'Or winning film "Triangle of Sadness" -- has died at the age of 32, her representative said Tuesday.. Dean co-starred alongside Woody Harrelson and Harris Dickinson in Swedish director Ruben Ostlund's "Triangle of Sadness."
Suddenly notorious for a scathing first-person account of the war in Ukraine published online, Russian paratrooper Pavel Filatiev arrived in France seeking political asylum Sunday after quitting his country for fear of reprisals.. He left Crimea in early August and published his account of the war online.
Kazuo Inamori, a business guru and ordained Buddhist monk who reversed the fortunes of debt-ridden Japan Airlines, has died aged 90, a company he founded said Tuesday.. Inamori was an advocate of reducing government interference in business and he was known for his "amoeba management" theory, which grants autonomy to each unit of a company while group members pool their knowledge.
An Istanbul court Monday moved one of Turkey's biggest pop stars from jail to house arrest pending trial on charges of "inciting hatred" by making a joke about religious schools.. "We are very happy about the decision," Gulsen's lawyer Emek Emre said outside the courtroom, while adding that placing his client under house arrest was "incompatible with the law".
Bollywood megastar Ranveer Singh was grilled by police on Monday on charges of "obscenity" after posting naked photos of himself, in a case highlighting India's complex relationship with nudity.. The photos of Singh, the star of hits "Gully Boy" and "Simmba", stretched out naked on a carpet provoked a storm of debate on India's rolling TV news.
Britney Spears on Sunday released a lengthy audio message concerning the controversial guardianship that kept her primarily under her father's control for more than 13 years.. The audio message was originally tweeted by Spears without comment but the link was then deleted.
