A look at how the past days' parallel tracks - pushing for approval of a military attack while pausing to give diplomacy a chance - unfolded.

America's threat of military action against Syria's regime receded into the distance yesterday as Washington and its allies decided to test a Russian proposal.

Battling stiff resistance in Congress, US President Barack Obama has conceded he might lose his fight for congressional support of a military strike against Syria.

Prime Minister John Key says a UN-backed suggestion to destroy all of Syria's chemical weapons as a way of diverting an increasingly violent situation is an "interesting proposal".

Why do Russians continue put up with being ruled by Vladimir Putin, asks Gwynne Dyer, when there are alternatives available?

Before leaving for home after the Group of 20 summit, President Barack Obama sat down with Russian civil society activists to assure them that he would keep pressing Moscow to respect human rights.

They're supposed to be talking about growth and money, but the threat of war in Syria is creeping into nearly every conversation as the leaders of the world's 20 top economies huddle in Russia this week.

The Russian village of Oymyakon is generally known as the world's coldest permanently inhabited place.

Last week, Alexei Navalny, the recently convicted Russian opposition blogger, lawyer and candidate for the post of mayor of Moscow, posted a provocative item on his site.

One of the architects of Russia's anti-gay laws has launched an attack on homosexuality and accused broadcaster Stephen Fry of being "sick" because of his attempt to commit suicide.

Unmarried Kiwis are no longer able to adopt Russian children because New Zealand has legalised gay marriage.

Gay competitors in next year's Winter Olympics risk arrest by Russian police if they engage in "propaganda" for their homosexuality, Russia's Sports Minister has confirmed.

Russia's Bolshoi Theatre is mourning a new tragedy after a senior violinist died after falling into the orchestra pit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin must have been a very angry man when he sanctioned the posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky, who died in March 2009, for tax evasion.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has made an attempt to bounce Russia into supporting a future for Syria without President Bashar al-Assad.

A US diplomat disguised in a blond wig was caught trying to recruit a Russian counterintelligence officer in Moscow, Russia's security services say.

As a new generation of Russian It-girls cause a kerfuffle on the international catwalks, we take a look at Moscow's fashion revolution.

Liz Light spends 24 hours in Novgorod.