Within five seconds, a dot of light that Russian authorities say is a Boeing 737 appears in the sky over the tarmac and plunges to the ground in a near-vertical crash.

A Russian passenger airliner 'hit the runway and burst into flames' near Kazan this morning, killing 50 people - but officials say no children were among the dead.

Pop legend Madonna has joined a chorus of international stars in urging the release of 30 Greenpeace crew members jailed after a protest against energy prospecting in the Arctic.

Relatives of two Greenpeace activists detained with 28 others in Russia over an Arctic oil drilling protest have told of their heartbreak over their extended detention.

The 30 people arrested following a Greenpeace protest at a Russian oil rig in the Arctic have been transferred to St. Petersburg, Greenpeace International and Russian transport officials said.

A Russian performance artist nailed his genitals to the ground outside Moscow's Red Square in protest over Russia's "police state" as the country marked national police day.

The European Space Agency says one of its research satellites re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on an orbit that passed over Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica.

Scientists studying the terrifying meteor that exploded without warning over a Russian city last winter say the threat of space rocks smashing into Earth is bigger than they thought.

Actors Jonah Hill, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kristen Bell are among a batch of celebrities donning Russian-language "Love Conquers Hate" T-shirts to show support for gays in Russia alarmed by a new law banning pro-gay "propaganda".

Two Kiwis protesting against deep-sea oil drilling are caught in the middle of a high-stakes power play.

Russia has dropped piracy charges against jailed Greenpeace activists - including two New Zealanders - and charged them with hooliganism instead.

A female suicide bomber has blown herself up on a city bus in southern Russia, killing six people and injuring about 30, officials said.

Greenpeace said about 200 people turned out at a protest in Wellington in support of activists being held in Russia.

Charges of piracy have been laid against 30 Greenpeace activists arrested by Russian authorities, including two New Zealanders.

A Russian court ordered seven more crew members of a Greenpeace ship to be detained for two months over an open sea protest against Arctic oil drilling.

More than 20 anti-oiling campaigners, including New Zealanders Jonathon Beauchamp and David John Haussmann, will spend the next two months in a Russian jail.

The UN Security Council, long paralysed by deep divisions over how to deal with the Syrian conflict, is about two days away from agreeing on a resolution to require Damascus to dismantle its chemical weapons stockpiles.

Protesters rallying for the release of 30 Greenpeace activists - including two Kiwis - are holding fort outside New Zealand's Russian Embassy today.

International leaders are failing in their fight against global warming, one of the United Nations' top climate officials has said.

A prominent member of Russia's parliament has exploited the deadly shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington to ridicule the United States.