Russian MTV Cancels Political Talk Show

Russia's music channel MTV has cancelled a new political talk show after just one episode due to apparent political censorship, the show's host said. "Today my program Gosdep was pulled from the air despite the rating. On Friday we were planning to film (opposition leader) Alexei Navalny," the show's presenter Kseniya Sobchak wrote on her Twitter blog on Tuesday. Gosdep, which aired for the first time in early February, was a debate-style talk show about politics launched on MTV, a channel that targets primarily teenagers. Sobchak, a glamorous socialite and sharp-tongued journalist, has made no secret of her participation in anti-Putin protests in Moscow in recent months.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/mtv-gets-too-political-for-russia-20120215-1t5q7.html
http://lenta.ru/news/2012/02/14/gosdeppresure/
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/sobchak/859232-echo/ (video: Gosdep, Episode 1)

Poland Objects to Russia's Report on Air Crash

Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, said that a Russian-led investigation into the air crash near Smolensk, Russia that killed the Polish president and other top officials was "incomplete", and vowed that his government would not accept the "unilateral account of the crash." Among other things, the report said that General Andrzej Blasik, commander of the Polish Air Force, was mildly intoxicated when he entered the cockpit shortly before the crash, and his presence distracted the pilot. The report did not find that shortcomings by Russian air traffic controllers were a factor in the crash. Despite his criticism of the report, Tusk nevertheless stated that he hoped improved relations between the countries would continue -- a sentiment echoed by Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/world/europe/14crash.html?ref=russia