Russia

As it prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, the beachfront Russian city of Sochi is hoping to become an attractive resort city. Money is flowing and development is under way, but some expect growing pains.

Russia's economic transformation due to its oil wealth is well-known, but not so the state of its public health which shows an alarming contrasting picture.

American-style malls are cropping up in Siberia, and gobbling up land, to enable once-isolated Russians to consume in ways that might have been unimaginable a generation ago.

Former Russian president Vladimir Putin has announced his intentions to propose that Russia and the United States move forward with plans from the early 20th century to build a 64-mile tunnel between the two countries.

In order to raise money to provide much-needed housing for its soldiers, the Russian Army has plans to auction of millions of dollars worth of property -- from huge mansions to entire towns.