Corey Flintoff

French President Francois Hollande and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel travel to Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the crisis in Ukraine.

Civilians in villages near the front lines in Eastern Ukraine are being forced to leave their homes as fighting intensifies between Government forces and Russian-back separatists.

The eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk has been under siege and subject to artillery and rocket attacks for months — residents are living in stressful conditions and the separatist militia is jumpy.

Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov's classic, The Master and Margarita, ridiculed Soviet leaders and bureaucracy. It wasn't published until 27 years after his death, but it still resonates with Russians.

Russia is jailing three prominent figures from Ukraine and Estonia on what critics say are highly questionable charges. The cases also reflect the friction between Russia and its neighbors.

A tabloid and a TV channel have given play to theories asking if Americans plotted the attacks. Also, some religious figures have said Charlie Hebdo staff brought the violence on themselves.

Uzbekistan has been a key partner for the U.S. in the Afghan war. Now that the U.S. role in that war is winding down, will Uzbekistan's poor human rights record become more of an issue?

Igor Girkin claims to have touched off the conflagration, and he says he's proud of what he did. The former member of the Russian security service has a knack for turning up in tumultuous places.

Vladimir Putin's popularity soared after the Winter Olympics and the annexation of Crimea. But his year is ending on a bitter note, with Russia in a deep recession and isolated internationally.

Despite tensions between Russia and the West, Moscow is forging links with far-right, anti-EU parties in Europe. They're attracted to the traditional social values of Vladimir Putin's Russia.