Russian court jails six over piracy mystery

A Russian court has jailed six hijackers of the ship Arctic Sea, whose mysterious disappearance with a suspected illicit cargo sparked global concern in 2009.

A giant in tumultuous times

TOLSTOY: A RUSSIAN LIFE Rosamund Bartlett Profile Books, 544pp, $49.99

IN THE HERALD

On the Eastern Front, German troops were penetrating Russian territory so rapidly it looked as though Petrograd would fall. The Russian Army was in such disarray that it was no longer a factor. The Bolsheviks, who had taken power under Vladimir Lenin the previous November, were trying to end the war but the Germans were intensifying the pressure. A detachment of Red Guards was dispatched to a small town 83 miles north-west of Pskov, which the Germans had already captured. They were desperately trying to organise stiffer resistance.