Washington is about to make public a list of Russians to be targeted for financial sanctions and visa bans because of human-rights abuse allegations.

WSJ: Ten Things to Know Today

Events in London and Moscow have also confirmed the list of subjects that Russians concerned for their life expectancy should avoid.

ECONOMIST: Russian poisonings

Or, returning to my initial comments, one wonders whether FIFA voting corruption swayed the vote in favor of the underdog Russians and Qatarian (8th and 14th respectively on the list of top oil producing nations incidentally).

FORBES: Blatter Control: FIFA's Financially Illogical World Cup Site Selections