MILAN (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin's diplomatic blitz on Ukraine got off to a rocky start Thursday when he kept German Chancellor Angela Merkel waiting for a meeting then showed up in the middle of a dinner with European and Asian leaders.Putin is looking to get relief from Western economic sanctions imposed since Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its support for a pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine.To that end, he has scheduled a series of meetings on the sidelines of a two-day ASEM summit of European and Asian leaders, including a breakfast >>>

This week, Femen protesters drenched themselves in simulated blood to express their outrage over Russian president Vladimir Putin's treatment of Ukraine. But this isn't the first time that fake blood has replaced ice-cube-filled water to get a political point across. In September, a Philadelphia youth council called In Defense of Black Bodies posted a blood-bucket video on YouTube to oppose racism in America. The images are accompanied by the song "Strange Fruit" by Nina Simone. In Defense of Black Bodies charges the United States with "committing genocide against black bodies by means of mass >>>

Posted by Parvez Jabri 193 MILAN: Topless Femen activists poured buckets of wine over their naked breasts in front of Milan's cathedral Thursday, in the latest of the women's rights group's signature protests.The stunt, witnessed by a handful of bemused commuters on a chilly morning, came ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's arrival in the Italian city for an ASEM >>>