Corey Flintoff

Most of Russia's opposition has been greatly weakened or eliminated. As Russians elect a new parliament, it's expected to be a rubber-stamp body that follows the wishes of President Vladimir Putin.

On Sunday, Russian voters will choose members of the lower house of parliament. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against the last such elections. They say they are too afraid to protest now.

What's behind Russia's apparent hacking into the Democratic National Committee — and what could it gain by meddling in the U.S. election? "It's all about Hillary Clinton," says a Russian journalist.

Russia is racing to build a bridge to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula it annexed in 2014. The strategically vital project is beset by charges of near-slave labor for workers and engineering concerns.

Russia denies that it was behind a hacking attack on the Democratic Party that led to embarrassing revelations ahead of this week's convention. "Total stupidity," says a Kremlin spokesman.

Russia recently introduced a new warship in the Black Sea, an area of heightened tension since Russia's seizure of Crimea two years ago. NPR's Corey Flintoff was invited on board.

The possibility of the entire Russian team being banned from next month's Rio Olympics increased Thursday. A court of arbitration upheld a specific ban on Russian track and field athletes attending the games, after allegations of the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs.

The International Olympic Committee will hold an emergency conference call for members of its Executive Board on Tuesday to discuss the latest revelations about Russian doping in international sport.

Some 100,000 Lithuanians live in the U.K. — a huge percentage of the tiny EU nation. We hear from one young Lithuanian, back in Vilnius for the summer, whose future is now in question after Brexit.

The leaders of the international body that regulates track-and-field is to decide on Friday whether Russian athletes will be allowed in the Rio Olympics. This comes in the middle of a doping scandal.