From Our Own Correspondent

The BBC's "From Our Own Correspondent" has always been an excellent way to gain a deeper understanding about the culture, politics and society of countries around the world. For example,recent articles have included subjects such as the Russian space programme, the obsession with guns in the USA (written by Justin Webb), and the effects of the foreign media on the North African revolutions, or the use of strange nicknames in the Philippines (recommended!). You can find an archive of all the articles here, and listen to the latest episode or download it as a podcast.

Lenin Assassination Plot

This fascinating BBC article investigates the attempted assassination of Lenin in 1918 by Fanya Kaplan and accusations that it had been coordinated by Robert Lockhart, a British agent. He had been sent to Russia to persuade the new Bolshevik government to continue fighting the First World War alongside its Triple Entente allies, but when it signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, making peace with Germany, Lockhart turned his attention to ways to destabilise the government. He was arrested by the Cheka but denied all involvement, and was later freed in exchange for a Russian spy. Lockhart instead suggested that responsibility should rest with Sidney Reilly, a flamboyant Russian who worked a freelancer for the British Secret Service but who had increasingly taken matters into his own hands. However, the historian Robert Service believes that Lockhart might have been using Reilly as a distraction, to cover up much deeper involvement of the British government in the assassination of a head of state. All documents relating to this are still kept secret, suggesting there is still a lot of sensitivity over this issue. More will be revealed over the controversy in a Radio 4 programme tonight, which will be available on iPlayer soon after.

International Women's Day

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. First celebrated in 1911, it was used as a rallying cry for the women's suffrage movement and then pivotally for reform during the First World War. Nowhere was this more important than in Russia where the women's protests in 1917 led to the fall of the Tsar. It is now a national holiday in Russia. See here for more information from the official site for the Day. Read here about its history from the UN's perspective.
Michelle Obama was celebrating the day as well yesterday with a press conference at the White House. It is a significant world celebration and event but there is not much about it in Britain. Should this change?
Here is one group's attempt to higher the profile of women's battle for equality starring Daniel Craig and Judi Dench - what do you think?

From Russia with Love

Greetings from St Petersburg!

We arrived at Heathrow at 6am and after a long check-in we were safely on board and very excited for our journey ahead.

When we arrived in St Petersburg it was a mild -20. The girls were well-prepared for the freezing conditions, but nonetheless it was still a shock. The girls were surprised by the nice hotel, but not so much the cheese and egg dinner! However, that was followed by a beef curry, of sorts. After a pleasant first day we looked forward to a packed schedule on Monday.

It is our second day in Russia and what a fantastic day it has been! We saw some amazing sites such as: The Bronze Horseman, the Hermitage, the Political History Museum-where Lenin gave his famous April Thesis (WOW!!) and the Russian Museum. Lunch consisted of some more Russian delights.

We are looking forward to tomorrow in which we will be visiting Nevsky Monastery, Church on the Spilled Blood, the Hermitage and the Kazan Cathedral not to forget the overnight train to Moscow! Hotel Cosmos here we come!

До свидания!