The night before Christmas

It fast approaches. Let me just say that the demo outside the Russian Embassy went well. Between 60 and 100 people attended. There were a few speeches, some slogans shouted for fair elections and a new year without Putin (some hope); as it was largely a Russian event, somebody brought a guitar and there was much singing.

In Russia, tens of thousands turned out across the country. It seems the weather is relatively mild - General December is not on the side of the Kremlin. Reuters has photos.

I shall be signing off soon but I do want to wish all the blog's readers a very merry Christmas. Thank you for reading it, for commenting and for arguing with me. Thanks to the odd troll for providing us all with entertainment. Normal service will resume in a couple of days.