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Ha, Barack Obama's official photographer thinks he snapped this shot of a young Vladimir Putin standing there dressed like a big old nerd, ready to meet Ronald Reagan, 21 years ago in Moscow. Conspiracy? More »
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Everyone was surprised when Lucian Freud's 1995 painting, "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping," fetched $33 million at a Christie's auction—way more than was predicted. The anonymous buyer, who also bought a Francis Bacon work at Sotheby's for $90 mil, turns out to be Roman Abramovich, the dubious Russian billionaire who is one of prime minister Vladimir Putin's closest pals. WTF did he get the cash? "In 1995 Abramovich, one of Putin's closest allies, paid a mere $100 million for [state oil company] Sifnet; ten years later, the government shelled out $13.7 billion for it - an astronomical sum and far above the going market rate," More »
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