When Vladimir Putin returned one year ago to the Kremlin for a historic third term, Russia could boast robust if unspectacular growth, a budget flush with cash from high oil prices and the world's most profitable company. But in the space of just 12 months, growth has slipped to the extent that Russia risks entering recession, oil prices are suddenly trending downwards and the outlook has darkened for the state champion gas firm Gazprom.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday handed out the first "Hero of Labour" awards to Russians since reviving the Soviet-era tradition this year, with recipients ranging from top conductor Valery Gergiev to a Siberian coalminer. The honorary Hero of Labour award and medal, recreated by the Kremlin in March for the first time since the end of the Soviet Union, was bestowed on a group of five people for the first time as Russia marked the May 1 holiday with organised parades of labour unions and pro-Kremlin politicians.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday said Russia could change agreements for the adoption of Russian children made with France and other Western states that are legalising gay marriage. "I consider it fully correct to make changes to the appropriate documents. It is a current issue and we need to think about it," Putin said at a meeting with lawmakers. "We need to react to what is going on around us. We respect our partners but ask (that they) respect the cultural traditions and ethical, legal and moral norms of Russia," Putin said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin rejected comparisons with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin on Thursday in his annual televised question-and-answer session with citizens, denying political persecution but saying Russia needed order and discipline. A liberal journalist referred to a host of legal sanctions applied to Putin's opponents since he was re-elected president to ask him whether there were elements of Stalinism in his exercise of power.