Last independent newspaper in Russia forced to shut down

Novaya Gazeta, Russia's last independent newspaper, announced Friday that it will cease operations from Nov. 9, marking a major milestone for President Vladimir Putin's years-long effort to silence the country's free press.Novaya Gazeta said it was being forced to close under pressure from Russian authorities and security services. "The newspaper no longer exists," editor in chief Sergei Sokolov said in a video statement shared Friday on YouTube. "The Russian government, Russian special services, forced the editorial team to stop its work."The announcement came a day after the newspaper's staff learned they were being evicted from their Moscow newsroom on Potapovsky Lane, where journalists had worked for nearly 30 years. At the same time, the system that enabled readers to donate to the paper was switched off, cutting its only remaining source of funding. The Anna Politkovskaya Museum, a memorial to the paper's renowned investigative journalist who was shot dead two decades ago, will close with the newspaper, as it has been housed in her former office.Sokolov said authorities had left the team no choice but closure. In his statement he said the newspaper's staff would now "end on t...