Top Russian officials to retire at 70

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law increasing the retirement age for senior government officials to 70, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. The bill, introduced personally by Putin in September, was approved by the lower and upper houses of parliament on 19 December  and 26 December, respectively. The move reverses an attempt by Putin’s predecessor Dmitry Medvedev to rejuvenate the government by imposing the mandatory retirement age of 60, or 65 in certain cases.