CNN will not be seen on channels in Russia beginning next year, Turner Broadcasting said Monday. "Turner International is assessing its distribution options for CNN in Russia in light of recent changes in Russian media legislation," the company said in a written statement. "We are bringing our existing distribution relationships to an end while we do that. "We hope to re-enter the market in due course, and will notify our partners of any update about resuming these services." The network's news operation in Moscow is unaffected, the statement said, as reported by USA Today.. Cable distributors were notified in a letter from Turner Broadcast System Europe Ltd., a division of Time Warner, according to the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS. The letter did not spell out a reason for the move. One distributor, Akado, confirmed it had received the notification, the news agency reported. Another distributor. VimpelCom, also acknowledged being notified and said it hoped the news channel would be back in Russia next year. The Russian newspaper Vedomosti said some experts tied the pullout to the increasing difficulty in obtaining licenses. Another suggested it was linked to a drop in advertising. The move comes at a time of strain between the United States and Russia over the Russian military involvement in Ukraine. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia who is a professor at Stanford University, commented on the news by tweeting: "Shocking & sad. Can one really recreate USSR in 21st century?" The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was dissolved in 1991. "I remember the day when you could first watch CNN in the USSR," he said in another tweet. "Now the clocks turn backward. So short-sided & anti-modern & sign of fear." CNN began broadcasting on Russia's over-the-air Channel 24 in the early 1990s during the early Glasnost period, when Soviet-style controls were eased under then-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Since then, CNN broadcasts have been distributed largely over cable and satellite networks and through pay-TV operators. Vedomosti said that in 2009, Roskomnadzor, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, began more tightly scrutinizing foreign stations operating in Russia and requiring them to get a local broadcasting license within six months. In a further tightening, Russian media law was amended in 2010 to cap foreign participation in a broadcasting operation to 50%. In 2014, the ceiling was dropped to 20%. "Not all broadcasters wanted or have been able to bring its corporate structure into compliance with the law," Vedomosti said. Many foreign operations, including Voice of America, Radio France International, Russian Service BBC and Deutsche Welle, have moved to distributing their broadcasts to Russia over the Internet, Vedomosti said.

Dark smoke rose from the upper floors of Radio France's headquarters in Paris on Friday as a fire prompted an evacuation of the building. There were no reports of injuries, Radio France spokeswoman Marine Billoir said. Firefighters eventually extinguished the flames, reported France Info radio, part of Radio France. The fire started in an unoccupied section that was under construction, Billoir said. Information on what caused the fire wasn't immediately available. Pictures distributed by Agence France-Presse and Getty Images showed smoke billowing out of several upper-floor windows of the circular facility. Photos on social media also showed smoke rising above the Paris skyline, visible from some distance. Source: CNN