Here's a story that sheds some light on why Russian President Vladimir Putin is so firmly entrenched as his country's ruler and sole serious decision maker. It has to do with the vast wealth even his low-level allies -- not to mention his inner circle -- have been able to accumulate while he's been in power.
London tabloid the Daily Mail has been writing about Russian President Vladimir Putin's Spanish villa since 2012, when a British contractor working in the ritzy Marbella area attributed the palatial building, then under construction, to Putin. The last Daily Mail readers heard about it just a week ago was that the Russian leader was planting a vineyard on the estate. The Spanish press, too, has had a lot of fun with the Putin mansion story.