Russian Church: OK, Free Pussy Riot

The Russian Orthodox Church is again getting in on the Pussy Riot controversy, today reversing course and urging clemency for the imprisoned punk rockers if they repent for their "punk prayer," reports the AP. The church issued a statement today—a day before the women are set to make their first appeal in their two-year prison sentence—saying that if they show "penitence and reconsideration of their action," then they "shouldn't be left unnoticed." The church, which was the site of the punk rockers' protest, had previously insisted they should be prosecuted for their "blasphemous" conduct. (More Russian Orthodox Church stories.)