Russia pokes fun at election hacking accusations

Need some election interference? The Russian Foreign Ministry is ready to help — or so it says in its Facebook April Fools' Day message, offering an audio file of a purported new automated telephone switchboard message for Russian embassies. "To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponent, press 1," the recording begins, in Russian and English. Press 2 "to use the services of Russian hackers," and 3 "to request election interference.” A ministry duty officer confirmed that the post was an official joke. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday emphatically denied allegations of Russian meddling in the US presidential election.