Archive for July, 2009
Posted on July 31, 2009 - by Venik
Oleg Deripaska fails to have lawsuit transferred from English court
Oleg Deripaska, said to be the richest man in Russia, failed yesterday in his challenge to a court ruling that a £2bn-plus lawsuit launched against him by a former friend should be tried in England rather than Russia. The court of appeal in London dismissed his appeal against a high court decision that the claimant, [...]
Posted on July 31, 2009 - by Venik
Russia Taking Political Killings More Seriously?
Journalist Anna Politkovskaya, killed in 2006 in what appeared to be a contract murder. Political killings have declined in recent years in Russia, but still tend to blot Russia’s image in the filed of human rights. Several recent contract murders have been tied to Chechnyan politics, where complex rivalries have been taken to Moscow in [...]
Posted on July 30, 2009 - by Venik
Biden's Russia Gaffe
If there is no domestic constituency that is offended, a gaffe is not treated as a gaffe. But Vice President Joe Biden’s snarky remarks about Russia fall into the gaffe category anyhow. What is the point? Original article Share on bebo Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin [...]
Posted on July 30, 2009 - by Venik
Moldova votes out Europe’s last ruling Communists
Pro-EU opposition parties win surprise victory three months after ‘Twitter revolution’ Europe’s last ruling Communist party was today swept from power after pro-EU opposition parties in Moldova won a surprise victory in parliamentary elections. With almost all of the results counted after yesterday’s poll, the Communists received 45.1% of the vote, or around 48 seats [...]
Posted on July 30, 2009 - by Venik
Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko drops libel case against Economist
Magazine claimed Timchenko benefited from his close relationship with Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin A secretive Russian billionaire has abandoned his libel case against the Economist magazine after it suggested he had benefited from his close relationship with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s former president turned prime minister. Gennady Timchenko said recently that while he and Putin [...]
Posted on July 30, 2009 - by Venik
13 million abortions carried out every year in China, newspaper reveals
Statistics do not take into account 10m ‘abortion pills’ sold every year or terminations carried out in unregistered clinics At least 13 million abortions are carried out in China every year, mostly for single women, a state-run newspaper revealed today . The actual number is believed to be even higher since the figure only covers [...]
Posted on July 29, 2009 - by Venik
Celtic stand in the way as Dynamo search for an answer to Russia’s European conundrum
The weight of history – both on and off the pitch – stands between Dynamo Moscow and Champions League success It was at Highbury in December 2003 that an eastern European side last made it through to the second phase of the Champions League. Lokomotiv Moscow didn’t exactly do it in a blaze of glory, [...]
Posted on July 28, 2009 - by Venik
Loose Lips…
Newspapers in America and Russia are busy busting Joe Biden’s chops for taking lead from Sarah Palin and going Maverick on relations with the Kremlin. It is not that Biden said something that the Russians didn’t already know: Russia’s economy and population are both in decline and long-term prospects are not exactly rosy. Depending on [...]
Posted on July 28, 2009 - by Venik
Kirill is not the Kremlin’s man | Adrian Pabst
Patriarch Kirill isn’t doing Russia’s bidding in Ukraine. What he wants is a unified, independent Orthodox church This week’s visit by Russia’s Orthodox patriarch, Kirill, to neighbouring Ukraine has been the subject of some controversy. Many suspect that Kirill is the Kremlin’s cleric, intent on advancing a pro-Russian agenda. The accusation is that his presence [...]
Posted on July 28, 2009 - by Venik
Putin Talks Tough to Banks (Sound Familiar?)
The United States is not the only country where the political leadership is attempting to throw its weight around with banks. Russia’s system is different in many ways, but what seems to be familiar is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s effort to strong-arm the banks to adopt policies he think would be most effective. What is [...]
Posted on July 27, 2009 - by Venik
Russian Champ Fedor Emelianenko Still Looking for a Fight
Fedor Emelianenko of Russia puts down Matt Lindland of the U.S. during a mixed-martial-arts match in St. Petersburg Vladimir Rodionov / EPA / Corbis (Photo Source: Time) You wouldn’t expect there to be a lot of people standing in line to fight someone who, as described in American news magazine Time “possesses an assassin’s glare [...]
Posted on July 26, 2009 - by Venik
Russia's Educational Perspective on Religion is Very Different from that of the United …
A new Kremlin plan to teach students religion or secular ethics is meant to combat the aimlessness of youth. http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=29488 Perhaps it will–to some extent. The approach is probably unique–teach what is again the dominant state religion (Russian Orthodoxy) as the one acceptable Christian faith, and also teach–according to student desires–Islam (the religion of a [...]
Posted on July 24, 2009 - by Venik
Moscow architecture under threat
Moscow architecture under threat Original article Share on bebo Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin Share via MySpace share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post
Posted on July 24, 2009 - by Venik
Report warns of ‘full-scale attack’ on Moscow’s architectural heritage
Historic buildings being destroyed faster than in any other European city as ‘overscaled new monsters’ are built Moscow’s historic architecture is being destroyed at a faster rate than that in any other city in Europe, a report published today warns. The Russian capital’s classical palaces and Soviet constructivist masterpieces are being replaced by “overscaled new [...]
