Archive for February, 2010
Posted on February 28, 2010 - by Venik
Rescuers continue search for Chile earthquake survivors
Officials say more than 400 killed in 8.8-magnitiude quake, with tens of thousands more made homeless Rescue workers were today continuing to search for survivors after one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded killed more than 400 people in Chile and left tens of thousands homeless. Fears that a number of Pacific nations would be [...]
Posted on February 28, 2010 - by Venik
Hundreds dead after Chile earthquake
Officials say more than 300 killed in 8.8-magnitiude quake and warn death toll expected to rise More than 300 people have been killed after a huge earthquake struck Chile yesterday, destroying tens of thousands of homes and sparking fears of a tsunami in the Pacific. Pacific nations have been bracing themselves for a tsunami following [...]
Posted on February 24, 2010 - by Venik
Uproar over official’s daughter in fatal crash
No charges brought despite video evidence following Siberian collision which left a pedestrian dead and her sister paralysed Authorities in the Siberian city of Irkutsk were scrambling today to deny reports that the daughter of a high-ranking local official would face no charges after apparently running over two pedestrians in a horrific accident caught on [...]
Posted on February 24, 2010 - by Venik
Georgia’s fine, lofty, useless strategy | Georgia Hewitt
Georgia’s new plans to reintegrate Abkhazia and South Ossetia ignore a fundamental problem: their people aren’t interested The Soviet constitution introduced in 1936 by Iosep Dzhugashvili, the Georgian better known to the world as Stalin, has been described as one of the most exemplary documents of its kind. The fact that it was the same [...]
Posted on February 23, 2010 - by Venik
Back to the USSR? | Irina Filatova
Russia’s new military doctrine seems to be mostly concerned about its old cold war enemies, the US and Nato Earlier this month Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed Russia’s new military doctrine. It was long overdue: the previous doctrine appeared in 2000, and the next one was supposed to be ready five years ago. So, what [...]
Posted on February 23, 2010 - by Venik
Don’t cosy up to Russia, Europe | Garry Kasparov
Stifling free media, arresting journalists, bullying its neighbours – Moscow is stamping on freedoms and the EU turns a blind eye In the capitals of European democracies, leaders are hailing a new era of co-operation with Russia. Berlin claims a “special relationship” with Moscow and is moving forward on a series of major energy projects [...]
Posted on February 23, 2010 - by Venik
China’s soil deterioration may become growing food crisis, adviser claims
China faces struggle to feed population as pollution and urbanisation threaten supply, says government expert The quality of China’s overworked, polluted and artificially fertilised soil needs to be protected or the country could struggle to grow enough crops for the 300 million to 400 million people who will move from the countryside to the city [...]
Posted on February 22, 2010 - by Venik
Timoshenko’s Battleplan
Not a week ago Ukraine’s Prime Minister appeared determined to argue her case in court. She outlined a comprehensive legal strategy that seemed certain to tie down her archnemesis in court for months, bankrupt the government, and push the country closer to anarchy. But yesterday Timoshenko withdrew her complaint from the Supreme Administrative Court and [...]
Posted on February 20, 2010 - by Venik
Why it’s playtime for Natalia Vodianova
She looks like the girl who has it all, but supermodel Natalia Vodianova is still haunted by the poverty of her early life. Now she plans to build 500 playgrounds in her native Russia Although it’s 12 years since she left Russia, Natalia Vodianova still gets homesick, especially when she hears the language. “It’s odd [...]
Posted on February 18, 2010 - by Venik
Mistral for Russia
France’s decision to sell four Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia was met with heavy criticism in the US, Georgia and the Baltic States. Interestingly enough, Russia’s decision to buy the four vessels for more than $2 billion was met with a lot of criticism within Russia as well. This is really the first time in [...]
Posted on February 18, 2010 - by Venik
Andrei Platonov: Russia’s greatest 20th-century prose stylist? | Daniel Kalder
An anti-Stalinist author who died in obscurity in 1951 may be the greatest Russian writer of the last century, his English translator Robert Chandler explains to Daniel Kalder Stalin called him scum. Sholokhov, Gorky, Pasternak, and Bulgakov all thought he was the bee’s knees. But when Andrei Platonov died in poverty, misery and obscurity in [...]
Posted on February 17, 2010 - by Venik
Safety of Luge
The tragic death of Nodar Kumaritashvili on the luge track in Vancouver is the cause of online discussion about safety of this sport. Many criticize track designers and organizers of the Games for the track’s perceived lax safety standards. Others wonder if safety is even possible in a sport where one rides a tiny sled [...]
Posted on February 17, 2010 - by Venik
Soviet soldier pictured in iconic 1945 Reichstag photo dies
Abdulkhakim Ismailov was one of three Soviet soldiers seen in photograph taken shortly after fall of Berlin in 1945 A Red Army soldier who appears in a historic photograph helping hoist a hammer-and-sickle flag over the Reichstag in Berlin in 1945 has died, aged 93. Abdulkhakim Ismailov died of unspecified causes on Tuesday in his [...]
Posted on February 16, 2010 - by Venik
Olympic Bones
As I am sitting here watching the Olympics, I am reminded of a CNN (I think it was CNN) special a few years ago. Some angry-looking activists were discussing the alarming popularity of online videos depicting street fights, schoolyard brawls and such. The gist of the discussion was that most of us share the responsibility [...]
