Archive for April, 2010
Posted on April 30, 2010 - by Venik
Nikita Mikhalkov has been Burnt By the Sun of state patronage | Shane Danielsen
The Russian director’s latest epic has bombed at the domestic box office, a victim of his close links to Vladimir Putin. Yet, it is possible to be state-sanctioned and not sell out To be truly effective, James Joyce observed, the artist requires three things: silence, exile and cunning. But James Joyce never made movies. And [...]
Posted on April 29, 2010 - by Venik
Vladimir Putin hugs polar bear on Arctic trip
Prime minister fits collar to ‘the real master of the Arctic’ during visit to press Russian claim on valuable mineral wealth He has sunk to the bottom of the world’s deepest lake, skied down volcanoes and fished in Siberian rivers. Now, Russia’s action-man prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has gone one better – coming face to [...]
Posted on April 28, 2010 - by Venik
Russia posts Katyn massacre documents online
The publication of Soviet documents about Russia’s 1940 massacre of Polish officers is the latest diplomatic gesture towards Warsaw Russia today posted documents concerning the massacre of Polish prisoners in Katyn on a government website, and said it would release further archive material dealing with Soviet-era repression. Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, said he had personally [...]
Posted on April 28, 2010 - by Venik
Abkhazia: counting the costs of conflict | Anna Matveeva
Two years after the devastating dispute with Georgia, the breakaway region is now troubled by its new friend Russia Abkhazia may have been a holiday destination for the Soviet top brass 20 years ago, but now, Russian budget tourists who cannot afford a package to Turkey and don’t mind strolling along semi-ruins will fill its [...]
Posted on April 27, 2010 - by Venik
Nikita Mikhalkov’s Burnt by the Sun 2 becomes Russia’s most expensive flop
Public snubs eagerly awaited sequel to Oscar-winning portrayal of Stalin years It is Russia’s most expensive film – including graphic tank battles, murderous Germans and a forgettable cameo by a pasty-looking Stalin. But the Kremlin’s favourite actor and director, Nikita Mikhalkov, was tonight facing embarrassment after his long-awaited film about the second world war – [...]
Posted on April 27, 2010 - by Venik
Ukraine parliamentary vote on Black Sea fleet erupts into fistfight
Row over Russia’s access to Black Sea port sees smoke bombs and eggs thrown as MPs clash It is a country riven by bitter division, seething political conflict and furious tempers. Not Britain, but less genteel Ukraine, where parliamentarians today staged one of the most memorable brawls of recent times, involving eggs, fists, smoke bombs [...]
Posted on April 27, 2010 - by Venik
Video: Ukraine parliament fills with smoke as members throw eggs
Ukraine parliament in chaos as opposition disrupts ratification of deal to allow Russian navy to use Black Sea port as base 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 [...]
Posted on April 27, 2010 - by Venik
Ukraine nationalists throw eggs and smoke bombs in Kiev parliament
Yanukovych opponents protest against Black Sea port deal allowing Russian navy to remain in Crimea until 2042 Opposition lawmakers hurled eggs and smoke bombs inside Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesdaytoday as the chamber approved a deal allowing the Russian navy to extend its stay in a Ukrainian port until 2042. Thousands of opposition demonstrators rallied outside [...]
Posted on April 26, 2010 - by Venik
Drug use fuels world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemic
Inadequate funding from donors for harm reduction, such as clean needle exchanges and methadone, allows HIV to carry on spreading among injecting drug users and their partners Injecting drug use is driving the fastest-growing Aids epidemic in the world. It’s happening in eastern Europe. The number of HIV-infected people in Russia, for instance, has grown [...]
Posted on April 25, 2010 - by Venik
Letters: Ten days that shook the world of Russian history
Orlando Figes is a very gifted, creative, historian, one of the best we have. Yet, by writing anonymous poison pen reviews on Amazon of other historical works (Historian’s future in doubt, 23 April), he has so seriously compromised his personal and scholarly integrity that he should resign from Birkbeck forthwith. Unfortunately, there is no way [...]
Posted on April 24, 2010 - by Venik
24 Hours In Pictures
A selection of the best images from around the world 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 April 23, 2010 - by Venik
The shame of Orlando Figes | Robert Service
Orlando Figes’s secretive rubbishing of my work, and his subsequent legal threats, are disgraceful Yesterday I awoke to find that my fellow academic Orlando Figes had admitted responsibility for anonymous negative reviews of my three most recent books posted on Amazon. It’s been quite a fortnight. Last week I heard from Rachel Polonsky, whose book [...]
Posted on April 23, 2010 - by Venik
Russia and Georgia clash over uranium
President Saakashvili accused of lying after he says Russia made foiled attempt to smuggle uranium across border last month A new row has erupted in the Caucasus after Georgia’s president blamed Russia for a foiled attempt last month to smuggle highly enriched uranium across the volatile border. Moscow today accused Mikheil Saakashvili of lying after [...]
Posted on April 21, 2010 - by Venik
Ukraine extends lease for Russia’s Black Sea fleet
Deal with new President Viktor Yanukovych to cut Russian gas prices sees Ukraine tilt backs towards Moscow Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, today agreed to extend the lease on Russia’s naval base in the Crimea, in the most explicit sign yet of his new administration’s tilt towards Moscow. Yanukovych said the lease on Russia’s Black Sea [...]
