November 2012

Use of Force by US Cannot Solve Problems - Russia

2012/11/30

MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti) - Resolving world problems by force as the US is trying to do does not work, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday in an opening speech to the 20th session of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council."The line of conducting democracy by iron and blood does not work," Lavrov said. This is clear...

Migrant Workers Start Russian Language Tests

2012/11/30

MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti) - Migrant workers arriving in Russia to find employment face tests of their knowledge of the local language from today, as a new law comes into force.All foreigners working in housing maintenance services, retail stores or public services are required to demonstrate a basic knowledge of Russian, and will...

Russia Assumes G20 Presidency

2012/11/30

MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Federation on Saturday takes over the presidency of the Group of Twenty major economies from Mexico.The Group of Twenty (G20) is a forum of the world’s largest economies consisting of 19 countries and the European Union. It was established as an instrument of global crisis management following...

Old Moscow Photo Collection

2012/11/30

Last week we showed you a nice set of pictures of the Russian capital before the revolution. Today it is turn of color photographs of old capital. The previous photo collection can be found here. Advertisement: This is traffic police. It reads “the four millionth car”. It reads “the three millionth car”. People are at the...

Russian Opposition Activists ‘Trained’ Abroad, Investigators Say

2012/11/30

MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian opposition activists who allegedly orchestrated Russian anti-Kremlin riots were "trained"’ abroad, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.Markin said the opposition activists were “specially trained outside Russia to organize and carry out mass riots aimed at overthrowing the...

Pussy Riot Member Appeals ‘Extremist’ Video Ban

2012/11/30

MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - Yekaterina Samutsevich, a member of the female punk group Pussy Riot, has appealed a court ruling that the group’s videos are extremist and the decision to ban access to them, the RAPSI news service reported Friday.“Though Samutsevich is not involved in the litigation, she submitted a cassation appeal...

Russian ‘Pensioner Killer’ Gets Life Sentence

2012/11/30

MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian man who murdered and robbed five pensioners near Saratov has been sentenced to life in prison, the Investigative Committee said on Friday.A Volga Federal District court found Nikolai Zorin, 40, guilty of killing two elderly couples and a 76-year-old woman in the remote village of Rovnoye in Saratov...

Khimki highway debate

2012/11/30

The construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway through the Khimki forest, part of Moscow's so-called greenbelt, began in 2006, sparking public protests against the destruction of a section of the centuries-old fores...

Man Jailed Over Russia Eco-Activist Attack

2012/11/30

KRASNOGORSK, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow Region court sentenced a man on Friday to four years in prison after finding him guilty of organizing the savage beating of an environmental protester, allegedly on the orders of a local administration official.Andrei Kashirin was found guilty of arranging the November 4, 2010 attack on Konstantin...

Ten Hurt in Siberia Blast

2012/11/30

MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - At least 10 people, including two children, were injured by a blast and fire in an apartment building in Russia’s West Siberian city of Tomsk on Friday.The blast on the eighth floor of a high-rise destroyed a wall and caused a fire in two apartments on the upper floors.The Emergencies and Civil Defense...

Every Parcel Brings Some Happiness!

2012/11/29

“Russian Post” is the main postage service company. It often happens that many clients of the “Russian Post” are not satisfied with how they work.This time some worker of the company has downloaded these two photos in the Internet. The video was added by someone else a bit later.The company refuted and tried to explain the situation but...

Russia's Envoy Warns Against NATO Missiles in Turkey

2012/11/29

BRUSSELS, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - Planned deployment of Patriot air defense systems at the Turkish-Syrian border will mean NATO’s involvement in the Syrian conflict, Russia’s envoy said on Friday.Alexander Grushko, newly-appointed envoy to NATO, said he reiterated Russia’s concerns over the deployment plan at a meeting with the NATO-Russia...

Sarcophagus For the Exclusion Zone

2012/11/29

A huge sarcophagus is being built at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. When the work is finished in 2015, the great arch structure will be taken to the existing “Shelter” on rails and fixed over it. During the first stage of assembly works about 5000 tons of steel was lifted at the height of twenty two meters (72 ft).When fully assembled...