Cathedral at the Danilovsky Monastery, the headquarters of the Patriarchate of Moscow and all the Russias
Russian and American officials will meet at Harvard University headquarters later in the day to sign an agreement on the return of a set of historical bells from Danilovsky Monastery in Moscow, replacing them with exact copies that were recently cast in Russia. During the 1930s, 18 bells from the Danilovsky Monastery were sold to Harvard Professor Thomas Wittemoor and businessman Charles Crain. The original bells will arrive in Moscow on 12 September, the birthday of the monastery’s founder, Grand Prince St Daniil of Moscow.
8 July 2008
Train Tickets from Riga and Tallinn to Moscow Sold Out
Train tickets to Moscow are unavailable for weeks to come in Latvia and Estonia. They’re all sold-out because President Medvedev signed an executive order that gives the Russian residents of those Baltic republics (who are denied citizenship and basic human rights by the Baltic neo-Nazi régimes: editor’s note) the right to visa-free travel to Russia. The presidential order became effective on the 17 June. Trains from Riga and Tallinn to Moscow have since been overcrowded. People are coming to see their relatives and friends.
8 July 2008
Spare a thought and prayer for the Russian population of Latvia and Estonia, who’re our Orthodox co-religionists. They’re deprived of citizenship and basic rights by governments that glorify the Nazis of World War II. Reflect on the fact that such monsters are supported in Washington. Shame on all of us for not standing up for these poor people. May God keep them and bless them.
Czech anti-radar poster. The US is pushing ahead despite massive protests by the Czech people. “Democracy at work!”
In Prague, Geenpeace activists met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with posters saying “Don’t make us a target”. She arrived in the Czech Republic to sign a treaty covering the deployment of an American radar station, which is part of a US missile defence system. The opponents of the US plans have already collected more than 100,000 signatures under a petition with a demand to hold a nation-wide referendum on this issue. 70 percent of Czechs are strongly opposed to the deployment of an American radar station in their country. As Boris Kagarlitsky, the director of the Russian Institute of Globalisation Problems, said in an interview for Voice of Russia, “Washington’s plans for the placement of the elements of a missile defence system in Europe may initiate a new arms race. In an attempt to split the European community, the USA is performing a global play for its own interests”, he emphasised.
Czech protestor at anti-radar rally. Is George Bush going to export “democracy” to the Czechs in the same way he did in Iraq?
Czech antiwar activists plan to go ahead with their series of protests against the deployment of a US radar base in the Czech Republic. Protests will continue so the voters’ voice could reach the ears of Czech MPs who will be required to ratify the treaty, says Jan Tamas, the leader of the “No to Military Bases” civic association. Mr Tamas said that 3,000 protesters took part in a mass demonstration in central Prague on Tuesday night.
8/9 July 2008
Russia is Creating the Conditions for Turning the Rouble into a Reserve Currency
Reverse of the 500 rouble note (21.40 USD. 13.54 euros. 10.82 UK pounds). The image is of the Orthodox monastery on Solovki in the White Sea in the Far North.
Russia is creating the conditions for turning the rouble into a reserve currency. The Central Bank said that rouble’s exchange rate against the currencies of the countries that are Russia’s leading trade partners grew by 3 percent in the first six months of 2008, and it rose against the dollar by almost 9 percent. In the opinion of Aleksandr Yakovlev, an expert in economics, “the main reason is that Russia’s economic situation has significantly improved, and, therefore, trust in the rouble revived amongst Russians and foreigners. Many foreign investors have quite strong rouble assets”. Speaking at the recent G8 summit on Hokkaido, President Dmitri Medvedev suggested turning the rouble into a reserve currency.
10 July 2008
Russia Doubts the Neutrality of the International Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia
ICTY building in The Hague. This kangaroo court must be dissolved per the Russian demand. It acquits Albanians and Bosnians, and convicts Serbs. It’s racism run amuck.
Russia doubts the neutrality of the International Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and thinks that it’s time to dissolve it. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko, the Tribunal’s recent acquittal of the Bosnian war criminal Naser Oric, charged with complicity in the killings of about 3,000 Serb civilians in Srebrenica in 1992-95, raised eyebrows in Moscow. Mr Oric was sentenced to two years in prison two years ago but, was acquitted after his lawyers appealed against the ruling. The verdict, Mr Nesterenko said, serves yet another proof that the Tribunal is biased against some of the accused and lenient towards others.
10 July 2008
The Ukraine is Bracing for Mass Protests against NATO
NATO: NO! These people deserve your support. Remember them. Doesn’t the bravery of the old fellow just move you to tears?
The Ukraine is bracing for mass protests against NATO timed for the Ukrainian-NATO exercises off the Ukrainian coast in the second half of the month. According to the leader of the United Homeland Public Movement, Valery Kaurov, an anti-NATO self-defence headquarters has been formed to organise tent camps all along the coastal zone. The exercises provide for seaborne assault and will involve 15 warships and about 1,000 servicemen.
10 July 2008
Russia Tops European Auto Market
Russia now ranks first in Europe in the volume of its national car market, which means that it’s outstripped Germany in this index, the international audit company Price Waterhouse Coopers said in London on Wednesday. All accounts are made on the basis of figures covering the first 6 months of this year. Experts are of the opinion that Russia’s European leadership is the result of its continued economic boom, which has been visible for 8 years now.
10 July 2008
Russia’s Gold and Hard Currency Reserves Across the Globe have Gone up by Six Billion Dollars
Russia’s gold and hard currency reserves across the globe have gone up by six billion dollars (140.161 billion roubles. 3.797 billion euros. 3.033 billion UK pounds) in a week to hit a record 574.3 billion dollars (13.415 trillion roubles. 363.589 billion euros. 290.251 billion UK pounds). According to the Central Bank, reserves have increased 20 percent since early this year. Russia now has the world’s third largest holding of gold and foreign currency reserves after China and Japan.
10 July 2008
Voice of Russia World Service
High-Energy Experiments into Secrets of Matter may Start in Autumn
Proton collisions at the world’s most powerful particle accelerator that some theorists say could create matter-consuming black holes shouldn’t be expected until the autumn, a Russian physicist said Tuesday. “We aren’t planning to begin proton collisions this summer”, said Mikhail Kirsanov, a senior researcher at the Russian Institute for Nuclear Research, which is part of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project to investigate high energy particles and the beginning of the universe. Some media sources have reported that the LHC may start “smashing atoms” as early as this week, and previous reports speculated that such collisions could create a black hole that would consume the Earth. “We still have to cool down the accelerator and conduct some test-runs of proton beams around the accelerator ring”, Academician Kirsanov said. “No one can predict a certain date [for the start of the collisions]“.
LHC is a particle accelerator that will collide opposing beams of protons together to explore the validity and limitations of the highly successful current theoretical picture for particle physics. The 5.8 billion dollar (135.489 billion roubles. 3.672 billion euros. 2.931 billion UK pounds) international project at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known by its French initials CERN, involves more than 2,000 physicists from hundreds of universities and laboratories in 34 countries. The accelerator complex, 27 kilometres (@17 miles) in circumference, sits in a subterranean tunnel 100 metres (328 feet) below the Franco-Swiss border, near Geneva, Switzerland. Once it’s up to speed, it’s hoped the collider will produce the so-called Higgs boson, the observation of which could confirm the predictions and missing links” in the Standard Model of physics and could explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass.
Some theorists and members of the general public have long voiced fears that microscopic black holes may appear as a result of the experiment and capture the surrounding matter, ultimately leading to the destruction of the entire planet. However, scientists have consistently dismissed these allegations as “ridiculous”, even if a microscopic black hole did form, they say, it’d only last for a fraction of a second. “Obviously, the world won’t end when the LHC switches on”, Lyn Evans, the head of the project at CERN, said last month.
8 July 2008
Russia Celebrates Day of Family, Love, and Fidelity
On Tuesday, more than 20 oblasts from Moscow to Vladivostok celebrated the Day of Family, Love, and Fidelity, the deputy chief of the holiday’s organisation committee said. The holiday “isn’t intended to replace Valentine’s Day, it’s about reviving traditions”, Tatiana Shumova said. The committee set up to organise the celebrations, led by Russia’s first lady, Svetlana Medvedeva, has chosen chamomile as the event’s emblem, widely used in Russia to tell fortunes. The holiday is marked on the day of Ss Pyotr and Fevronia, the Orthodox patron saints of marriage and family life. A 16th-century tale recounts how Prince Pyotr, who ruled the Russian city of Murom in the 13th century, had his leprosy cured by Fevronia, a young peasant woman. At first, the prince broke his promise to marry her, but, in the end, they got married. Pyotr and Fevronia are said to have died in the same hour on 8 July 1228. As Pyotr was a monk, they were buried separately, but, their bodies were later found in the same grave. They were canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547. Murom, a historic city some 300 kilometres (185 miles) east of Moscow, will be the centre of the festivities. The city has a long history of celebrating the saints’ day, including the traditional exchange of “fevronki”, a local version of Valentine’s Day heart-shaped cards. The city government of Murom will unveil a statue of Ss Pyotr and Fevronia in front of the city’s registry office. As part of its celebrations, in Moscow, the programme includes the opening of a bench designed for two, whose sloping seat draws quarrelling couples into an embrace, and a bench of love, giving bronze wings and halos to the couple sitting on it.
8 July 2008
Russian Arms Exports to Pass 6 Billion Dollars in 2008
Russia’s arms exports are expected to exceed 6 billion dollars (140.161 billion roubles. 3.797 billion euros. 3.033 billion UK pounds) this year, the chief executive of the state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport said Wednesday. In an interview with the newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta (The Russian Newspaper), Anatoly Isaikin said Russia’s arms exports grew from less than 3 billion dollars (70.08 billion roubles. 1.898 billion euros. 1.516 billion UK pounds) in 2000 to 6.1 billion dollars (142.497 billion roubles. 3.861 billion euros. 3.084 billion UK pounds) in 2007. “In 2008, I believe that we will exceed last year’s level”, he said. Rosoboronexport puts the total global arms market at about 50 billion dollars (1.168 trillion roubles. 31.655 billion euros. 25.27 billion UK pounds) a year. The Russian arms exporter has around 20 billion dollars (467.202 billion roubles. 12.662 billion euros. 10.108 billion UK pounds) worth of contracts, which will ensure the operation of defence-industry enterprises for the next five to seven years. Mr Isaikin said Russia’s encountering fierce competition in the international arms market. Russia exports weapons to about 80 countries. Amongst key buyers of Russian-made weaponry are China, India, Algeria, Venezuela, Iran, Malaysia, and Serbia. The most popular types of weaponry bought from Russia are Sukhoi and MiG fighters, helicopters, battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. Russia also maintains its traditionally-strong positions in sales of small arms and anti-tank and air-defence missile systems. The United States has repeatedly called on Russia to stop arms deliveries to countries whose political regimes Washington disapproves of, including Iran and Syria.
9 July 2008