Stories about Russian from January, 2013
Turkmenistan: What Do Tourists Want?
Tourists coming to Turkmenistan do not seek five-star hotels and casinos; they do not travel to exotic countries for something which they can easily find close to home. They are interested in the local [customs and traditions], antiquities, and the Silk Road.
Snowballs: Russia's Phantom Menace
St. Petersburg police have dispersed a snowball fighting flashmob in the city center. The RuNet is outraged.
Dazed & Depardieu'd in Russia
On January 3, 2013, Vladimir Putin signed into law nine pieces of new legislation (mostly dealing with immigration) and one executive order to naturalize French actor Gérard Depardieu. Not shockingly, most Russian bloggers and journalists responded to the latter event, given how utterly bizarre it is indeed. In that daze, however, they missed something.
1968 Comes to Today's Russian Universities?
Last month, on December 18, students at the Russian State University of Trade and Economics (RSUTE) began a strike and blocked the main door of their alma mater. Controversy surrounds Sergei Baburin, the school's recently sacked chancellor, whose academic tenure overlapped with a long history of political activity.
Sex Allegations Hound Russia's Top Blogger
As RuNet was preparing to celebrate the New Year, Tatyana Delsal, estranged ex-wife of popular blogger and Coordinating Council member Rustem Adagamov, has accused him of statutory rape.
Celebrating New Year's Eve in Central Asia
Since independence, the post-Soviet nations of Central Asia have invented a number of new 'national' holidays. Yet the celebration of the New Year's Eve still remains a cherished tradition among many people in the region. Despite some calls to denounce the holiday as 'foreign' and 'un-Islamic', families in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan celebrated the arrival of the year 2013 in line with the long-established tradition.
Vladimir Pozner & Russia's Own Political Correctness
Late last month, Vladimir Pozner—one of Russia's best known journalists—spoke out on his television show against the “Dima Yakovlev” law. He criticized the need for such legislation, condemning it as an unnecessary and improper retaliation against the American “Magnitsky Act.” In what caught Russian headlines and sent the RuNet buzzing, Pozner also took an uncharacteristically harsh shot at the federal parliament, quipping that it is a house of fools
Secret Money, Hacks, and Politics of Russian Web
While suspicions about money and sponsorship plague all Russian politics, the RuNet is a particularly contentious battleground. The rift between the oppositionist and pro-government camps is a hotbed of accusations about illicit funding, with each side desperately professing its own honesty and insisting on the other's deception.
