Tag: russia

Posted on

Chinese tourists lead the world

The United States is ranked as the world’s biggest economy and the world’s largest military spender. But Chinese people lead the world in global tourist spending. Asia times reports that:images-2

“China, which has outranked Japan as the world’s second-largest economy and moved ahead of Russia as the world’s second-largest military spender, has hit the top spot in global tourism.

“Chinese tourists spent US$102 billion during their travels in 2012, more than any other nationality, making the Asian nation the world’s number one tourism source market, according to a report released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

“Asked if China will be able to hold on to the number one ranking inyears ahead, Lakshman Ratnapala, chair of Enelar International, San Francisco, and emeritus president and chief executive officer of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), told IPS, ”Yes, the primary reason being the continuing growth of the Chinese middle class.”  Continue reading “Chinese tourists lead the world”

Posted on

Death by asteroid

imgres-1Most people in the U.S. woke up to a spectacular sight this morning: videos from Russian dashboard cameras showing a fireball in the sky crashing down to the Earth, reports Wired Science.  “The 15-meter meteorite impacted the atmosphere and exploded above the Chelyabinsk region of central Russia, injuring an estimated 1,200 people and causing roughly 1 billion rubles ($33 million U.S.) in damage. It was the largest meteorite to hit the country in more than a century.

“It’s hard to know what’s stranger about the event. That a substantial meteorite hit the Earth on the same day as a 50-meter asteroid is making a record-breaking (and completely safe) close pass, that people have been thinking more and more about how to deflect potentially killer space rocks, or that we live in a day and age when dozens of videos of a fairly rare event can be uploaded to the internet and instantly seen worldwide. Continue reading “Death by asteroid”

Posted on

Artists contest Russian adoption ban

They’re fighting over the kids and now artists are joining in.

This time it is a row between the governments of Russia and the U.S. It seems that Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently instituted a ban on American adoptions of Russian children, presumably a calculated response to U.S. legislation aimed at punishing Russian political corruption.

Now a group of prominent Russian cultural figures have issued a call to repeal the ban, including an exception for children to join American parents that have already come to know. As the Times reports,”

imgres-3

“Chulpan Khamatova, revered here for her charity work as well as her acting, spoke in front of a screen showing blown-up photographs of families whose adoptions have been halted. Beside her sat Beth Hettinger of Westfield, N.J., who flew to Russia to bring back Aleksei, who is 18 months old. Ms. Hettinger was scheduled to leave Russia without Aleksei on Friday.

“’A child, even if he is very small, is already waiting for his mama to come and get him, and she does not come,’ Ms. Khamatova said. ‘When he grows up he is told, ‘When you were small, this thing took place.’ This will happen, anyway. I think he will hate his country, and hate his motherland.’

“She said she had visited children’s homes in Russia ‘where children lie in heaps, in huge wards,’  and added: ‘Dear, respected president, dear, respected society, let’s make an exception. Our country is so big, and we always ignore the specific fates of people. Just once, let’s not ignore them.’ Continue reading “Artists contest Russian adoption ban”

Posted on

Free speech failing in Russia

Free-speech moved a little closer to extinction in Russia today, as legislators voted overwhelmingly

imgres-1

in favor of a measure criminalizing “homosexual propaganda. Meanwhile, protesters opposing the law are being arrested.

Russian police have detained 20 gay  rights campaigners and militant Orthodox Christian activists near parliament as politicians overwhelmingly backed a the proposed law. ”  “Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, voted 388-1-1 for the law that makes public events and the dissemination of information on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, community to minors punishable by fines of up to $16,000 (£10,000),” reports The Guardian.  “After two more readings, the bill will have to be signed by President Vladimir Putin.

“Earlier on Friday three dozen LGBT rights campaigners had gathered near the State Duma to protest against the law when militant Orthodox activists started assaulting and pelting them with eggs. Police intervened, but mostly detained the LGBT campaigners. At a similar rally on Tuesday Orthodox activists violently assaulted LGBT campaigners, who had gathered to kiss each other in protest against the planned legislation. Continue reading “Free speech failing in Russia”

Posted on

The spy who loved me

In days gone by, vulnerability to blackmail was one of the reasons advanced for keeping LGBT people out of positions of responsibility. But global culture is remarkably variable and asynchronous. Russia Today reports that until this year the Russian Republic of Georgia had been using this technique in it’s efforts to manipulate celebrities into doing its bidding. As Russia Today states:

“Georgian prosecutors claim President Saakashvili’s military police created a network of gay agents who started relations with famous people and later used blackmail to ensure their loyalty to the authorities.

“The Georgian prosecutors’ office on

imgres

Tuesday alleged the project involving gay agents had been instituted by the Military Police department of the Defense Ministry.Three top Military Police officers have been released on bail after appearing in court in connection with the case, the report said. The prosecutors claim the former head of the Military Police, Legis Kardava, instructed some high-placed officials of his agency to gather information on homosexual men. Specially selected gay agents seduced their victims and took them to apartments equipped with audio and video recorders where they ‘secretly and illegally recorded fragments of private lives’ of these people. After this the records were used to force the people to cooperate with the special services.

“The investigators say the provocateurs chose famous people, though no names have been disclosed. It is also claimed that the ultimate objective was to force the Georgian celebrities into demonstrating loyalty to the existing political regime, headed by President Mikhail Saakashvili. Prosecutors allowed some of the video from the case to be shown on national TV after the identities of participants were concealed. Prosecutors also stated that the gay honey trap practice existed until the latest parliamentary elections that took place in October 2012. The poll was won by opposition party Georgian Dream and recent constitutional changes ensure that Mikhail Saakashvili has very little real political power even though he will remain on his post till October this year. After the elections the new parliament declared a major amnesty and, despite Saakashvili’s attempts to veto the move,freed about 200 inmates who were recognized as political prisoners. Several officials from Saakashvili’s administration were detained and charged with abuse of power and torture. Georgian Dream’s victory allowed the return of Irakliy Okruashvili, the former defense minister who was forced into exile after he claimed Mikhail Saakashvili was involved in political assassinations.”

 

Full story at: http://rt.com/politics/georgian-law-bust-undercover-026/

 

Posted on

Global wealth in the new millennium

imgres-1In his now well-known book The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria popularized understandings of shifts in the global landscape, especially in economic terms. The book explained that while the U.S. was retaining it’s military superiority, the country was draining itself financially – as other nations were quietly prospering. Today’s edition of Le Monde carries an article by Serge Halimi giving further details:

“Today’s emerging powers are not worthy successors to their anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist ancestors. The countries of the South control a growing share of wealth, which is only proper, but its distribution is so inequitable that income differences are even greater in South Africa and China than in the US. The money Continue reading “Global wealth in the new millennium”

Posted on

Russia cuts back on beer

Few subjects prompt keener interest or deeper philosophical rumination in Russia than alcohol, and those that do are invariably discussed over drinks. Today’s New York Times reports that “In Russia, which has one of the world’s highest rates of alcoholism and alcohol-related illness, vodka remains the top choice.imgres-1 But beer is not far behind. The average Russian drinks more than four gallons of alcohol a year.” As the story continues:

“The new law, which took effect on Jan. 1, aims to reduce those numbers. It bans beer sales from kiosks entirely, and in other stores between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. And as with increased taxes on alcohol in recent years, it aims to curb public drinking, particularly the casual drinking in city parks and snow-covered promenades that can begin before breakfast and end after midnight. Continue reading “Russia cuts back on beer”

Posted on

Phillip Morris’s new remorse over China sales

Falling rates of smoking are one of America’s greatest public health triumphs, with numbers dropping 20% since 2005 alone. Hence, it is widely known that for some time tobacco companies have focussed on international markets. For example, in China, men smoke at double the rate of those in the U.S. and in Russia the rate is nearly three times that of America. As more and more nations recognize the human and economic costs of tobacco use, international pressure is building against the U.S. companies who profit from smoking.

In “A Marlboro Vaccine? Maybe for China,” The Wall Street Journal Reports that cigarette giant Phillip Morris is trying to improve it’s image in China ” where more than a third of the world’s cigarettes are smoked. “In one curious effort, (Phillip Morris) is setting out to develop flu vaccines derived from a type of tobacco plant. Continue reading “Phillip Morris’s new remorse over China sales”