Comment to Russia - NATO summit. Audio

Russian and NATO officials have discussed steps against terrorism and piracy an the Russia-NATO summit in November last year. 

It was the first open talk of two sides for the last 10 years. The main goal was to finish the so called "cold war" between the Alliance and Russia. 

However, even after this big and loud conversation the final decision about main points like missile defence have not been found yet. 

This week Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has said  that Russia wants an unambiguous answer from NATO over Moscow's role in a European missile defence shield.

He stated that Russia will deploy nuclear weapons if no agreement is reached.

Does that mean that relationship between two sides is still very strained?

Here is the comment about this meeting and NATO and RUSSIA relationship of political scientist Natalia Leschenko from the Institute for State Ideologies in London. 

 

"The Jaws" is in Egypt

It is really scared! Could you imagine, in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh a number of Russian tourists hit by the shark attacks? 

When you listen to it at the first time you cannot believe that it is true. It is happened in the 21^st century when everyone thinks that he is all-powerful. And suddenly the wild world reminds about itself. A shark attacks tourists straight near the breach. 

According to the world press, 70-year-old woman was swimming close to shore. A shark damaged her hand and leg. Victim was urgently taken to a nearby hospital.

Because of cases of shark attacks some beaches were closed.  As reported there were at least 3, perhaps, 4-5 cases of shark attacks on tourists for two days.

Who is this predator? 

A lot of suggestions about the type of this shark appeared in the media. The scientists think that it was the white-tip shark. This shark can reach a fairly large size, several meters in length.

However, this shark is not considered as particularly dangerous for people. It almost never comes to the coast.

Marine killer is caught, isn’t it?  

The photos of caught predator have been appeared in every news websites and newspapers. It is really amazing to see “The Jaws” not in the movie but in real pictures. Shark’s jaws is huge, her teeth are scared!

Finally, the Egyptian government declared that was the real killer. They are going to make a suffered animal from this shark and exhibit it in the museum. 

Unfortunately, it was the false victory. 

New dangerous.  

 A new shark attack has happened in Sharm el-Sheikh today. Marine predator victim this time is a tourist from Germany. It happened the day after the lifting of the ban on swimming in the Red Sea.

So, now how could we think that we are all-powerful? Or it was only the fault of carelessness? If it is so who are the guilty – tourists or tourism providers?

Leonardo da Vinci in London

It is a travel in time for five centuries ago. Today I have been visited the era of Leonardo da Vinci. An exhibition of the great Italian inventions is opened in London.  

Could you imagine that the artist even in XV century designed the things that now seem quite usual- lifts for lifting loads, mechanical musical instruments and even helicopters?

22 full-size models of machines and mechanisms are represented in the store of the "National Geographic». All of them have been re-created exactly according to drawings of the great masters of the Renaissance.

Then you see these ancient things you recognize with the surprise that the ideas of Leonardo da Vinci are more than actual. Despite the fact that he lived 500 years ago. Most of them were not understood by his contemporaries and could not be accepted. 

He is rather the engineer of the current era. Moreover, I think in the certain extent the invention of Leonardo made it possible that now, in which we live.

It is interesting that all models are valid. Some of them you even can buy. However, they are in the form of the constructor from which you can collect your favorite model.

I didn’t buy anything. But I strongly recommend all adherents of Leonardo’s talent to visit this exhibition.  

FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia

Today Russia is a winner. At the first time ever Russia has won the right to host FIFA World Cup in 2018.

So, what is to say? Congratulations! What is this filling? Proud! This is Proud for my native country,  Joy for all nation,  willing to hug every Russian in London and to share this national happiness. 

We have been waiting for it so long and preparing so hard. I think, this day has been the most nervous day not only for Russia but also for our rivals. Among our competitors were the strongest football states - Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and the native land of football - England.

It is seemed that the whoul world has been watching the announcement ceremony in Zurich. When FIFA president  said "Russia" I just could not sit quiet. I was jumping along with Russian the first vice-premier Shuvalov and the sport minister Minister Mutko. Even our the world jump champion Elena Isinbayeva this time was jumping not for the record but for joy!

Who is Sasha?

If you have 9 free minutes it is strongly recommended to watch Russian bid promo. It is really amazing! The idea of the clip is that the boy Sasha travels in his dreams to cities in Russia. His end point is the final match of the 2018 World Cup in Moscow. There is a match between Russia and Italy. Sasha scores the winning goal in that game. 

As the Russian press says, the boy Sasha is an exciting young footballer.  Moreover, there are two different and , at the same, similar boys in the video. They are twins. Both keen on sport. 

The idea of this promo belongs to the American movie producer Rupert Wainwright . He works in Hollywood. It is reported that the two-minute video presentation American producer had been shooting during four weeks.

What is in the bid? 

According to the bid, 13 cities and 16 new stadiums will take World Cup in 2018. The most pleasant for me is that one of these cities is my native city of Rostov-on-Don.

The new stadium will be built in Rostov-on-Don. The place was chosen on the left bank of the river  Don. It will be a stadium for 40 000 seats!  According to the project there will not be not the fourth stand on the stadium. There will be the view of  the Don embankment instead. 

Congratulations, Russia! And Welcome to Russia 2018!

 

World AIDS day

The first of December is World AIDS day. The international charity Keep a Child Alive has launched the most unusual Internet donation campaign ever.  

Global celebrities like Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake are supporting the activity by their so-called digital deaths.

They are dead in order to give life to others. Dozen digital deaths of global celebrities have happened today. They switched off their pages in Facebook and Twitter.

The digital death means that a star singer just has signed off his network page until charity raises $1 million.

 For what?

This is the part of the big Internet donation campaign. It is conducted by the international charity Keep a Child Alive.

About 36 million people are living with AIDS throughout the world. These figures have been revealed by British researchers this year.

In this unusual way the charity is trying to involve people in donation for Indian and African children. According to the statistical data about 14 million kids have AIDS in these regions.

Is it fair? 

Thus,  fans should just pay for celebrities’ coming back to the social network.

However, the organisers claim that the way of charity is not as important as the main goal of it. 

Singers who take part in this campaign have thousands of fans in Facebook and Twitter. If every fan donates even one dollar it will be a real help for saving millions of children lives.  

The ticket to the Titanic

Welcome to the Titanic. When you come in the special interactive exhibition in the O2 it is seemed that you come on the board of this tragically famous ship.

 

Here you can touch an iceberg and see for each of the hundreds of personal things belonged to passengers united a great tragedy.

Many things have remained under water is no worse than in a museum. For example, plates for first class passengers - it stayed on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 3,750 meters is almost a hundred years.

Our guide Cheryl Moore said at the beginning of the excursion: "People are fascinated with the story of the Titanic, even a hundred years later. The biggest ship, and the most luxurious. At the same time it is a story about people: the elite of the time and usual people. "

All things were taken out by a special deep device. There were eight expeditions , and the last was held this summer. Raise the whole "Titanic" is impossible.

You can feel the atmosphere of the Titanic.

There you can even feel the spirit of death when you touch the artificial iceberg. It is minus two degrees. Approximately the same temperature was in the salt water at that fateful night. Most people died just from hypothermia.

There are about 5 000 artifacts taken from the bottom of the Atlantic. There are only 300 at the exhibition. But even such small items like buttons can tell a lot about time and people. And looking at these things you feel the hopelessness of the whole situation on the 14^th of April in 1912.

I am a passenger

Every visitor receives a ticket as was in "Titanic." There is a story of real passenger nn the reverse side of it.

My ticket was belonged to Baron Alfred von Drashtedu. He was lucky. He was rescued.  He was a passenger of the first class.

Frozen Britain

Snow has already in London. If yesterday all TV channels and radio stations broadcasted terrible snow-covered pictures from the North of the country today there has been no any necessity to switch on the media. 

You wake up in the morning, look through the window and just cannot recognize the country in what you are. What is it? Russia? Siberia? Or the North Pole?

Even for the person who is used to living in the strong winter conditions, as I am, it is really unusual to see snowfall on the British islands at the end of November.  The question is appeared immediately: “Sorry, there is your praised Gulf Stream?”

However, we should not blame the weather. Because this is the most favourite work of the authorities. There is no any difference in that issue in every country. Winter always comes unexpectedly for them. 

What’s happened with Britain? 

Although, the UK has been suffering from early snowfall for the last three years it has become the real collapse for the country every time. 

People are got stuck in the trains for 24 hours because of rimed conductors. Airports are closed because of snow-covered landing strips. Thousands of schools are closed because of the broken heating systems.  

Atypical cold and snow covered almost the entire country, the press writes. Stock of sand and salt sprinkled on the roads has remained only for a couple of weeks. There is also the lack of special equipment for the road cleaning. 

There is something for the top news and front pages. 

Despite of all troubles such weather is the exciting theme for the media. Snowfalls and frost are the main topics of the all national news. Every hour we can follow the changing of surviving conditions of the most suffered place in the UK.

 In such circumstances drivers call to refuse travel as possible. On some roads, where traffic jams have formed, desperate drivers are simply throwing their cars and continue their trip on foot.

It is sounds like The End of the World, isn’t it? 

However, the reasonable question is followed. If snowfalls are more frequent in recent years why people meet winter as a complete surprise?