WebProNews

Tag: Moscow

  • Facebook and Twitter Fined in Russia Over Not Deleting Content

    Facebook and Twitter Fined in Russia Over Not Deleting Content

    Russia’s crackdown of tech companies continues, as a Russian court has fined Facebook and Twitter for not deleting content the government deems illegal.

    Russia has become increasingly critical of tech companies, and has taken measures to exert control over them and the internet in general. The government banned cryptocurrencies; forced social media companies to have local offices in-country; and wanted phone, computer and smart TV makers to install specific Russian softwarefrom the factory.

    The country has now fined Facebook and Twitter $287,850 collectively, according to Reuters, over the two companies’ failure to delete banned content. Russia also fined Telegram, although the amount was not disclosed.

  • Mickey Rourke Loves His Vladimir Putin T-Shirt, But Hates Politics

    Mickey Rourke is a fan of Vladimir Putin. In fact, on Monday, the actor was so much a fan that he decided to buy a t-shirt depicting Russian President. The scene took place right in Moscow’s Red Square, according to The Independent, right at the launch of the t-shirt brand.

    “If I didn’t like him, I wouldn’t buy the T-shirt believe me. I met him a couple of times and he was a real gentleman, a very cool regular guy, looked me right in the eye. I think he is a good guy. If I didn’t, believe I wouldn’t wear the T-shirt,” Rourke said, all the while professing his love for Putin, “I have a Russian girlfriend, that’s all I care about. Her father is a good person, her mother’s great, her babushka’s wonderful. To me it’s all about family. I don’t give a f**k about the politics. That’s not my department.”

    Speaking of wearing the shirt, Rourke put it on right away.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rourke paid 1200 rubles for the shirt, or roughly $33.41 in American currency.

    Asia One News reported that the brand uses the slogan “the most polite of men”, which is derived from the Russian slang “polite men” describing the invasion of Russian troops in Crimea. The brand was specifically geared to glorify Russia’s actions in Crimea.

    Despite the connection to Russian politics, Rourke said he bought the t-shirt for completely apolitical purposes, wishing “for peace all over.”

    “Me and politics are like night and day. I never understand it, that’s why I’m an artist/actor,” he said according to Page Six. He added, “I like Russia, but I love USA.”

    Image via RT America, YouTube

  • Anna Politkovskaya Murderers Given Life In Prison

    Two of the five men found guilty for the 2006 killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya were handed life sentences on Monday by the Moscow city court.

    The other three men convicted have received prison sentences of 12, 14, and 20 years for their role in the murder.

    Politkovskaya, known for uncovering government corruption and human rights abuses as well as an outspoken Putin critic, was shot and killed on October 7, 2006 in the lobby of her apartment building.

    The slaying has received international attention not only due to the horrific nature of the crime, but for the eight years of investigation and trials between Politkovskaya’s death and a conviction.

    While the sentencing has provided some relief to the family of Anna Politkovskaya, it is still unknown who originally ordered the hit on the journalist. Last year, Russian police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov received an 11 year sentence for supplying the murder weapon however revealed nothing about the person or persons giving orders.

    “For as long as the name of the mastermind is not known, there can be no talk of revealing the truth,” said Nadezhda Prusenkova, a spokeswoman for the independent paper Novaya Gazeta. “Today’s sentencing is important, but only a step. They are the lowest level in this criminal chain, which must still be revealed and punished.”

    The men sentenced Monday have only been found guilty of receiving money for and carrying out the hit on Politkovskaya. Their conviction does not indicate responsibility for the order itself, the origin of which remains unknown due to what many believe is the Russian government’s neglect. “At this point in time, it really does not seem that the government and investigation authorities are serious about getting to the bottom of it,” said Tanya Lokshina, head of the Moscow office of Human Rights Watch.

    “I am sure the name behind the murder will not be revealed under the current political regime,” said Politkovskaya’s former colleague Lev Ponomaryov. “If the order came from the ruling elite’s senior members, nobody will risk speaking because they know for sure that would cost their life.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Pussy Riot Meets Hillary Clinton

    Pussy Riot Meets Hillary Clinton

    While Pussy Riot members Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were attending the Women In The World Summit at the Lincoln Center in New York Friday, a Moscow court cleared the two of their inciting religious hatred charges stemming from one of their live rock shows.

    Alekhina and Tolokonnikova were found guilty of hooliganism with religious undertones of hatred after a live set at Moscow’s main cathedral in March, 2012, and were sentenced to two years in prison. A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on a suspended sentence just months after the hooliganism conviction.

    Here’s a clip of the antics that garnered Pussy Riot their charges of hooliganism, after engaging in their “punk prayer”:

    Tolokonnikova and Alekhina were freed from prison due to an amnesty legislation which some watchdog groups viewed as a Kremlin public relations stunt in time for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Russian lawmakers had said that the new bill, which the State Duma voted 446-0 in favor of, would likely free roughly 2,000 prisoners. The new laws applied to those who were non-violent offenders, and were catered mostly toward first-time offenders, minors and women with small children. Both Tolokonnikova and Alekhina have young kids, and were both set free in December of last year. Though, the hooliganism charges still stand, which carry a sentence of up to seven years.

    The Russian courts then symbolically knocked off one month of each of Tolokonnikova and Alekhina’s sentences, as they are both technically free women. During an appearance on NBC’s Today Show Friday morning, Matt Lauer asked the activists if they thought the newly single Vladimir Putin had ordered their release to display his “softer side” to the world in time for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

    Tolokonnikova replied, “When we got released, we didn’t have any illusions at all that Putin’s regime became more liberal.”

    Pussy Riot ran into former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Lincoln Center, and the probable 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate described the duo as being “strong and brave young women, who refused to let their voices be silenced.”

    Image via Twitter

  • Putin Divorce Complete, According to Kremlin

    The Kremlin has reported that the divorce between Russian president Vladimir Putin and wife Lyudmila Putina has been finalized. The couple had announced in June that they planned to end their 30-year marriage. Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented to a Russian news agency that the divorce had been “completed.”

    Putina née Shkrebneva met Vladimir Putin in Leningrad, Soviet Union when she was an undergraduate student of the Spanish branch of the philology department of the Leningrad State University. Putina was also an Aeroflot stewardess at the time. On July 28, 1983 Putin married Kaliningrad-born Lyudmila.

    Putina kept a low profile on the Russian political stage, generally avoiding the public eye except for when compelled to by protocol, and limited her public role to encouraging statements about her husband. While married to Putin, Putina taught German at the Department of Philology of Leningrad State University, and served as the Moscow representative of the JSC Telecominvest.

    Putin and Putina on their wedding day:

    putin

    Putin and Putina initially lived in Germany from 1985 to 1990. During this time, a German spy allegedly befriended Putina, who said that Putin was physically abusive and had love affairs. As the couple left Germany in 1990, it was rumored that Putin left behind an illegitimate child.

    The couple has two daughters, Putina (born in 1985 in Leningrad) and Yekaterina Putina (born in 1986 in Dresden, East Germany). Both attended the German School in Moscow called Deutsche Schule Moskau, until Putin’s appointment as Prime Minister in 1999. Photographs of Mariya and Yekaterina have never been published by the Russian media, and no family portrait has ever been issued to the press.

    Tabloids had in the past linked Putin romantically to gymnast Alina Kabayeva and ex-spy Anna Chapman. The Kremlin denied the accusations.

    In a televised statement last year, Putin commented that the split was a “joint decision” adding that the two “practically never saw each other.” Lyudmila added, “We will eternally be very close people.”

    Images via YouTube and Wikimedia Commons

  • Moscow Riot Ensues After Stabbing of Ethnic Russian Man

    Yegor Shcherbakov was an ethnic Russian man who was returning to his home in Moscow on Sunday night who, after a dispute with a North Caucasus man over Shcherbakov’s girlfriend, was stabbed to death. Shcherbakov’s death sparked a race-related riot, with hundreds of protesters invading Biryulyovo, a working-class area of southern Moscow, targeting a fruit warehouse where the suspected killer supposedly worked.

    Tensions were already high between ethnic Russians and the migrant workers that populate the mostly-Muslim North Caucasus region. Many ethnic Russians think ill of the migrants, whom they often accuse of raising the crime rate and of taking jobs away from ethnic Russian people. Many people gathered at a market place near Biryulyovo, voicing their support of the riots as protesters turned over cars, smashed windows, and threw trash cans, as well as invading the warehouse. Hundreds of protesters were detained, but only two were arrested, and seventy more were fined.

    These anti-migrant riots have ignited a strange response from Russian police; where they failed to arrest the non-migrant rioters, they made up for by arresting the migrant workers who were threatened. The warehouse that was raided and destroyed by the rioters was shut down for using migrant labor, and thousands of migrant workers have been detained or arrested by the police as a result of the riots.

    Fear of repeated incidents similar to the 2010 Moscow riots by soccer fans and North Caucasus natives over the killing of an ethnic Russian man seems to be the source of this strange response. Many ethnic Russians seem complicate, if not downright pleased, by this backlash against migrant workers; retiree Elvira Ablosimova referred to the rioters as “patriots,” and said that their “little riot… attracted attention (to the issue).” The issue being the commonly held belief that migrant workers are in cahoots with politicians and employers to slight ethnic Russians from job opportunities.

    The actual stabber has yet to be found, but thousands of migrant workers are still detained at this time.

    [Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.]

  • Tim Tebow Offered $1 Million for Two Games

    Tim Tebow has been struggling to find work in the NFL. However, there is an American team in Russia that is willing to offer Tebow one million dollars for him to play just two games.

    The Moscow Black Storm owner, Mikhail Zaltsman, told the Russia Beyond the Headlines that he wants Tebow to play for his team.

    Zaltsman wants Tebow to fly to Moscow to play in the Black Storm’s semifinal game against the Moscow Patriots in the American Football Championship of Russia on September 28. He then wants Tebow to help them win the finals.

    Zaltsman claims that Tebow’s biggest obstacle standing in the way is his agents. He says: “They’re thinking of using him as a motivational speaker. They don’t want him to play football.” However, Zaltsman is prepared to do whatever it takes to get Tebow on his team. “He says that this is his top choice, but from what we know, it is his only choice,” Zaltsman says.

    There is speculation that the only reason Black Storm needs Tebow is to stop the former University of North Carolina fullback Bobby Rome. Rome is now the starting quarterback for the Moscow Patriots. “My advice to him would be to just have fun,” Rome said. “They’re great guys, great athletes, and they’re underestimated.”

    Rome says it is very unlikely that Tebow would come to Russia because “that would make a lot of [NFL] teams more apprehensive about signing him.” We all know that Tebow’s dream is to be a quarterback in the NFL and he is determined to get there.

    Image via Twitter

  • Jehue Gordon Hurdles His Way to Victory

    Jehue Gordon Hurdles His Way to Victory

    Humble, appreciative, and hard-working are just a few words that can be used to describe Jehue Gordon, the gold medal winner for the men’s 400-meter hurdles at the IAAF World Championships, which has been taking place in Moscow.

    Jehue, who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, completed the competition in 47.69 seconds. Michael Tinsley, from the United States, completed in 47.70 seconds just 0.1 seconds after Gordon. While the race was won through a split second, the gold medalist vocalized his appreciation via Twitter.

    One may expect a gold medalist, to take a moment to celebrate the victory; however, Jehue Gordon has plans to rest and prepare for other potential competitions. Isn’t that what makes a winner? Hard-work and continually striving to reach higher?

    Fans of the disciplined athlete have also taken to Twitter to express their support and admiration.

    While there is no surefire recipe for success, it seems that rigorous discipline and perseverance help increase the odds that someone can achieve long-desired goals. Jehue Gordon is a testament to that philosophy. Of course having a mother who gives excellent advice is also an ingredient that may lead to success.

  • Usain Bolt Says He’s Not Invincible, Is Still Confident He’ll Win The Worlds

    Usain Bolt is said to be the fastest man alive. The Jamaican sprinter will tell you that he’s fast, but he doesn’t want it going to his head.

    Bolt is currently training for the World Championships in Athletics in Moscow where he’ll compete against some of the best runners in the world. It should be a cinch for the accomplished runner, right? Bolt says that he’s confident in his ability, but he cautions that there are plenty of things that could go wrong:

    ”I never said I’m invincible. ‘When I’m in great shape and I’m at the top of my game, I’m very confident that no one can beat me because I know what I’m capable of. But you can be beaten. There’s times when you get injuries, there’s times when you’re off your game. There’s so many different scenarios that can happen.”

    Still, Bolt has a pretty good chance at winning the world championships next month. He has the second best 200 meter time this year with 19.79 seconds. Tyson Gay holds the best time at 19.74. Neither time touches Bolt’s world record of 19.19 seconds on the 200-meter though.

    As for the World Championships, the event record was set in 1990 at 20.01 seconds by Michael Johnson. He’s already proven that he can beat that time, but will he beat it at the event? After all, he missed the record by a hair in 2011 with a time of 20.03. He saw further setbacks earlier this year when he lost the 100 meter to Justin Gatlin at Rome’s Golden Gala. He says that he’s not going to let it get him down though:

    ”I’m really trying to get back on target, trying to get up to speed. I’m feeling great in training, I’m running pretty well. I have a few more weeks to go.”

    You’ll be able to watch Bolt potentially make history at The World Championships in Athletics. The event begins on August 10 and will last through August 18.

    [Image: Nick Webb/flickr]
    [h/t: AP]

  • Next Angry Birds Update is Russian-Themed

    Next Angry Birds Update is Russian-Themed

    Though the Angry Birds brand has embraced new seasons, movie tie-ins, and even Star Wars, all of the game series’ success can be traced back to the original Angry Birds game. Released in 2009, the game dominated Apple’s App Store games and has spawned a multi-million dollar brand with cartoons, plush toys, and even a movie. What’s remarkable is that after over four years, Rovio is still supporting that original game with updates.

    Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds, this week announced that the next “episode” of the original Angry Birds game will have a Russian theme. Titled “Red’s Mighty Feathers,” the episode will feature 15 new levels that highlight the original Angry Bird – the Red Bird. The update will be pushed out to Angry Birds apps sometime in July.

    To celebrate the announcement, Rovio held a concert in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia. The video below shows some of the festivities. Also, Rovio has put all of its Red Bird merchandise (including t-shirts, backpacks, hats, golf club covers, towels, headphones, umbrellas, lunch boxes, and flip flops) in its online store on sale.

  • Moscow Attack Foiled, Two Suspects Killed In Shootout

    A terrorist attack in Moscow was foiled after Russian security forces engaged in a firefight with the alleged militants.

    Sky News reports that two terror suspects were killed and a third captured after a shootout that took place in the town of Orekhovo-Zuyevo. The town is 85km east of Moscow, but Russian intelligence claims that the three people were planning on attacking Moscow in an unspecified manner.

    Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee released the following statement:

    “Our forceful actions prevented an attempted act of terror in the capital. These criminals, who are citizens of the Russian Federation, came from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, where they received training and preparation to commit a terrorist act. In the exchange of fire two of them were killed and one detained. A special forces officer was slightly wounded.”

    Other details have since emerged claiming that the militants were trained in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. The nationalities of those killed and arrested were not revealed though.

    Most terrorist attacks in Russia are carried out by radical militant groups in territories under Russian control. The last major attack from one of these groups was a 2011 suicide bombing in Moscow that killed 37 people.

  • 85-Foot Trapeze Fall Becomes Viral Video

    A video from the Associated Press featuring a circus acrobat surviving an 85-foot fall is gaining viral steam, as more and more blogs are showing it.

    The fall apparently happened last month at a circus in Moscow. He hit the safety net, which was waiting directly below the stunt, but unfortunately he fell right through it. Somehow, he still managed to live. He reportedly suffered a fractured vertebra.

    According to the AP’s YouTube description for the video, the Kenyan trapeze artist is healing and is expected to turn to work.

  • Mark Zuckerberg Travels to Russia, Meets Prime Minister Medvedev [PHOTOS]

    Mark Zuckerberg Travels to Russia, Meets Prime Minister Medvedev [PHOTOS]

    Facebook is the biggest social network in the world, as it dominates the market in a majority of social-media active countries across the globe. Russia is not one of those countries. In an effort to boost Facebook’s presence in this corner of the world, Mark Zuckerberg traveled to Moscow to meet with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

    While in Russia, Zuckerberg met with PM Medvedev – as well as various government officials tasked with innovation. According to the AFP, Russian officials have confirmed that Zuckerberg and Medvedev discussed “cooperation in IT technology and start-ups in Skolkovo – the tech-focused area out side Moscow that Zuckerberg will also visit during his trip.

    It looks like Zuckerberg and Medvedev have concluded their conversation, as Zuckerberg just posted this photo to his Facebook page a couple of hours ago (note: no hoodie):

    “Good conversation with Prime Minister Medvedev,” he says.

    According to reports, Zuckerberg spent some time sightseeing before his meeting with the Prime Minister, walking around Red Square in a hoodie. It appears as though he cleaned up before the big meeting. Keeping it true American, Zuck also stopped and had a bite at a McDonalds.

    Zuckerberg posted a pic of this, captioned “Hello, Moscow.”

    Although the trip is being marketed as an “innovation discussion,” there are some on the Russian end that feel like Zuckerberg may be trying to recruit some top talent.

    Facebook is fighting an uphill battle in Russia, as local social network Vkontakte dominates the market. Its founder, 27-year-old Pavel Durov, is a St.Petersburg-based entrepreneur that has been called the Russian Mark Zuckerburg.

  • Russian Court Upholds Ban on Scientology Books

    A Moscow regional court has upheld a lower court decision to ban books regarding Scientology, after it was declared to be extremist literature. The ruling confirms that the publication and distribution of books written from Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is illegal.

    Court spokeswoman Anna Tyurina stated that it was proven to the court’s satisfaction that Scientology promoted the forming isolated groups, prepared to engage in extremist activities in a battle with the rest of the world. In June, Moscow’s Shchelkovsky Court deemed several of Hubbard’s books as being extremist. Scientologists appealed the decision.

    Back in 2008, Google took down a video of Tom Cruise evangelizing his beliefs, doing little to actually remove the clip from the Internet:

    Google had reportedly buckled under pressure, after receiving a DMCA notice from the church. Hacker group Anonymous loathes the church of Scientology, and had basically established a sort of holy war against the organization, Google bombing said church in 2008.

    The ruling by the regional court confirms that Hubbard’s material concerning Scientology is officially on the list of banned extremist media in Russia.

  • Google Street View Comes To Russia, Captures Period Actors At Peterhof

    Google Street View Comes To Russia, Captures Period Actors At Peterhof

    Здравствуйте, Google Street View! Yesterday Google announced the addition of two Russian cities, St. Petersburg and Moscow, to the Street View experience via their Lat Long Blog. As vast as Russia is, it’s my hope that Street View will continue to add other cities from Russia in order to expand the opportunity to feast your eyes on one of the most culturally rich countries in the world.

    But never mind that. Let’s look at Russia.

    Moscow didn’t exactly get the best weather but you can still experience the majesty of Russia’s architecture no matter what the forecast is like. In the sample below, I focused on St. Basil’s Cathedral, perhaps one of those most striking cathedrals you will ever see in this world. Nearly 600 years old, the architecture of this cathedral appears to be some wild offering of extraterrestrial elegance. In short, it’s breath-taking.


    View Larger Map

    Petrodvorets, located in St. Petersburg, was built on the order of Peter the Great and has been described as the Russian Versailles. Taking the tour below you can see that the landscape and fountains live up to that description if not outright exceed it. Google happened to visit the gardens on a gorgeous day and, while there, captured a couple dressed in period costume. Browse around below and see how they captivated a crowd while performing whatever it is they perform.


    View Larger Map

    With images like that stored on Street View, you have to believe that the Google team that’s out there running around taking these photos have a keen and adventurous sense of humor. Aside from that, this capture above is a great example of how Street View isn’t just a map of cities but of the human experience within these cities.

    For the romantics and aesthetes, below is the view at Arts Square in St. Petersburg. The square is home to the Russian Museum as well as the location of an iconic statue of who is arguably Russia’s greatest poet ever, Alexander Pushkin, which is seen below.


    View Larger Map

    There’s really not a better excuse to waste time than by toying around with Street View. Now, I will continue my virtual tour of Peterhof Palace until Street View finally comes to Siberia.

  • Moscow’s Saint Basil’s Cathedral Gets Google Doodled

    It has many names – Cathedral of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God, Cathedral of St. Vasily the Blessed, and of course St. Basil’s Cathedral to most English speakers. But whatever you call it, the beautiful Russian church is the subject of today’s Google Doodle.

    The Cathedral, which sits in Moscow’s Red Square, has been part of the Kremlin and Red Square UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. It was begun in 1555 at the behest of Ivan the Terrible and completed in 1561, and is celebrating its 450th anniversary.

    Here’s how it is described on its official site, saintbasil.ru –

    It is for nearly 450 years now that this architectural ensemble of inimitable beauty and grandeur has been filling our hearts with joy, excitement and pride.

    The Cathedral of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God upon the Moat was built in fulfillment of a vow made by Czar Ivan the Terrible before his campaign against Kazan in 1552 and with the blessing of Metropolitan Makary. The cathedral was constructed under the supervision of Russian master builders Postnik and Barma in 1555-1561. Uniquely conceived by Metropolitan Makary, the cathedral was to epitomize the image of the Holy City of Jerusalem.

    As a result, its nine churches, most of which were consecrated in memory of major events of the victorious Kazan campaign, were built on a single foundation.

    It has been secularized and now operates as a state museum.

    Here’s a photo from Wikipedia –

    And here’s an awesome Lego version –

    Also, here’s some YouTube video from inside the cathedral –

    What do you think of today’s St. Basil’s Google Doodle? How does it rate in comparison to other recent Google Doodles? Let us know what you think.