Seriously Part 2

The unholy alliance as already started a debate about the serious consequences it could have on the environment...After all we are still talking about BP...Italian newspaper La Repubblica offers interesting observations on the issue:

http://www.repubblica.it/ambiente/2011/01/16/news/bp_russia-11298341/index.html?ref=search

The target of the joint venture is the Kara Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. There should start explorations to identify the natural gas and oil potential of the region and start their extraction. Many fear that a eco-disaster might take place. Interesting is also that, following the deal, Rosneft has become the strongest shareholder in BP. We shall see if a big Gulf of Mexico-style drama is going to happen soon.

Seriously

http://www.vedomosti.ru/companies/news/1188811/rosneft_i_vr_sozdayut_strategicheskij_alyans

Russian government-owned company Rosneft and BP: that is what I call an unholy alliance

Don't look back in anger

The New York Times publishes this interesting piece on ethnic tensions in Russia:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/world/europe/16russia.html?ref=world

The occasion is the Orthodox Christian tradition of commemorating the dead after 40 days. The victim to commemorate is Yegor Sviridov, a Spartak Moscow supporter killed during a mass brawl between football fans and internal migrants from the North Caucasus in north Moscow. Since that day ethnically motivated episodes of intolerance have conspicuously increased to the extent that the police had to intervene repeatedly  to disperse football hooligans and nationalists protesting against the presence of the immigrant community in Russia. The worrying aspect is that, while those episodes of violence are often enacted by the most radical part of the population, many common citizens share their views.  “Animals have taken over this neighbourhood,” one woman says. “Mourners complained that ethnic Caucasians, who flowed into the city after the collapse of the Soviet Union, had monopolized the job market and increased the crime rate,” the NYT reporter adds. This all too clearly reminds me of the ethnic campaign against the Roma community in Italy. It is always too easy to find a scapegoat when the situation is grim. And the outsiders are of course the preferred target.

Alpha Females: Europe’s Power Players

http://runninginheels.co.uk/articles/european-female-politicians/

http://runninginheels.co.uk/articles/russia-europe/

What is Med up to?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/world/europe/12russia.html?_r=1&ref=world
http://en.rian.ru/video/20101109/161258359.html

So, apparently Medvedev has all of a sudden decided that attacks on journalists are horrible crimes and must be investigated. During a meeting with Rossiskaya Gazeta's journalists he expressed his concern for the situation and  praised the role of journalists in discovering and deliverying to the public the truth:

http://news.kremlin.ru/video/601

My guess is that since a video showing Kommersant journalist Oleg Kashin being beaten up (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T96NFuxZ8Mo) has reached the internet and the wider audience, Med and his buddies want to show that they are actually taking care of this all situation before anyone starts saying that it's all the government's fault.

Here is a video on Baikalsk, a town built in Soviet times and now struggle to survive because of financial pressure and environmental protests:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/11/08/world/europe/1248069280321/troubles-on-russia-s-lake-baikal.html?ref=world