VISUAL REPORTS
NATO Staging Biggest War Games Since Cold War
With more than 50,000 troops from 31 countries, NATO is holding its biggest war games since the end of the Cold War.
'Like Living In A Gas Chamber': Russia's Toxic Town
Karabash, in Russia's Ural Mountains, is home to a copper-smelting plant that belches toxic clouds and leaks arsenic and mercury. Some residents fear for their safety -- but leaving is not an easy option.
One Russian Teacher’s Crusade To Get Proper Russian Back On TV
The Russian government is proud of its efforts to promote the Russian language abroad. But Nizhny Novgorod Russian-language teacher Tatyana Gartman thinks more attention should be paid to grammar problems closer to home. So, like any concerned citizen of the 21st century, she started a YouTube channel.
'Tug-Tooth' Strikes Again: Ukrainian Takes Bite Out Of Record Book
A man from Ukraine has successfully pulled a 614-ton cargo ship -- with his teeth. It's just the latest bite at world fame by "Tug-Tooth" Skavysh.
OTHER NEWS
NATO Urges Russia To Honor INF Treaty Amid U.S. Threat To Withdraw
NATO has urged Russia to continue to honor a key nuclear-arms treaty amid U.S. threats to pull out of the pact because of alleged violations by Moscow. "No arms-control arrangement can be effective if it is only respected by one side," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on October 31 in Brussels.
Kremlin Imposes Financial Sanctions On 322 Members Of Ukrainian Elite, 68 Entities
Among the individuals targeted are President Petro Poroshenko's son, Oleksiy; Interior Minister Arsen Avakov; Security Service chief Vasyl Hrytsak; Deputy Prime Minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze; businessman Viktor Pinchuk; and former Prime Ministers Yulia Tymoshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
Putin Warns Of Consequences Over Orthodox Split
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of "the most serious consequences" over splits in the Orthodox Church after the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople earlier this month announced the decision to proceed to recognize Ukraine's request for an autocephalous church.
Russia Plans First Manned Launch To ISS Since October Accident
Russia’s space agency said a failed blastoff last month was due to a "malfunctioning sensor,” as it announced plans to launch in December its first manned rocket to the International Space Station since the incident.
Russian Government Will Freeze Gasoline Prices Till The End Of The Year
In a bid to stabilize the fuel market, Russian media reports that Russian oil companies have agreed to freeze gasoline prices in the domestic market until the end of the year, maintaining prices at the level of June 2018. Violators of the agreement risk being banned from exporting oil abroad. (Russian Service)
One Third Of TV Sets In Russia Not Equipped For Digital Switch
The Russian government plans to stop financing analogue broadcasts effective January 1, 2019, but experts with the country’s ministry of industry and trade report that 30 percent of the country’s TV sets are not equipped to receive a digital signal. With 14 percent of the population officially living below the minimum wage, many Russians are not able to buy a new TV. (Russian Service)
Diabetics Aid Group Plans To Close After Being Labeled 'Foreign Agent'
A group providing aid to diabetics in the Russian city of Saratov says it is no longer able to conduct its operations after being labeled a “foreign agent” and will shut down.
Russian Investigators Suspect Terrorism Behind Arkhangelsk Blast
Russian investigators say they have launched a probe into suspected terrorism after an explosion at a Federal Security Service office in northern Russia that killed one person.
Lukashenka Proposes That Belarus Control Ukrainian Border
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Minsk on October 31, Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka offered to take on responsibility for “ensuring peace in the eastern regions of Ukraine and controlling the Russian-Ukrainian border,” and overseeing elections in the Donbas region. In his remarks, Lukashenka emphasized that the eastern territories are “an integral part of Ukraine.” (Ukrainian Service)
Armenia Downplays Istanbul Declaration On Karabakh
Meeting in Istanbul earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan adopted a declaration calling for the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the region "based on the principle of territorial integrity."
Bulgaria Uncovers Documents Scheme To Provide False Entry To EU
Bulgarian prosecutors have charged senior state officials in connection with a document-fraud scheme that they said had enabled people from Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans to obtain Bulgarian passports and travel freely in the European Union.
Internet Freedom Still Sliding Globally, Watchdog Says
Internet freedom continues to wane worldwide under pressure from attacks on informed democratic debate and notions of privacy, with "a cohort of countries...moving toward digital authoritarianism," U.S.-based democracy monitor Freedom House has warned.
BLOGGING THE BALKANS: Unlike Storied Rival, Upstart Book Fair Shuns War Criminals
POLL: More Russians Feel Responsible For Domestic Affairs
A recent Levada Center poll found that the number of respondents who “feel responsible” for developments in Russia has increased from 9% to 28% over the last year, with 10%, compared to 5%, believing they can influence events. Sociologists believe this is due to a shift in the public’s attention from events abroad to domestic issues like pension reform, rising prices, and declining income. (in Russian, Current Time TV)