WORLD Russia is moving ahead with plans to build a vessel that would contain a pair of small nuclear reactors capable of generating enough electricity for a city of 200,000 people, as well as heat and desalinated water. But it is clear that a major impetus behind the effort is Russia’s drive for oil and gas exploration in remote reaches of the Arctic. (National Geographic … Continue reading Russia Floats Plan for Arctic Nuclear Plants
SCIENCE Key details about a large meteor’s fiery passage over Chelyabinsk, Russia, were inadvertently captured by satellites originally tasked to study Earth’s weather, scientists say. These environmental satellites could help researchers study potentially dangerous near-Earth objects, or NEOs. (National Geographic News) Use our resources to better understand meteors and weather satellites. (No, this video—of the Chelyabinsk meteorite being recovered from Lake Chebarkul—has no sound.) Discussion … Continue reading A Screaming Comes Across the Sky
ENVIRONMENT U.S. and Russia Team Up in Bid to Aid Polar Bears This article outlines a key talking point at the conference surrounding the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The U.S. and Russia, home to thousands of polar bears, both support greater protection for the endangered species. Discussion idea: Look at the map of polar bear territory. … Continue reading Current Event Connection: U.S., Russia Support Protecting Polar Bears
Hannah is a 22-year-old Colgate graduate from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (go Steelers!), currently living in Moscow, Russia. Instead of looking for a more traditional job right out of school, she decided to move to Russia for a year to work as an English teacher and try to improve her Russian language skills. She’s obsessed with reading, baking, and going to the gym, so that is how she spends the majority of her time (when she’s not working, of course).
I’ll be honest; I’m not really into the whole sight-seeing thing. I wish I was. It would be great to have a ton of pictures of everywhere I’ve ever been. As it is, I have to force myself to “be good” and take pictures when I go to someplace new. I’m definitely better at playing the photographer when I am only visiting a new place for a weekend or so. However, when I live in a place for a longer period of time, I just keep putting off the whole picture thing until I have a week left and then I run around trying to make up for lost time.
I’m currently living in Moscow until next June, working as an English teacher here. It’s now mid-October…I’ve been here since mid-August. Have I gone out yet with the express purpose of sight-seeing? Not yet. Typical. But, I did manage to take some pictures of the biggest tourist attraction of the city, Red Square! I’m actually impressed with myself. Of course, I didn’t go out to play tourist. No, I went with a few friends to run in a free, Nike-sponsored 5K race. Hey, they were giving out free T-shirts (and as every Colgate student knows, that’s all you need to get anyone to go anywhere – free shirts and food).
The violence and instability in Kyrgyzstan affects more than just the people of Kyrgyzstan and the surrounding area. The situation in Kyrgyzstan has international implications, particularly for U.S. and Russian military strategy and humanitarian aid efforts.
Both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks called on Russia to step in as a third party peace-keeper. The Collective Security Treaty Organization, an alliance made up of regional partners and dominated by Russia, met and adjourned without a commitment from Russia to send troops, but with an implication that if conditions worsened, Russia may act. 
Uzbek refugees lined up around an armored vehicle with Uzbek soldiers in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh.
Courtesy New York Times, Faruk Akkan/CHA, Via Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/14/world/0614-Kyrgyzstan-2.html
Continue reading “International Implications of Violence in Kyrgyzstan”
