1.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
2.
Armenian language
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The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenians. Like Hellenic Greek, it has its own branch in the language tree. It is the language of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It has historically been spoken throughout the Armenian Highlands and today is spoken in the Armenian diaspora. Armenian has its own script, the Armenian alphabet, introduced in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots. Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages and it is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological developments within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization, although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups, Armenia was a monolingual country by the 2nd century BC at the latest. Its language has a literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Its vocabulary has been influenced by Western Middle Iranian languages, particularly Parthian, and to an extent by Greek, Persian. There are two standardized modern literary forms, Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian, with which most contemporary dialects are mutually intelligible and he is also credited by some with the creation of the Caucasian Albanian alphabet. In The Anabasis, Xenophon describes many aspects of Armenian village life and he relates that the Armenian people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. W. M. However, unlike shared innovations, the retention of archaisms is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. Some of the terms he gives admittedly have an Akkadian or Sumerian provenance, loan words from Iranian languages, along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as Paul de Lagarde and F. Müller believed that the similarities between the two meant that Iranian and Armenian were the same language. The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist Heinrich Hübschmann used the method to distinguish two layers of Iranian loans from the older Armenian vocabulary. Meillets hypothesis became popular in the wake of his Esquisse, eric P. Hamp supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis, anticipating even a time when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian. Nevertheless, as Fortson comments, by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, graeco--Aryan is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family, ancestral to the Greek language, the Armenian language, and the Indo-Iranian languages. Graeco-Aryan unity would have divided into Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian by the mid-third millennium BC
3.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
4.
Yukos
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OJSC Yukos Oil Company was an oil and gas company based in Moscow, Russia. Yukos was acquired from the Russian government by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovskys Bank Menatep during the controversial loans for shares auctions of the mid 1990s. Courts in several countries later ruled that the intent was to destroy Yukos and obtain its assets for the government. In 2014 the largest arbitration award in history, $50 billion, was won by Yukos former owners against Russia, from 2003-04 onwards, the Russian government presented Yukos with a series of tax claims totaling US$27 billion. As the government froze Yukos assets at the time, and alternative attempts to settle by Yukos were refused. Between 2004 and 2007, most of Yukoss assets were seized and transferred for a fraction of their value to state-owned oil companies, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe condemned Russias campaign against Yukos and its owners as manufactured for political reasons and a violation of human rights. Between 2011 and 2014 several court cases were won by the companys management. The company was created on April 15,1993 by Resolution №,354 of the Russian government, following Presidential Decree №. OAO Yukos Oil Company, universally known as Yukos was one of the companies so formed, the company was named after these assets, YUganskneftegaz + KuybyshevnefteOrgSintez. The Samaraneftegaz refinery was added to Yukos in 1995 under decree №,864, and at some point eight distribution companies in Central Russia and Siberia and assorted technical businesses. Menatep became the owner of 78% of Yukos shares following an auction in December 1995 and Khodorkovsky became its CEO. In the late 1990s Russia was badly affected by a deepening of the economic crisis, in 2001 the company paid $500m dividend, in 2002 - $700m and in 2003 the planned dividend payout was estimatd at $3 billion. Its share prices were growing quickly - in 2001 by 191% and it started international expansion, purchasing 49% shares of Transpetrol and 53% shares of Mazeikiu Nafta. In 2002 four companies - Yukos, Lukoil, TNK and Sibneft - established a consortium to build a pipeline from Western Siberia to Murmansk, Yukos had five Americans on its board, and Khodorkovskys charity Open Russia listed Henry Kissinger and Lord Rothschild as chairmen. In a 2002 profile, Forbes described Khodorkovsky as being vilified by the West until quite recently and it quoted Khodorkovsky as saying, By now we understand how business is done in the West. I earn money in dividends and with the increase in the capitalization of my company. At the peak of its success, Yukos was producing 20% of Russian oil—about 2% of world production, in its final year before being broken up, on October 25,2003, Yukos CEO Khodorkovsky was arrested on charges of fraud and tax evasion. Control of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s shares in the Russian oil giant Yukos have passed to Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild upon his arrest
5.
Moscow State University
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Lomonosov Moscow State University is a coeducational and public research university located in Moscow, Russia. It was founded on January 25,1755 by Mikhail Lomonosov, MSU was renamed after Lomonosov in 1940 and was then known as Lomonosov University. It also claims to house the tallest educational building in the world and it is rated among the universities with the best reputation in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy, ivan Shuvalov and Mikhail Lomonosov promoted the idea of a university in Moscow, and Russian Empress Elizabeth decreed its establishment on January 251755. The first lectures were given on April 26th, russians still celebrate January 25th as Students Day. Saint Petersburg State University and Moscow State University engage in rivalry over the title of Russias oldest university. The present Moscow State University originally occupied the Principal Medicine Store on Red Square from 1755 to 1787, in the 18th century, the University had three departments, philosophy, medicine, and law. A preparatory college was affiliated with the University until its abolition in 1812, in 1779, Mikhail Kheraskov founded a boarding school for noblemen which in 1830 became a gymnasium for the Russian nobility. The university press, run by Nikolay Novikov in the 1780s, published the most popular newspaper in Imperial Russia, in 1804, medical education split into clinical, surgical, and obstetrics faculties. During 1884–1897, the Department of Medicine -- supported by donations. The campus, and medical education in general, were separated from the University in 1918, as of 2015, Devichye Pole was operated by the independent I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and by various other state and private institutions. The roots of student unrest in the University reach deep into the nineteenth century, in 1905, a social-democratic organization emerged at the University and called for the overthrow of the Czarist government and the establishment of a republic in Russia. The imperial government repeatedly threatened to close the University, after the October Revolution of 1917, the institution began to admit the children of the proletariat and peasantry. In 1919, the University abolished fees for tuition and established a facility to help working-class children prepare for entrance examinations. During the implementation of Joseph Stalins First Five-Year Plan, prisoners from the Gulag were forced to construct parts of the newly expanded University, after 1991, nine new faculties were established. The following year, the University gained a status, it is funded directly from the state budget. On March 19,2008, Russias most powerful supercomputer to date and its peak performance of 60 TFLOPS makes it the fastest supercomputer in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Since 1953, most of the faculties have been situated on Sparrow Hills, the main building was designed by architect Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev
6.
Harvard Law School
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Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is considered to be one of the most prestigious in the world. The school is ranked third by the U. S. News & World and its acceptance rate was 15. 4% in the 2013–14 admissions cycle, and its yield rate of 66. 2% was the second-highest of any law school in the United States. It is ranked first in the 2016 QS World University Rankings, Harvard Law admitted 16. 5% of applicants in its most recent class, compared to 9. 2% at Yale and 11. 2% at Stanford. With a current enrollment of 1,990, HLS has about as many students as its three closest-ranked peer institutions, first-ranked Yale, second-ranked Stanford, and fourth-ranked Chicago, combined. The first-year class is broken into seven sections of approximately 80 students, Harvards uniquely large class size and its prestige have led the law school to graduate a great many distinguished alumni in the judiciary, government, and the business world. According to Harvard Laws 2015 ABA-required disclosures,95. 33% of the Class of 2014 passed the Bar exam. Harvard Law Schools founding is linked to the funding of Harvards first professorship in law, paid for from a bequest from the estate of Isaac Royall. Today, it is home to the largest academic law library in the world, the current dean of Harvard Law School is Martha Minow, who assumed the role on July 1,2009. The law school has 328 faculty members, Harvard Law Schools founding is traced to the establishment of a law department at Harvard in 1817. Dating the founding to the year of the creation of the law department makes Harvard Law the oldest continuously-operating law school in the nation, William & Mary Law School opened first in 1779, but closed due to the American Civil War, reopening in 1920. The University of Maryland School of Law was chartered in 1816, but did not begin classes until 1824, and also closed during the Civil War. Or a Professor of Physick and Anatomy, whichever the said overseers and Corporation shall judge to be best. ”The value of the land, when fully liquidated in 1809, was $2,938, the Harvard Corporation allocated $400 from the income generated by those funds to create the Royall Professorship of Law in 1815. The dean of the law school traditionally held the Royall chair, deans Elena Kagan, royalls Medford estate, the Isaac Royall House, is now a museum which features the only remaining slave quarters in the northeast United States. The Royall family coat-of-arms, which shows three stacked wheat sheaves, was adopted as the school crest in 1936, topped with the university motto, in March 2016, following requests by students, the school decided to remove the emblem because of its association with slavery. By 1827, the school, with one faculty member, was struggling, nathan Dane, a prominent alumnus of the college, then endowed the Dane Professorship of Law, insisting that it be given to then Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story. For a while, the school was called Dane Law School, in 1829, John H. Ashmun, son of Eli Porter Ashmun and brother of George Ashmun, accepted a professorship and closed his Northampton Law School, with many of his students following him to Harvard. Enrollment remained low through the 19th century as university legal education was considered to be of little added benefit to apprenticeships in legal practice, at Harvard, Langdell also developed the case method of teaching law, now the dominant pedagogical model at U. S. law schools
7.
Harvard University
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Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregationalist and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, james Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College, Harvards $34.5 billion financial endowment is the largest of any academic institution. Harvard is a large, highly residential research university, the nominal cost of attendance is high, but the Universitys large endowment allows it to offer generous financial aid packages. Harvards alumni include eight U. S. presidents, several heads of state,62 living billionaires,359 Rhodes Scholars. To date, some 130 Nobel laureates,18 Fields Medalists, Harvard was formed in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1638, it obtained British North Americas first known printing press, in 1639 it was named Harvard College after deceased clergyman John Harvard an alumnus of the University of Cambridge who had left the school £779 and his scholars library of some 400 volumes. The charter creating the Harvard Corporation was granted in 1650 and it offered a classic curriculum on the English university model—many leaders in the colony had attended the University of Cambridge—but conformed to the tenets of Puritanism. It was never affiliated with any denomination, but many of its earliest graduates went on to become clergymen in Congregational. The leading Boston divine Increase Mather served as president from 1685 to 1701, in 1708, John Leverett became the first president who was not also a clergyman, which marked a turning of the college toward intellectual independence from Puritanism. When the Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan died in 1803 and the president of Harvard Joseph Willard died a year later, in 1804, in 1846, the natural history lectures of Louis Agassiz were acclaimed both in New York and on the campus at Harvard College. Agassizs approach was distinctly idealist and posited Americans participation in the Divine Nature, agassizs perspective on science combined observation with intuition and the assumption that a person can grasp the divine plan in all phenomena. When it came to explaining life-forms, Agassiz resorted to matters of shape based on an archetype for his evidence. Charles W. Eliot, president 1869–1909, eliminated the position of Christianity from the curriculum while opening it to student self-direction. While Eliot was the most crucial figure in the secularization of American higher education, he was motivated not by a desire to secularize education, during the 20th century, Harvards international reputation grew as a burgeoning endowment and prominent professors expanded the universitys scope. Rapid enrollment growth continued as new schools were begun and the undergraduate College expanded. Radcliffe College, established in 1879 as sister school of Harvard College, Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900. In the early 20th century, the student body was predominately old-stock, high-status Protestants, especially Episcopalians, Congregationalists, by the 1970s it was much more diversified
8.
Master of Laws
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The Master of Laws is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In some jurisdictions the Master of Laws is the professional degree for admission into legal practice. To become a lawyer and practice law in most states and countries, while in most common law countries a Bachelor of Laws is required, the U. S. and Canada generally require a professional doctorate, or Juris Doctor, to practice law. The Juris Doctor is a doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law. The degree is earned by completing law school in the United States, Canada, Australia, the majority of individuals holding a J. D. must pass an examination in order to be licensed to practice law within their respective jurisdictions. If a person wishes to gain specialized knowledge through research in a area of law. The word legum is the plural form of the Latin word lex. When used in the plural, it signifies a body of laws, as opposed to the general collective concept embodied in the word jus, from which the words juris. The highest research degree in law is the S. J. D. and it is equivalent to the Doctor of Philosophy in Law, Doctorat en Droit, or the Doktor der Rechtswissenschaften in Germany. There are also variant doctoral degrees, such as the D. C. L. degree bestowed by McGill University in Canada, most schools require an LL. M. before admission to a SJD or a PhD in law degree program. Like the PhD, the SJD degree generally requires a dissertation that is graded, orally defended, the Doctor of Laws degree in the United States of America is usually an honorary degree. Historically, the LL. M. degree is an element particular to the system of English speaking countries. Over the past years, however, specialized LL. M, Programs have been introduced in many European countries, even where the Bologna process has not yet been fully implemented. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Cyprus, Italy and Switzerland require a Masters with a two to five years to become a lawyer. As of 2014, Spain requires a degree in addition to a 4 years degree to become a lawyer. In Finland, an LL. M. is the graduate degree required to practice law. To be allowed to practice law in the Netherlands, one needs an LL. M. degree with a course in litigation law. The Dutch Order of Lawyers require these courses for every potential candidate lawyer who wants to be written in the district court for three years
9.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is an international law firm headquartered at One Liberty Plaza in New York City. The firm currently has offices in Washington DC, Hong Kong, Beijing, London, Rome, Milan, Brussels, Moscow, Frankfurt, Cologne, Paris, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Abu Dhabi and it employs over 1,200 lawyers worldwide. It was the first U. S. firm qualified to practice law in Japan, the firm is known for its representation of national governments in sovereign-debt cases. As of 2016, the website Vault. com ranked Cleary Gottlieb #9 in their Vault Law 100 list. The firm was founded in 1946 when six partners from the firm of Root, Clark, Buckner & Howland left to found a firm which they initially called Cleary, Gottlieb, Friendly, & Cox. One of those partners was Henry Friendly, whose name was removed from the name after he was appointed as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1959. The New York office is situated in One Liberty Plaza, across the street from the World Trade Center site, the Washington office is located at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, four blocks northwest of the White House. Some of the attorneys who have practiced at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP include George W. Ball, Henry Friendly. Cleary Gottlieb has been engaged in cases involving the restructuring of sovereign debt. Over the past three decades, noted a 2012 Reuters report, the firm has become the legal adviser for countries in financial difficulties. In the past five years it has represented Greece, the Republic of Congo, but in 2014, a number of commentators criticized the firm severely for its handling of the Argentinian debt case. Issuer counsel to the Government of Malaysia in its $750 million eurobond offering in 2002, counseled Crédit Lyonnais in its €19.5 billion acquisition by Crédit Agricole SA in December 2002. The entity is now known as LCL, in 2003, the firm advised Deutsche Telekom in its €2.3 billion bond offer. Advised Argentina in the 2005 restructuring of its $81.8 billion global debt, retained as legal counsel by Euronext NV in its €15 billion merger of equals with the New York Stock Exchange in 2006. In 2007, Cleary Gottlieb served as adviser to T-Mobile in its $2.4 billion merger with SunCom Wireless. Defended the Republic of Congo in litigation in the United States arising from attempts to garnish Congos oil royalties, represented Mittal Steel Czech subsidiary in ICC arbitration claim brought by Dutch contractor. Advised Google in its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, buchheit’s academic papers, books and legal briefs over the past three decades fill much of the void where no formal law exists. Buchheit was an author of a 2013 Brookings committee report that proposed changes in the approach to sovereign debt
10.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
11.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
12.
Rosneft
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Rosneft is an integrated oil company majority owned by the Government of Russia. Rosneft is headquartered in Moscows Balchug district near the Kremlin, across the Moskva River, Rosneft became Russias leading extraction and refinement company after purchasing assets of former oil giant Yukos at state-run auctions. In March 2013, Rosneft became the largest publicly traded oil company, Rosneft conducts oil and gas exploration and production activities on Sakhalin island, Siberia, Timan-Pechora field and in southern Russia, including Chechnya. It owns and operates two refineries, the refinery in Tuapse, on the Black Sea, focuses on refining high-gravity oil from western Siberia. Another plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur is the easternmost refinery in Russia, Rosneft operates shipping, pipeline and marketing companies. As of 29 December 2006, the market value was US$83.908 billion. Rosneft net income fell 20% for the first quarter of 2009 from $2.56 billion to $2.06 billion due to the weakness of oil price, on December 7,2016,19. 5% of the company was sold to an anonymous buyer. Rosneft was established in 1993 as an enterprise with assets previously held by Rosneftegaz. During the early 1990s almost all Russian oil companies and refineries were extracted from Rosneft to form ten integrated companies, later their number was halved as a result of acquisitions. On 29 September 1995, an Order of the Government of Russia №971 transformed Rosneft into a joint stock company. In October 1998, the Russian government appointed Sergey Bogdanchikov as president, the company owned two obsolete refineries and several low-productive and poorly managed oil-producing assets. In the late 1990s, plans for Rosnefts privatization in Russia were made, in 2001, the company became Russias official representative on projects with production sharing agreements. In 2003, Rosneft began oil production at the Aday block in the Atyrau Region near the Caspian Sea in Western Kazakhstan, in 2004 Rosneft had increased oil output from 98.56 million bbl in 2001 to 148.26 million bbl. In the same year Rosneft agreed to merge with Gazprom but plans were discarded in May 2005 and it is alleged that Bogdanchikov did not wish to take a lesser role in the integrated company answering to Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller. Starting in 2004, the Russian government organized a series of auctions to sell oil giants Yukos assets, on 22 December 2004, Rosneft had purchased a then little known Russian oil company called Baikal Finance Group. Three days earlier, the previously unheard-of Baikal Group had purchased Yukos main asset Yuganskneftegaz at an auction for 9.35 billion dollars. Many viewed this as a de facto nationalization of Yugansk, andrei Illarionov, then a senior Putin economic advisor, denounced it as the scam of the year. With the addition of Yungansk Rosneft became Russias second-largest producer of oil and gas by 2005, in June 2007, Rosneft paid $731 million for the transportation assets of Yukos, which had declared bankrupt in August 2006 after three years of litigation over tax arrears
13.
Russian ruble
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The Russian ruble is the currency of the Russian Federation, the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the two unrecognized republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The ruble is subdivided into 100 kopeks, the ruble was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. Today apart from Russia, Belarus and Transnistria uses currencies with the same name, the ruble was the worlds first decimal currency, it was decimalised in 1704 when the ruble became legally equal to 100 kopeks. In 1992 the Soviet ruble was replaced with the Russian ruble at the rate 1 SUR =1 RUR. In 1998 following the crisis, the Russian ruble was redenominated with the new code RUB. Today, although RUB being the code of the Russian ruble. The ruble is the oldest national currency after the Pound sterling in the world, the ruble has been used on the Russian territories since the 13th century. The modern Russian ruble actually appeared in December 1991 in parallel with the Soviet ruble, following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet ruble remained the currency of the Russian Federation until 1992. A new set of coins was issued in 1992 and a new set of banknotes was issued in the name of Bank of Russia in 1993. The Russian ruble with the ISO4217 code is RUR and number 810 replaced the Soviet ruble at the rate 1 SUR =1 RUR. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation introduced new coins in 1992 in denominations of 1,5,10,20,50 and 100 rubles, the coins depict the double-headed eagle without a crown, sceptre and globus cruciger above the legend Банк России. It is exactly the same eagle, that the artist Ivan Bilibin painted after the February Revolution as a coat of arms for the Russian Republic. The 1 and 5 ruble coins were minted in brass-clad steel, the 10 and 20 ruble coins in cupro-nickel, in 1993, aluminium-bronze 50 ruble coins and cupro-nickel-zinc 100 ruble coins were issued, and the material of 10 and 20 ruble coins s was changed to nickel-plated steel. In 1995 the material of 50 ruble coins was changed to brass-plated steel, as high inflation persisted, the lowest denominations disappeared from circulation and the other denominations became rarely used. During this period the commemorative one ruble coin was regularly issued and it was practically identical in size and weight to a 5 Swiss franc coin. For this reason, there have been instances of ruble coins being used on a large scale to defraud automated vending machines in Switzerland. In 1961, new State Treasury notes were introduced for 1,3 and 5 rubles, along with new State Bank notes for 10,25,50 and 100 rubles. In 1991, the State Bank took over production of 1,3 and 5 ruble notes and also introduced 200,500 and 1,000 ruble notes, although the 25 ruble note was no longer issued
14.
Promissory note
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If the promissory note is unconditional and readily saleable, it is called a negotiable instrument. A banknote is frequently referred to as a note, a promissory note made by a bank. Mortgage notes are another prominent example, Promissory notes are a common financial instrument in many jurisdictions, employed principally for short time financing of companies. Often, the seller or provider of a service is not paid upfront by the buyer, but within a period of time, the length of which has been agreed upon by both the seller and the buyer. Depending on the jurisdiction, this deferred payment period can be regulated by law, in countries like France, Italy or Spain, it usually ranges between 30 and 90 days after the purchase. In those cases, the company has the option of asking the bank for a term loan. Once the promissory note reaches its maturity date, its current holder can execute it over the emitter of the note, if the maker fails to pay, however, the bank retains the right to go to the company that cashed the promissory note in, and demand payment. In the case of unsecured promissory notes, the lender accepts the promissory note based solely on the ability to repay, if the maker fails to pay. Thus, promissory notes can work as a form of private money, the terms of a note usually include the principal amount, the interest rate if any, the parties, the date, the terms of repayment and the maturity date. Sometimes, provisions are included concerning the rights in the event of a default. Demand promissory notes are notes that do not carry a specific maturity date, usually the lender will only give the borrower a few days notice before the payment is due. For loans between individuals, writing and signing a promissory note are often instrumental for tax and record keeping, a promissory note alone is typically unsecured, but these may be used in combination with security agreements such as mortgage, in which case they are called mortgage notes. Definition and usage of notes are internationally established by the Convention providing a uniform law for bills of exchange and promissory notes. In the United States, a note that meets certain conditions is a negotiable instrument regulated by article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Negotiable promissory notes called mortgage notes are used extensively in combination with mortgages in the financing of real estate transactions, one prominent example is the Fannie Mae model standard form contract Multistate Fixed-Rate Note 3200, which is publicly available. Promissory notes, or commercial papers, are issued to provide capital to businesses. However, Promissory Notes act as a source of Finance to the companys creditors, historically, promissory notes have acted as a form of privately issued currency. Flying cash or feiqian was a promissory note used during the Tang dynasty, flying cash was regularly used by Chinese tea merchants, and could be exchanged for hard currency at provincial capitals
15.
Hunger strike
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Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not solid food. In cases where an entity has or is able to obtain custody of the hunger striker, fasting was used as a method of protesting injustice in pre-Christian Ireland, where it was known as Troscadh or Cealachan. It was detailed in the contemporary civic codes, and had rules by which it could be used. The fast was often carried out on the doorstep of the home of the offender, scholars speculate this was due to the high importance the culture placed on hospitality. Allowing a person to die at ones doorstep, for a wrong of which one was accused, was considered a great dishonor, others say that the practice was to fast for one whole night, as there is no evidence of people fasting to death in pre-Christian Ireland. The fasts were primarily undertaken to recover debts or get justice for a perceived wrong, there are legends of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, using the hunger strike as well. This Indian practice is ancient, going back to around 400 to 750 BC and this can be known since it appears in the Ramayana, which was composed around that time. The actual mention appears in the Ayodhya kanda, in Sarga 103, bharata has gone to ask the exiled Rama to come back and rule the kingdom. Bharata tries many arguments, none of which work, at which point he decides to do a hunger strike and he announces his intention to fast, calls for his charioteer Sumantra to bring him some sacred Kusha grass, and lies down upon the grass in front of Rama. Rama, however, is able to persuade him to abandon the attempt. Rama mentions it as a practice of the brahmanas, in the first three days, the body is still using energy from glucose. After that, the liver starts processing body fat, in a process called ketosis, after depleting fat, the body enters a starvation mode. At this point the body mines the muscles and vital organs for energy, there are examples of hunger strikers dying after 46 to 73 days of strike. In the early 20th century suffragettes frequently endured hunger strikes in British prisons, marion Dunlop was the first in 1909. She was released, as the authorities did not want her to become a martyr, other suffragettes in prison also undertook hunger strikes. The prison authorities subjected them to force-feeding, which the suffragettes categorized as a form of torture, in 1913 the Prisoners Temporary Discharge of Ill Health Act changed policy. Hunger strikes were tolerated but prisoners were released when they became sick, when they had recovered, the suffragettes were taken back to prison to finish their sentences. Like their British counterparts, American suffragettes also used this method of political protest, Hunger strikes have deep roots in Irish society and in the Irish psyche
16.
Lymph node
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A lymph node or lymph gland, is an ovoid or kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system, and of the adaptive immune system, that is widely present throughout the body. They are linked by the vessels as a part of the circulatory system. Lymph nodes are major sites of B and T lymphocytes, Lymph nodes are important for the proper functioning of the immune system, acting as filters for foreign particles and cancer cells. Lymph nodes do not have a function, which is primarily dealt with by the liver. In the lymphatic system the lymph node is a secondary lymphoid organ, a lymph node is enclosed in a fibrous capsule and is made up of an outer cortex and an inner medulla. Lymph nodes also have clinical significance and they become inflamed or enlarged in various diseases which may range from trivial throat infections, to life-threatening cancers. The condition of the nodes is very important in cancer staging, which decides the treatment to be used. When swollen, inflamed or enlarged, lymph nodes can be hard, Lymph nodes are kidney or oval shaped and range in size from a few millimeters to about 1–2 cm long. Each lymph node is surrounded by a capsule, which extends inside the lymph node to form trabeculae. The substance of the node is divided into the outer cortex. The cortex is continuous around the medulla except where the medulla comes into contact with the hilum. Thin reticular fibers of reticular connective tissue, and elastin form a supporting meshwork called a reticulin inside the node, B cells, are mainly found in the outer where they are clustered together as follicular B cells in lymphoid follicles and the T cells are mainly in the paracortex. The number and composition of follicles can change especially when challenged by an antigen, elsewhere in the node, there are only occasional leucocytes. As part of the network there are follicular dendritic cells in the B cell follicle. The reticular network not only provides the support, but also the surface for adhesion of the dendritic cells. It allows exchange of material with blood through the high endothelial venules and provides the growth and regulatory factors necessary for activation and maturation of immune cells. All of these sinuses drain the filtered lymphatic fluid into the medullary sinuses and these vessels are smaller and dont allow the passage of the macrophages so that they remain contained to function within the lymph node. In the course of the lymph, lymphocytes may be activated as part of the immune response
17.
Management of HIV/AIDS
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The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs in an attempt to control HIV infection. There are several classes of agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of drugs that act on different viral targets is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy. HAART decreases the total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system. Treatment has been so successful that in parts of the world. In the same paper, he noted that an estimated 700,000 lives were saved in 2010 alone by antiretroviral therapy, the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization recommend offering antiretroviral treatment to all patients with HIV. The first effective therapy against HIV was the reverse transcriptase inhibitor. It was approved by the US FDA in 1987, subsequently, several more NRTIs were developed but even in combination were unable to suppress the virus for long periods of time and patients still inevitably died. To distinguish from this early therapy, the term highly active anti-retroviral therapy was introduced. This concept of 3-drug therapy was quickly incorporated into practice and rapidly showed impressive benefit with a 60% to 80% decline in rates of AIDS, death. There are five classes of drugs, which are used in combination. Use of these drugs in combination can be termed anti-retroviral therapy, anti-retroviral drugs are broadly classified by the phase of the retrovirus life-cycle that the drug inhibits. Typical combinations include 2 NRTIs as a backbone along with 1 NNRTI, entry inhibitors interfere with binding, fusion and entry of HIV-1 to the host cell by blocking one of several targets. Maraviroc and enfuvirtide are the two currently available agents in this class, maraviroc works by targeting CCR5, a co-receptor located on human helper T-cells. Caution should be used when administering this drug due to a possible shift in tropism which allows HIV to target an alternative co-receptor such as CXCR4. In rare cases, individuals may have a mutation in the CCR5 delta gene which results in a nonfunctional CCR5 co-receptor and in turn, however, as mentioned previously, this can be overcome if an HIV variant that targets CXCR4 becomes dominant. To prevent fusion of the virus with the host membrane, enfuvirtide can be used, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors are nucleoside and nucleotide analogues which inhibit reverse transcription. HIV is an RNA virus and hence unable to become integrated into the DNA in the nucleus of the human cell, since the conversion of RNA to DNA is not done in the mammalian cell it is performed by a viral protein which makes it a selective target for inhibition
18.
Chemotherapy
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Chemotherapy is a category of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with an intent, or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms. Chemotherapy is one of the categories of the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer. Systemic therapy is used in conjunction with other modalities that constitute local therapy for cancer such as radiation therapy. Traditional chemotherapeutic agents are cytotoxic by means of interfering with cell division, to a large extent, chemotherapy can be thought of as a way to damage or stress cells, which may then lead to cell death if apoptosis is initiated. This results in the most common side-effects of chemotherapy, myelosuppression, mucositis, because of the effect on immune cells, chemotherapy drugs often find use in a host of diseases that result from harmful overactivity of the immune system against self. These include rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, vasculitis, there are a number of strategies in the administration of chemotherapeutic drugs used today. Chemotherapy may be given with an intent or it may aim to prolong life or to palliate symptoms. Induction chemotherapy is the first line treatment of cancer with a chemotherapeutic drug and this type of chemotherapy is used for curative intent. Combined modality chemotherapy is the use of drugs with other treatments, such as surgery, radiation therapy. Consolidation chemotherapy is given after remission in order to prolong the overall disease-free time, the drug that is administered is the same as the drug that achieved remission. Intensification chemotherapy is identical to consolidation chemotherapy but a different drug than the induction chemotherapy is used, combination chemotherapy involves treating a patient with a number of different drugs simultaneously. The drugs differ in their mechanism and side-effects, the biggest advantage is minimising the chances of resistance developing to any one agent. Also, the drugs can often be used at lower doses, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is given prior to a local treatment such as surgery, and is designed to shrink the primary tumor. It is also given to cancers with a risk of micrometastatic disease. Adjuvant chemotherapy is given after a local treatment and it can be used when there is little evidence of cancer present, but there is risk of recurrence. It is also useful in killing any cancerous cells that have spread to parts of the body. These micrometastases can be treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and can reduce relapse rates caused by these disseminated cells, maintenance chemotherapy is a repeated low-dose treatment to prolong remission
19.
European Court of Human Rights
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The European Court of Human Rights is a supra-national or international court established by the European Convention on Human Rights. It hears applications alleging that a state has breached one or more of the human rights provisions concerning civil and political rights set out in the Convention. An application can be lodged by an individual, a group of individuals or one or more of the contracting states, and, besides judgments. The Convention was adopted within the context of the Council of Europe, the Court is based in Strasbourg, France. The jurisdiction of the Court has been recognised to date by all 47 member states of the Council of Europe. In 1998, the Court became an institution and the European Commission of Human Rights. The accession of new states to the European Convention on Human Rights following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 led to a increase in applications filed in the Court. The efficiency of the Court was threatened seriously by the number of pending applications. In 19998,400 applications were allocated to be heard, in 200327,200 cases were filed and the number of pending applications rose to approximately 65,000. In 2005, the Court opened 45,500 case files, in 200957,200 applications were allocated, with the number of pending applications rose to 119,300. Protocol 14 entered into force on 1 June 2010, three months after it was ratified by all 47 contracting states to the Convention, between 2006 and 2010, Russia was the only contracting state to refuse to ratify Protocol 14. In 2010, Russia ended its opposition to the protocol, in exchange for a guarantee that Russian judges would be involved in reviewing complaints against Russia. Protocol 14 amended the Convention so that judges would be elected for a term of nine years. Amendments were also made so that a judge could reject plainly inadmissible applications. In cases of doubt, the single judge refers the applications to the Committee of the Court, a single judge may not examine applications against the state which nominated him. The three judge committee has jurisdiction to declare applications admissible and decide on the merits of the if it was clearly well founded and based on well established case law. Protocol 14 also provides that when a three judge committee decides on the merits of a case, the elected to represent that state is no longer a compulsory member of this committee. The judge can be invited by the committee, to one of its members
20.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
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Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky is an exiled Russian businessman, philanthropist and former oligarch, now resident in Switzerland. In 2003, Khodorkovsky was believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia and was ranked 16th on Forbes list of billionaires. He had worked his way up the Komsomol apparatus during the Soviet years, in October 2003, he was arrested and charged with fraud. The government under Russian president Vladimir Putin then froze shares of Yukos shortly thereafter on tax charges, Putins government took further actions against Yukos, leading to a collapse of the companys share price and the evaporation of much of Khodorkovskys wealth. In May 2005, he was guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison. After Hans-Dietrich Genscher lobbied for his release, President Vladimir Putin pardoned Khodorkovsky, there was widespread concern internationally that the trials and sentencing were politically motivated. The trial was criticized abroad for the lack of due process, Khodorkovsky lodged several applications with the European Court of Human Rights, seeking redress for alleged violations by Russia of his human rights. In response to his first application, which concerned events from 2003 to 2005, despite these findings, the court ultimately ruled that the trial was not politically motivated, but rather that the charges against him were grounded in reasonable suspicion. He was considered to be a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, upon being pardoned by Putin and released from prison at the end of 2013, Khodorkovsky immediately left Russia and was granted residency in Switzerland. At the end of 2013, his estate was believed to be worth, as a rough estimate. At the end of 2014, he was said to be worth about $500 million, in December 2016, a court unfroze $100m of Khodorkovskys assets that had been held in Ireland. He has been described by The Economist as the Kremlin’s leading critic-in-exile, Khodorkovskys parents, Boris and Marina Khodorkovsky, were “engineers in Moscow who spent their entire careers at a measuring-instruments factory, ” writes Masha Gessen. Khodorkovskys father was Jewish, and his mother was Russian Orthodox and they were both opponents of Communism, but chose “to keep their own political skepticism from their only son, ” who was born in 1963. The family lived in a two-room flat “in a concrete block far from the city center and they chose the second path, with results that far exceeded their expectations. Mikhail became a fervent Communist and Soviet patriot, a member of a species that had seemed all but extinct. ”The young Khodorkovsky was ambitious and received excellent grades. He became deputy head of Komsomol at his university, the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, from which he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1986. The Mendeleev Chemistry and Technology Institute, Gessen states, was “one of the colleges of choice for young people whose Jewish surnames made them ineligible for Moscow State University. ”While in college, Khodorkovsky married a fellow student. In 1986, he met an 18-year-old, Inna, “a first-year night student at the Mendeleev Institute” who was working “in the dues department of the Komsomol organization where Khodorkovsky worked. ”He courted her and they had a daughter and twin sons
21.
Lev Ponomaryov
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Lev Aleksandrovich Ponomaryov is a Russian political and civil activist. He is a director of the all-Russian movement For Human Rights. He is a member of the Federal Political Council of Solidarnost, Ponomaryov graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1965 and from the doctorate program of the same institute in 1968, becoming a doctor of physics and mathematics. He worked in the Theoretical and Experimental Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in 1988, Ponomaryov helped create the human rights organization Memorial. In 1989, Ponomaryov filled the place of academic Andrei Sakharov in the Congress of Peoples Deputies of the Soviet Union after he died suddenly from a heart attack. Ponomaryov took part in the Coordination Council of Moscow Union of Electors, in 1990, he was elected a Peoples Deputy of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In the autumn of 1991, he presided over the commission for investigation of GKChP activities. In 1993, he lost the elections to the State Duma in a single-mandate constituency, Ponomaryov entered the Parliament only after the death of deputy Vasilii Seliunin. From 1994 to 1996 Ponomaryov was a deputy of the State Duma, in 1997, Ponomaryov founded the Russian human rights society For Human Rights, becoming its executive director and a member of the Council on Motion. Also in 1997, Ponomaryov was one of the founders of the Hotline and he has been a member of The Other Russia coalition since its foundation in 2006 and also a member of its executive committee. In 2007, he lost a case of defence of honour and dignity against Yury Kalinin, the court obliged Ponomaryov to refute the unreliable information about Kalinin that he had made public. He actively defended the ex-owner of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the other persons sentenced for economical offences in the YUKOS case, some human rights activists consider that these persons are persecuted for political reasons and that the charges against them are fabricated. In 2007, he appealed to President Putin to release Khodorkovsky, lev Ponomarev is a member of the United Democratic Movement Solidarnost. On December 13,2008, at the first Solidarnost congress, late in the evening on March 31,2009, he was physically assaulted near his home. Ludmila Alekseeva thinks that this attack was connected with his political, at the meeting of Russian and US Presidents on April 1,2009, Barack Obama, according to his assistants, mentioned the attack against Ponomarev among the main US concerns about Russia. On March 10,2010 he signed an appeal of the Russian opposition stating Putin must go, on July 14,2010, he declared that he considered it necessary to maintain article 282 of the Penal Code. On August 25,2010 he was sentenced to a 3-day arrest for attempting to carry the flag of the Russian Federation along Arbat Street on State Flag Day. The day before, Boris Nemtsov was acquitted in the same case, on September 7,2010 he was sentenced to a 4-day arrest for disobedience of the police
22.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva
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Alexeyeva was born in Yevpatoria, Crimea. Alexeyeva joined the Communist Party of the USSR in 1952, from 1959–1968, she worked as an editor in the ethnography and archeology section of the publishing house “Science”. Alexeyeva’s worldview was significantly affected by the Khrushchev Thaw that lasted from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s and she belonged to the group of people, mostly intellectuals, who formed the dissident movement in the USSR in the 1960s. In 1966, Alexeyeva campaigned in defense of Daniel and Siniavsky, in the late 1960s she signed petitions in defense of other dissidents who were prosecuted by the Soviet authorities, including Alexander Ginzburg and Yuri Galanskov. In April 1968, Alexeyeva was expelled from the Communist Party, nonetheless, she continued her activities in defense of human rights. In 1968–1972 she worked clandestinely as a typist for the first underground bulletin The Chronicle of Current Events devoted to human rights violations in the USSR, during 1970–1977 Alexeyeva worked at the Institute of Information on Social Sciences affiliated with the Science Academy of the USSR. Having become completely disillusioned with the Soviet ideology, Alexeyeva decided not to defend her Candidate of Sciences thesis, in early 1976, Alexeyeva became a founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Group. As a member, she signed a number of documents issued by the Group, helped some of them. Her responsibilities also included editing the Group’s documents and hiding copies of them from the authorities, in February 1977 Alexeyeva was forced to emigrate from the USSR. She and her family settled in the United States, where she continued her human rights activities as a representative of the Moscow Helsinki Group. In addition, after moving to the United States, Alexeyeva took up freelance journalism for Radio Liberty. In 1990 she published The Thaw Generation, an autobiography that described the formation of the Soviet dissident movement and was co-written with Paul Goldberg, in 1989 she again joined the Moscow Helsinki Group that was restarted after its dissolution in 1981. In 1993, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, she returned to Russia, in 2000, Alexeyeva joined a commission set up to advise President Vladimir Putin on human rights issues, a move that triggered criticism from some other rights activists. Subsequently, she co-founded the All-Russia Civic Network with Satarov, on February 10,2009, Alexeyeva joined the Council for Promoting the Institutions of Civil Society and Human Rights under the President of the Russian Federation. She has also criticized the law enforcers’ conduct in Ingushetia and has warned that violence in the republic may spread to the whole Russian Federation. In 2006, she was accused by the Russian authorities of involvement with British intelligence, since October 31,2009, she has been one of the regular organizers of these rallies. On December 31,2009, during one of these protests, Alexeyeva was detained by the riot police. This event provoked strong reaction in Russia and abroad, jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament, was “deeply disappointed and shocked” at the treatment of Alexeyeva and others by the police
23.
European Convention on Human Rights
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The European Convention on Human Rights is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the newly formed Council of Europe. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention, the Convention established the European Court of Human Rights. Any person who feels his or her rights have been violated under the Convention by a party can take a case to the Court. Judgments finding violations are binding on the States concerned and they are obliged to execute them, the compensations imposed under ECHR can be rather large, in 2014 Russia agreed to pay in excess of $2 billion in damages to former shareholders of Yukos. The Convention has several protocols, which amend the convention framework, the European Convention on Human Rights has played an important role in the development and awareness of Human Rights in Europe. The development of a system of human rights protection operating across Europe can be seen as a direct response to twin concerns. Second, the Convention was a response to the growth of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe and designed to protect the member states of the Council of Europe from communist subversion. The Convention was drafted by the Council of Europe after the Second World War in response to an issued by Europeans from all walks of life who had gathered at the Hague Congress. British MP and lawyer Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, the Chair of the Assemblys Committee on Legal and Administrative Questions, was one of its leading members, as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, he had seen first-hand how international justice could be effectively applied. After extensive debates, the Assembly sent its proposal to the Councils Committee of Ministers. So a non-democratic State could not participate in the ECHR system, the Convention was opened for signature on 4 November 1950 in Rome. It was ratified and entered force on 3 September 1953. It is overseen and enforced by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, until procedural reforms in the late 1990s, the Convention was also overseen by a European Commission on Human Rights. Statements of principle are, from a point of view, not determinative. As amended by Protocol 11, the Convention consists of three parts, the main rights and freedoms are contained in Section I, which consists of Articles 2 to 18. Section II sets up the Court and its rules of operation, Section III contains various concluding provisions. Article 1 simply binds the parties to secure the rights under the other Articles of the Convention within their jurisdiction
24.
Kommersant
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Kommersant is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. It is a leading liberal business broadsheet, the TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily was 120, 000-130,000. The newspaper was published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power. In 1989, with the onset of press freedom in Russia, Kommersant was re-established under the ownership of businessman and this is played up in the Kommersant logo, which features a script hard sign at the end of somewhat more formal font. In January 2005, Kommersant published blank pages as a protest at a ruling ordering it to publish a denial of a story about a crisis at Alfa-Bank. The sole article in the paper was one, published upside down. The headline of the article was Full Plaintiff which has little meaning, the English version of the article was headed Alfa-d Up. In August 2006, Patarkatsishvili sold his 100% stake in the Kommersant publishing house to Alisher Usmanov, after clashing with Usmanov, Kommersant editor-in-chief Vladislav Borodulin left the paper. Decision to resign was not forced, but evidently they expressed different views on how the house should be developed. On 9 December 2008 the publication of articles in English ceased, since February 2009 Kommersant newspaper is printed and distributed in the United Kingdom. In January 2000 Kommersant was found guilty of libel against Russian entrepreneur Alex Konanykhin, the court dismissed the judicial proceeding due to jurisdictional issues
25.
RIA Novosti
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RIA Novosti, sometimes shortly RIA was Russias international news agency until 2013 and continues to be the name of a state-operated domestic Russian-language news agency. Operating under the purview of the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, RIA Novosti is headquartered in Moscow, on 9 December 2013 President of Russia Vladimir Putin ordered RIA Novostis liquidation and the creation of a Russian international news agency Rossiya Segodnya. Dmitry Kiselev, an anchorman of the Russia-1 channel was appointed to be the first president of the new information agency, on 10 November 2014, Rossiya Segodnya launched the Sputnik multimedia platform as the international replacement of RIA Novosti and Voice of Russia. Within Russia itself, however, Rossiya Segodnya continues to operate its Russian language news service under the name RIA Novosti with its ria. ru website and it had a correspondent network in the Russian Federation, CIS and over 40 non-CIS countries. RIA Novosti was a news agency. The last editor-in-chief of RIA Novosti was Svetlana Mironyuk, the first woman appointed to the role in the agencys history, according to the organisations Charter, enterprises property was federally owned and was indivisible. According to the agency, it was partially government-subsidized, but maintained full editorial independence and its Russian name was Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Agency of International Information «RIA Novosti», shortly FGUP RAMI «RIA Novosti». Its formal English name was Russian News & Information Agency RIA Novosti, early in 1990s it had the name state enterprise RIA «Novosti». RIA means Russian Information Agency and Novosti means News in Russian, the common abbreviation in Russian is RIA. Its main task was to work to cover international, military events. The bureaus main task was to compile reports on the situation on the frontline of the war, work on the front. In 1944, a bureau on propaganda for foreign countries was set up as part of Sovinformburo. Shcherbakov, S. A. Lozovsky and Y. S, in 1961, the Novosti Press Agency succeeded Sovinformburo. It became the information and press body of Soviet public organizations. The constituent conference was held on February 21,1961, the conference of representatives of Soviet public organizations adopted a decision to create a press agency of public organizations named Novosti. The agencys guiding body was the Council of the Agency’s Founders, the APN founders were the USSR Journalists Union, USSR Writers Union, Union of Soviet Societies of Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and the Znaniye Society. On April 3,1961, the Agency charter was adopted, aPNs motto was Information for Peace, for the Friendship of Nations. APN had bureaus in over 120 countries, the Agency published 60 illustrated newspapers and magazines in 45 languages with a one-time circulation of 4.3 million copies
26.
Reuters
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Reuters /ˈrɔɪtərz/ is an international news agency headquartered in London, England. It is a division of Thomson Reuters, until 2008, the Reuters news agency formed part of an independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data. Since the acquisition of Reuters Group by the Thomson Corporation in 2008, Reuters transmits news in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Urdu, and Chinese. The Reuter agency was established in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter in Britain at the London Royal Exchange, Paul Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions in 1848. Upon moving to England, he founded Reuters Telegram Company in 1851, headquartered in London, the company initially covered commercial news, serving banks, brokerage houses, and business firms. The first newspaper client to subscribe was the London Morning Advertiser in 1858, Reuters agency built a reputation in Europe and the rest of the world as the first to report news scoops from abroad. Reuters was the first to report Abraham Lincolns assassination in Europe, for instance, in 1872, Reuters expanded into the far east, followed by South America in 1874. Both expansions were made possible by advances in overland telegraphs and undersea cables, in 1883, Reuters began transmitting messages electrically to London newspapers. In 1923, Reuters began using radio to transmit news internationally, in 1925, The Press Association of Great Britain acquired a majority interest in Reuters, and full owners some years later. During the world wars, The Guardian reported that Reuters came under pressure from the British government to national interests. In 1941 Reuters deflected the pressure by restructuring itself as a private company, the new owners formed the Reuters Trust. In 1941, the PA sold half of Reuters to the Newspaper Proprieters Association, the Reuters Trust Principles were put in place to maintain the companys independence. At that point, Reuters had become one of the major news agencies. In 1961, Reuters scooped news of the erection of the Berlin Wall, in 1981, Reuters began making electronic transactions on its computer network, and afterwards developed a number of electronic brokerage and trading services. Reuters was floated as a company in 1984, when Reuters Trust was listed on the stock exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange. Reuters published the first story of the Berlin Wall being breached in 1989, share price grew during the dotcom boom, then fell after the banking troubles in 2001. In 2002, Brittanica wrote that most news throughout the world came from three major agencies, the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse, Reuters merged with Thomson Corporation in Canada in 2008, forming Thomson Reuters. In 2009, Thomson Reuters withdrew from the LSE and the NASDAQ, instead listing its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the last surviving member of the Reuters family founders, Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter, died at age 96 on 25 January 2009
27.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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During the Cold War, Radio Free Europe was broadcast to Soviet satellite countries and Radio Liberty targeted the Soviet Union. RFE was founded as an anti-communist propaganda source in 1949 by the National Committee for a Free Europe, RL was founded two years later and the two organizations merged in 1976. Communist governments frequently sent agents to infiltrate RFEs headquarters, Radio transmissions into the Soviet Union were regularly jammed by the KGB. RFE/RL received funds from the Central Intelligence Agency until 1972, RFE/RL was headquartered at Englischer Garten in Munich, Germany, from 1949 to 1995. In 1995, the headquarters were moved to Prague in the Czech Republic, european operations have been significantly reduced since the end of the Cold War. In addition to the headquarters, the service maintains 20 local bureaus in countries throughout their broadcast region, as well as an office in Washington. RFE/RL broadcasts in 28 languages to 21 countries including Armenia, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the committee was composed of an A list of powerful U. S. Radio Free Europe received widespread support from Eisenhowers Crusade for Freedom campaign. In 1950, over 16 million Americans signed Eisenhower’s Freedom Scrolls on a publicity trip to over 20 U. S. cities, the NCFEs mission was to support the refugees and provide them with a useful outlet for their opinions and creativity while increasing exposure to the modern world. The NCFE divided its program into three parts, exile relations, radio, and American contacts, although exile relations were initially its first priority, Radio Free Europe became the NCFEs greatest legacy. The United States funded a long list of projects to counter the Communist appeal among intellectuals in Europe, RFE was developed out of a belief that the Cold War would eventually be fought by political rather than military means. American policymakers such as George Kennan and John Foster Dulles acknowledged that the Cold War was essentially a war of ideas, the implementation of surrogate radio stations was a key part of the greater psychological war effort. RFE was modeled after Radio in the American Sector a U. S. government-sponsored radio service initially intended for Germans living in the American sector of Berlin, staffed almost entirely by Germans with minimal U. S. supervision, the station provided free media to German listeners. In January 1950 the NCFE obtained a base at Lampertheim, West Germany. In late 1950, RFE began to assemble a full-fledged foreign broadcast staff, teams of journalists were hired for each language service and an elaborate system of intelligence gathering provided up-to-date broadcast material. Most of this came from a network of well-connected émigrés. RFE did not use paid agents inside the Iron Curtain and based its bureaus in regions popular with exiles, RFE also extensively monitored Communist bloc publications and radio services, creating an impressive body of information that would later serve as a resource for organizations across the world. From October 1951 to November 1956, the skies of Central Europe were filled with more than 350,000 balloons carrying over 300 million leaflets, posters, books, the project served as a publicity tool to solidify RFEs reputation as an unbiased broadcaster
28.
The Moscow Times
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The Moscow Times is an English-language weekly newspaper published in Moscow, with a circulation of 55,000 copies. It is distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates such as hotels, cafés, embassies, the newspaper is popular among foreign citizens residing in Moscow and English-speaking Russians. In November 2015 the newspaper changed its design and type from daily to weekly, the newspaper regularly publishes articles by prominent Russian journalists such as Yulia Latynina and Ivan Nechepurenko. It has served as a ground for foreign correspondents, including Ellen Barry. Derk Sauer, a Dutch publisher who came to Moscow in 1989, made plans to turn his small, Sauer brought in Meg Bortin as its first editor in May 1992, and the team used a Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel as its headquarters. The first edition of The Moscow Times was published in March 1992 and it was the first Western daily to be published in Russia, and quickly became a primary source of news and opinion quoted in both Russia and the West. It played an important role by giving space to Russian commentators, for example, in the fall of 1993, it was able to play a role in defeating the censors, when anti-Yeltsin forces occupied the Russian Parliament and censorship was revived. Russian newspapers came out with large blank spaces on their front pages where articles critical of the authorities had been suppressed, the writers of those articles came to see us. Published the next day in English in The Moscow Times, their articles were quickly picked up and beamed back in Russian by the BBC and other foreign radios, from the mid 1990s until 2000, it was based in the old headquarters of Pravda. In 1997, the website moscowtimes. ru was registered, in 2003–04, the newspaper added Jobs & Careers and Real Estate appendices, and in 2005 the Moscow Guide appendix, featuring high culture. The annual Moscow Dining Guide was also launched in 2005 and that year, Independent Media was acquired by the Finnish publishing group Sanoma. In 2006, the paper began its alliance with the International Herald Tribune, the first color issue was published in 2010. In 2009, it published Russia for Beginners, A Foreigners Guide to Russia, the paper celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2012 with a gala dinner at the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski in Moscow. In 2014, sister publication The St. Petersburg Times ceased publication, in 2015, Sanoma sold MoscowTimes LLC to Demyan Kudryavtsev, a former director of Kommersant. Shortly after his appointment, Abdullaev argued in The Guardian that the biased journalism. robs the west of its moral authority. In October 2014 The Moscow Times made the decision to suspend online comments after an increase in offensive comments, in January 2014, malicious ads on the newspapers website redirected visitors to an exploit kit landing page. In December 2014, The Moscow Times was forced offline for two days by a denial of service attack. It was forced offline a second time in February 2015 for unknown reasons, online, it has PDF issues that go back to 2001, and its archive contains nearly 130,000 articles dating back to 1994
29.
Echo of Moscow
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Echo of Moscow is a Russian radio station based in Moscow, broadcasting in many Russian cities, some of the former-Soviet republics, and via the Internet. Most of Echo of Moscows content consists of news and talk shows focusing on social and political issues, the current senior editor is Alexey Venediktov. As of April 2014 Yulia Latynina is the most popular presenter at the radio station, the articles are written by members of the so-called Echo of Moscow Club, an honorary group of political analysts, academic researchers, columnists and public figures. The Echo of Moscow site is a source of information. As of 2005 Echo of Moscow was majority owned by Gazprom Media which holds 66% of its shares, approximately 900,000 people in Moscow and 1,8 millions in other Russian regions listen to Echo of Moscow daily. According to TNS Global the most common listeners are middle class and upper middle class Russians 40 years and they make up one third of total listeners of the radio station. The radio programs can be also be streamed online and available in audio, in September 2009 numerous chief editor replies point out that Gazprom and/or other stock-holders did not interfere with informational policy and were not allowed to. On 1 November 2014 the station received an official Roskomnadzor warning that a program the station had aired about Ukraine contained information justifying war crimes, a radio station can be closed down if it receives two Roskomnadzor warnings in one year. Echo in the Dark, A radio station strives to keep the airwaves free
30.
Novaya Gazeta
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Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in its country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Moscow, in regions within Russia, as of 2009, the print edition is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, English articles on the website are published more erratically. The papers staff controls 51% of the shares, the remaining 49% are held by Mikhail Gorbachev, since 2013, Lebedev is also the head of the investigative department of the newspaper. In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev used the money from his Nobel Peace Prize to help set up the Novaya Gazeta in 1993, in April, the decision on the International Industrial Bank case was reconfirmed by a court. As a result, in June 2002 the International Industrial Bank renounced its claim to the compensation, some of his contributions published in Novaya Gazeta were related to the investigation of the Three Whales Corruption Scandal. The newspaper based the accusations on a letter written to Colin Powell. Congressmen Philip Crane, Mike Pence, Charlie Norwood, Dan Burton and Henry Bonilla, the newspaper went on to claim that Kiriyenko had used some of the embezzled funds to purchase real estate in the United States. It was later revealed that the letter was a prank concocted by The eXile, journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was critical of Russias actions in Chechnya, wrote for Novaya Gazeta until her assassination on 7 October 2006. Anastasia Baburova, a freelance journalist for Novaya Gazeta and a member of Autonomous Action, was with Markevlov at the time and was also killed, racist groups praised Markelovs killing on the Internet, but it is unclear whether they were behind it. On 26 January 2010, the web site was subjected to a denial of service attack. As of 1 February 2010, the site was still inaccessible, at the peak of the attack the server was receiving 1.5 million connections per second. The newspaper maintained its presence by publishing articles on its LiveJournal page. On 7 April 2011, the web site was targeted again with the same botnet that appears to be used in a large attack on LiveJournal that hosts many opposition blogs. 25 July 2014 the paper opened with Vergeef ons, Nederland / Прости, Голландия, svobodnoe Prostranstvo, which had been a colour supplement to Novaya Gazeta, is included in the Friday issue. Novaya Gazeta regularly contain free inserts of its side-projects or other newly launched newspapers, the United Civil Front and Yablokos newspaper were published in the form of inserts in the past. Current inserts include the Shofyor side project and the popular science Kentavr, the Russian version of Le Monde diplomatique was promoted by being issued as such inserts for one year. The number of subscribers after that amounted to 43 and continuation of issuing the insert would have been considered senseless, Novaya Gazeta has also published The New York Times International Weekly on Fridays since 2009. This eight-page supplement features a selection of articles from The New York Times translated into Russian, the Henri Nannen Prize in 2007
