April 9:
Russia is stepping up its efforts to squeeze McDonald's. The Moscow Times reports that two well-known Russian movie directors, Andrei Konchalovsky and Nikita Mikhalkov, have received state funding for a proposed venture to establish a "homegrown" alternative to the American fast-food chain. The notional patriotic franchise, which will be called "Yedim Doma," or "We Eat at Home," has been green-lighted following a recent meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, at which a state-guaranteed loan amounting to 70 percent of the necessary seed capital for the venture was approved.
April 10:
Ukraine’s efforts to eradicate vestiges of its Soviet past are drawing ire from the Kremlin. According to Radio Free Europe, Russia's Foreign Ministry has blasted new legislation passed by the Ukrainian Rada which bans the use of Soviet symbols - an edict that likely means the destruction of statues and monuments glorifying heroes and events of the Soviet era. Ukraine's ban employs "totalitarian methods" and impinges on "freedom of the press, opinion, or conscience" within the country, the Ministry has declared in an official statement.
As part of its growing clampdown on free speech in Russia, the Kremlin has now outlawed thousands of Internet "memes" - media images (usually including pictures) which depict famous persons or events in a farcical light. Under the new order issued by ROSKOMNADZOR, the official media bureau, memes depicting public figures in ways not having to do with their "personality" are forbidden. "These ways of using [celebrities' images] violate the laws governing personal data and harm the honor, dignity and business of publicfigures,"the Washington Post reports the agency as stating. The ban, while extremely broad, appears geared specifically toward reducing satirical images of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which have proliferated of late among Russian Internet users.
April 12:
As part of its expanding partnership with Iran, Russia is eyeing the Islamic Republic as a possible member in its premier economic project. The Iran Daily reports that Russia has formally proposed that Iran join the Eurasian Economic Union. The idea was floated during a meeting between Viktor Khristenko, chairman of the Eurasian Commission, and Mehdi Sana’ei, Iran's ambassador to Russia. A formal answer from Iran is still pending.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: The move is a sign of the strength of Russo-Iranian cooperation, but also an indicator of the Union's weakness. In recent months, as Russia's policies in Ukraine have drawn Western economic and political pressure, the bloc - formally inaugurated in January - has suffered. Charter member Belarus has hewed an increasingly independent political line, which Kazakhstan has begun distancing itself from Moscow economically, with the Central Asian nation's imports to the Union steadily declining. Through this invitation, the Kremlin appears to be attempting to inject new vitality into what has increasingly become a moribund project.]
Russia has uncovered a network of "enemy" spy satellites, a high-ranking military officer has said. In a televised film shown on the Defense Ministry's official broadcast channel, known as Zvezda ("star"), Russian Aerospace Defense Commander Maj. Gen. Oleg Maidanovich claims that the country's intelligence forces have uncovered an active network of spy satellites disguised as "space junk" and collecting information on the Russian Federation. "Very recently, specialists of the department of space intelligence center uncovered a newly created group of space satellites... made for radio-technical reconnaissance of equipment on Russian territory," Maidanovich said in comments that were subsequently reprinted by UPI. The commander declined to identify the nationality of the satellites in question.
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