News

St. Petersburg will play host to the G20 Youth Forum on April 17–21, the forum’s official web site says, ITAR-TASS reports. “This event will gather about 1,500 young leaders from G20 member countries. Businessmen and state officials will also attend the meeting,” an ad posted on the web portal runs. The forum will have four venues – the G20 Youth Summit, the Conference, the International Young Parliamentarians’ Debate and the Meeting of Alumni of the 2006–2012 G20 Youth Summits. Russia chairs the G20 this year. The summit will be held in St....

The Center of Russian Language and Culture at Plovdiv University participated in the annual international "Total Dictation", which this year has been supported by the Russkiy Mir Foundation.Students and senior schoolchildren from Russian philology lovers' clubs tried their worth in Russian, having written both the last year's dictation and the text by Dina Rubina which they listened to on Saturday, April 6, 2013. The next week the text was written by all senior school students who had no time to do this on Saturday as well by the attendees of the...

Grand opening of a Russkiy Mir Cabinet took place on April 6, 2013, in the library of the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Cairo. The event was co-organized by the Coordination Cuncil of Russian Compatriots residing in Egypt and by the Association of Graduates of the Russian (Soviet) Colleges and Universities.The latest textbooks and methodology aids released by leading Russian publishers, children’s...

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland David Cameron following the death of a great statesperson, long-term leader of the Conservative Party and one of the most outstanding European politicians of the 20th century, Margaret Thatcher. In his telegram, the President of Russia noted that Margaret Thatcher represents a whole era in Great Britain’s history. “With her political wisdom and extraordinary will power, she devoted her...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended a unique exposition to commemorate the Year of Russia in the Netherlands and Year of the Netherlands in Russia, Argophilia reports. As part of President Putin’s meetup Netherlands heads of state, he and the Queen visited the Hermitage on the Amstel Museum for the ongoing Peter the Great: the Inspired Tsar exhibition there. A branch of one of the world’s largest museums, the Russian Federation’s State Hermitage Museum in St...

The $115 million swimming hall that will host much of the 2015 world aquatics championships in Kazan is to open Friday, organizers of University Games told R-Sport on Monday, RIA Novosti reports. Construction of the 4,200-seater Aquatics Palace started in 2009 as part of Russia’s preparations for the University Games, which Kazan is hosting in July. “The palace will officially be opened April 12,” organizers said in a statement. “On that day there will be an opening ceremony and a press conference, and...

Maria Sharapova, 25, has been ranked third among the world’s richest tennis players of all time, Voice of Russia reports. Sharapova’s income is reported at $25.1 million.Her career has seen her winning 28 tournaments, including four Grand Slam events. Serena Williams and Venus Williams top the rating with $43.2 million and $28.6 million respectively. Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service ...

Germany and Russia will continue work towards easing the visa regime, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the ceremony to open Hannover Messe on Sunday, ITAR-TASS reports. “It is evident that certain success has been achieved in that issue,” she said, noting that this concerns in particular people having economic contacts with Germany. The chancellor admitted that visa regime talks proceed slower than Russia would want them to. Nevertheless, work on easing the visa regime will continue. “We will...

Italian police have found a painting by famous artist Marc Chagall, which was stolen from an American yacht moored in Italy a decade ago, in a private collector's home, local media reported on Monday, RIA Novosti reports. The "Le Nu au Bouquet," valued at more than €1 million ($1.3 million), was stolen and replaced with a forgery in 2002, when the yacht was undergoing repairs in the port of Savona in northern Italy. According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, the collector from Turin had bought the stolen art in 2003...

A group of Russian Cossacks announced Monday the creation of an Australian branch and four new traditional units there, RIA Novosti reports. A Siberian group of Cossacks, the Zabaikalsky Cossack Host Association, said that the decision to expand the organization was made following a request from Australia-based descendants of the Cossacks who emigrated after the 1917 Russian revolution. The request was submitted by Australian Cossack ataman Simeon Boikov in light of “the growing number of Cossacks in Australia,” a...

Andrei Zaitsev and Anna Kuzminskaya have become European champions in Latin American dance. They claimed their victory at championships hosted by the city of Krasnodar, Voice of Russia reports.Second place went to last year's champions – Nino Langella and Khristina Moshensky from Italy. A total of 59 pairs from 33 countries of Europe participated.Today’s program was danced to the fiery rhythms of samba, the rumba, and cha-cha-cha. Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service ...

A church named after Alexander Nevsky may be built in Kosovo, Bishop of Kronstadt Nazary, vice-rector of the Alexander-Nevsky Monastery, said in an interview with Interfax, Interfax-Religion reports. A photo exhibit devoted to the monastery is being held in Moscow to mark its 300th anniversary, he said. "In fall, we plan to take it to Belgrade. There is a church named after Alexander Nevsky there too," the bishop said. The bishop said there are 1,500 churches named after Alexander Nevsky in the world, of which 900 are...

This weekend some 2,000 cyclers from 10 countries marked the 69th anniversary of the date the Soviet Red Army drove out the Nazis from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa by carrying out a 100-kilometer ride around Odessa’s 1941 defense perimeter, Voice of Russia reports. The city is also remembering 306 villagers of Holodnaya Balka outside Odessa who were massacred by Nazi war criminals hours before the liberation. International war history enthusiasts also took part in a re-enactment...

The historical building of the Maly Theater in Moscow has been closed for restoration work. The final performance ahead of the closure was held on Sunday evening, ITAR-TASS reports. The theater’s troupe will now begin a lengthy tour. According to the theater’s artistic director Yuri Solomin, the building has long been in need of reconstruction. Work on this project was initiated last year. The troupe’s tour across Russia will begin in Tver, where they will put on two...

After France, Italy, Spain and Germany, it is now the Netherlands’ turn to embark on a year of cultural exchange with Russia, RBTH reports. A series of events, inaugurated in the Netherlands in March, will continue until August. In Russia, the program will begin in May and end in November. “This year of exchange is of very great importance, not only for cultural relations but also to strengthen the economic and political ties between the two countries,” says Sjeng Scheijen, the Dutch coordinator of the...

...

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Amsterdam on Monday, ITAR-TASS reports. Putin jointly with Queen Beatrix will take part in a ceremony to open the Russian-Dutch Bilateral Year 2013. The Russian president will have full-scale talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss bilateral cooperation and key global issues. Putin and Rutte are planning to sign 15 documents on cooperation on the results of their talks. The Russian president will also meet business of both countries. ...