A Russian mariner sailing his inflatable boat to Japan’s coast to buy beer was arrested by local police on the way back.
Popularity: 2% [?]
April 10, 2007A Russian policeman has been jailed for phoning an airport with a bomb warning to help acquaintances of his boss make their flight, the Reuters news agency reports quoting an article in the Friday issue of Russian daily Kommersant.
Popularity: 5% [?]
March 12, 2007Member of Kyrgyz parliament Azimbek Beknazarov suggested paying off the country’s foreign debt by planting opium.
Popularity: 14% [?]
March 7, 2007An internet bookmaker based in Kazakhstan is taking bets on who will be accused of murdering former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, and most of the bets are being placed by Russians, the Reuters news agency reports.
Popularity: 3% [?]
December 15, 2006A popular Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda tells a story of a pet labrador who reported an astonishingly high income of 500 rubles (approx. $20) after he had spent nights gathering coins in the courtyard of an apartment block where his owners live.
Popularity: 3% [?]
November 16, 2006Russia’s government agency for culture and cinematography refuted earlier reports alleging it had effectively banned distribution of Baron Cohen’s controversial comedy Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan from theaters across Russia, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.
Popularity: 3% [?]
November 9, 2006A 60-year-old resident of Krasnodar Region in South Russia was rushed to an intensive care ward of a local hospital with poisoning after she had eaten a hashish pie by mistake, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Russia has banned the hit comedy film, Borat, which has been accused of poking fun at Moscow’s neighbour and close ally Kazakhstan, BBC reported.
Popularity: 3% [?]
A new Borat book has been shelved because it contains 100 photographs of naked Kazakhstan women.
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who created the fictional reporter Borat, wants the book to accompany his new movie Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan — but US publishers fear stores will not sell it.
Cohen has reportedly hired models to pose as Kazakhstan women in various states of undress and some photographs are said to be extremely explicit.
British publisher Boxtree has agreed to release the book in the UK — where Cohen’s Ali G book was a bestseller.
However, the Ali G book failed to sell in the US because it contained some rude photographs — and publishers fear the same thing will happen with the Borat book.
Kazakhstan Embassy spokesman Roman Vassilenko is furious with Cohen’s depiction of women. He fumed: “Kazakhstan is a moral country, and women have always played an important part in society. The only true thing about Kazakhstan in the movie is its geographic location.â€
Cohen — who only gives interviews as his alter-ego Borat — recently told US chat show host David Letterman that one of his hobbies was, “taking photos of ladies while they make toiletâ€.
Popularity: 30% [?]
November 3, 2006An alleged mafia jibe directed at Italy by Russian President Vladimir Putin received widespread coverage in the Italian media Monday and risked straining relations between the two countries.
Speaking during a summit with European Union leaders in Finland, Putin reportedly defended himself from charges that organized crime networks dominate business in his country by noting that “the word mafia was born in Italy, not Russiaâ€, Spain’s El Pays reported Sunday.
The remark was splashed out on the front pages of Italy’s leading dailies Monday and drew condemnation from government officials.
“It was an incredible remark. Instead of speaking nonsense, Putin should explain what has happened with the murder of (Russian journalist Anna) Politkovskaya,†Italian Foreign Ministry undersecretary Gianni Vernetti told reporters.
Politkovskaya, who was murdered in Moscow on Oct 7, had repeatedly reported on human rights violations in Chechnya, which is ruled by pro-Kremlin politicians.
While Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s office sought to play down the incident, saying Putin’s remark was meant to be ironic, other lawmakers called on the government to issue a strong reaction.
“Italy should respond to the serious remarks made by Russian President Putin,†said Angelo Bonelli of the Green Party, which is a member of Prodi’s centre-left ruling coalition.
Putin had come under fire during the summit over human rights violations in Russia and reportedly also accused many Spanish mayors of being “corruptâ€.
Popularity: 4% [?]
October 24, 2006
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