http://news.msn.co.nz/article/8184476/russian-man-bashed-for-bad-driving
By MSN NZ
Thursday, December 16, 2010 6:00:00 PM
A Russian man has been bashed by a dozen drivers after his reckless driving caused a 16 car pile-up in Moscow.
Moscow resident and video operator Oleg N, 44 was driving a silver SUV down Samotechnaya Street when his vehicle rammed into the back of a parked car.
The accident took place in the Garden Ring — a circular avenue in the centre of Moscow.
The impact of the collision caused a chain reaction and saw 12 cars ahead of him smash into each other causing the air to fill with smoke.
The driver then tried to flee the scene, reversing his car and slamming it into four more cars.
He then drove forward before coming finally coming to a stop.
Despite his face being covered in blood, video footage shows the infuriated drivers jumping onto him, repeatedly swearing at and punching him.
Oleg was on his way to see his wife and son who was with his mother Svetlana Konstantinova.
Mrs Konstantinova told the Life News that she does not believe her son was such a bad driver, saying she had spoken to him just two hours before the accident.
She was quoted as saying that her son is a sober driver who rarely drinks but as a creative person may have been suffering from insomnia.
Chechen politicians visit L-A
http://www.sunjournal.com/city/story/957595
By Bonnie Washuk, Staff Writer
Published Dec 16, 2010 12:00 am | Last updated Dec 16, 2010 12:00 am
LEWISTON — A delegation from the Parliament of Chechnya, a republic of the Russian Federation, toured Lewiston-Auburn on Wednesday as part of their visit to learn about American-style local government.
During a reception at the University of Southern Maine's Lewiston-Auburn College, the Chechens stood in front of the room introducing themselves through an interpreter.
One is a newspaper writer and editor. Another was a police officer before being elected to Parliament. Another worked as a detective and a college professor.
Barry Rodrigue, an associate professor at LAC who has established relations with Chechen academics, said he received a call from the State Department last year. As far as they were aware, he was the only professor working in Chechnya, Rodrigue said, and was asked if he would host a visit from members of the Chechen Parliament.
“We are greatly honored to be selected for them to come,” Rodrigue said. He hopes the visit brings more ties between Maine and Chechnya, including a new partnership in which students in both regions work together on environmental and economic issues.
Rodrigue said he hoped the visit would highlight peaceful initiatives happening in Chechnya.
For years Chechnya was war-torn, with local rebels fighting government troops over Russian control, leaving the region in ruins. Eventually, a peace accord with Moscow was reached. In 2005 Chechnya held elections for its Parliament. Since then, there has been sporadic violence, but reconstruction is happening.
Several members of the delegation said the war is over, Chechnya is now safe.
“Chechnya is one of the best subjects of the Russian Federation now,” said Khusayn Yakhikhanov, a former police officer who is a member of Parliament in the United Russian political party. Cities destroyed by fighting are being restored. “You can tell life has normalized.”
Yakhikhanov said he liked Maine culture. People seemed relaxed, not too serious.
Khamzat Dadayev, who has worked as a detective, a researcher and a professor, said he wanted to learn about the United States' education system. He was impressed to learn about financial help available to college students, and was surprised to discover young students could be home-schooled with tests that show good results.
Adlan Sagaipov, an editor and senior writer at a government-run newspaper, said some of his stereotypes of Americans had disappeared since arriving in Maine on Friday.
One was that the average American lives in a big city. He's been touring Maine since Friday, visiting Portland and Brunswick and small towns. In Maine communities, people are interested in learning more about different cultures, he said.
Reflecting on Chechnya, it can be difficult to co-exist with neighboring states, he said. But “we have no choice. We have to deal with other cultures. From this point of view, I like the tolerance of people here in this multiculture.”
Reza Jalai, coordinator of Multicultural Student Affairs for USM, said most Chechens are Muslims and were sometimes persecuted in the former Soviet Union. He told them that as Muslims, they're safe here, that the religion “is not only tolerated but respected. To some of them it was news that Maine has seven mosques” — two in Lewiston, three in Portland, and one each in Orono and Augusta, he said.
They were impressed, he said, with how many Muslims live in Maine. “We think there are 8,000 to 10,000, which is amazing for the whitest state in the country.”
The exchange between Chechnya and Maine is important, Jalai said. Often Americans are defined abroad “by governments or groups that don't like us. The whole story is not being told. Anything we can do to bring people together is really important. It's citizen diplomacy. We need this.”
bwashuk@sunjournal.com
Russian educators get tips in Oak Ridge
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/dec/15/russian-educators-get-tips-in-oak-ridge/
By Bob Fowler
Posted December 15, 2010 at 9:16 p.m.
OAK RIDGE - Russian educators from St. Petersburg to Siberia are learning this week how East Tennesseans educate and care for people with mental and physical disabilities.
"I can see there is something we can take back to Russia," said Irina Monkhorova, speaking through an interpreter. She's with a Siberian republic's education ministry.
Monkhorova and four other Russian educators are touring schools and special centers for children and adults with disabilities in Oak Ridge and Kingston before returning to Moscow on Saturday.
The art therapy program she saw Tuesday at Kingston's Michael Dunn Center fascinated her, Irina Polyanskaya said.
A psychologist for children in St. Petersburg orphanages, Polyanskaya said she would "definitely use that program."
The Russians' visit comes via the Open World Program supported by the U.S. Congress and the Oak Ridge Sister City Support Organization, organization secretary Dr. Ken Luckmann said.
Now in its 21st year, the Sister City group has established ties with Naki-shi in Japan and Obninsk in Russia.
Russians still commonly segregate children with disabilities, placing them in boarding schools, Monkhorova said.
While American schools have teaching assistants to help special-education teachers, Russian schools lack funding for assistants and parents often fill those roles, she said.
She said the Russian parliament is considering a law that will move children with disabilities into mainstream schools.
Before watershed legislation in 1975, children with disabilities in America "were pretty much warehoused," Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Tom Bailey said.
Hal Jernigan, director of special education at Oak Ridge Schools, said nearly one-quarter of Oak Ridge school enrollees - 1,016 children - are identified as special-education students. One-third of them are in that group because they're deemed "intellectually gifted,'' he said.
Bob Fowler, News Sentinel Anderson County editor, may be reached at 865-481-3625.
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