The United Nations said 235,000 civilians had fled their homes in rebel-held northwestern Syria during a Russian-backed campaign of air strikes and shelling this month. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the exodus had taken place between Dec. 12 and 25. Most people had fled the city of Maarat al-Numan,…
Two people have been killed and one injured in a fire in an elevator at Russia‘s Novatek northern oil and gas field, news agencies reported on Saturday citing emergency ministry officials. The fire broke out at East-Tarkosalinskoye field, Novatek’s most mature oil and gas field, in Yamal Nenets region, the Interfax news agency said. The…
Pity poor Russian Christmas! Russian Christmas is the poor relation in the winter holiday line-up. In the Orthodox world, Easter has always loomed liturgically larger than Christmas, particularly so in northern countries, where the return of spring is always welcomed with particular fervor. Thanks to the discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, Orthodox Christmas…