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Greetings from Transparent Language! Every so often we send out this free newsletter with topics of interest to Russian language enthusiasts. Since the introduction of the newsletter last year, we have received dozens of letters from readers with positive feedback and suggestions. We are delighted that the newsletter has been so well received, and are grateful for your insightful comments.

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Transparent Language
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Politics and Economics:

*Over the past year, the Russian stock market has fallen over 84%.

*According to Boris Yeltsin's top aide, Oleg Susuyev, all major economic reforms in Russia are frozen for the next 5 years.

*American companies Dunkin Donuts and Pizza Hut have announced that both will close several of their Moscow stores due to Russia's economic crisis.

* A 5% sales tax was introduced in Moscow this January. It will not apply to basic food, children's clothing and shoes.

Culture and Society:

*In an effort to curb the atrocities that characterize the many civil wars in the Caucasus and Central Asian rergions of the former Soviet Union, the International Red Cross is teaching courses in the international rules of war to 2.6 million 6th graders in elementary schools across Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Russia.

*An international campaign to renovate the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow is set to begin in May 1999. The Bolshoi Theater is on UNESCO's list of "the world's most important endangered cultural objects."

*In Ingushetia, a mostly Moslem region in the south of Russia, religious authorities have reinstituted the "kalym," an ancient regional custom in which a price is paid by the future husband to the family of the bride. The kalym has been set at 2000 rubles (approximately $100).

Ecology:

*Russian annual losses of crude oil due to spillage during transport and drilling exceeded the amount of crude oil produced by the entire nation of Qatar, a member of OPEC.

* Only an estimated 430 Siberian tigers remain in the wild, according to experts. The fate of the endangered Siberian tiger has taken a dramatic turn for the worse since the fall of the Soviet Union. Open borders encourage poachers, and government funding for the tigers' protection has been drastically reduced. Poachers profit up $15,000 per each tiger killed.

*Greenpeace has declared an 18-mile area in the Siberian region of Irkutsk a "chemical Chernobyl" due to the mercury leakage from a nearby factory. The mercury conitnues to flow into the Angara river. Over half a million people in the area are affected by the situation.

Space News:

*An anonymous donor has come forward to pledge financial support to keep the Russian space station Mir in operation for three more years. Subsequent rumours claimed that the offer was withdrawn after the Russian government could not come to an agreement with the sponsor. Mir's fate remains uncertain.

*Zarya ("Dawn"), the Russian built component of the International Space Station has been succesfully launched and linked to the American made portion, Unity. Zarya will provide power and communications for the International Space Station.

Film:

*Nikita Mikhalkov, one of Russia's most famous film directors, and winner of the 1995 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, has recently released a new epic, "The Barber of Siberia." The film is a love story set in the reign of Alexander III between a Russian officer (played by Oleg Menshikov) and an American woman (played by Julia Ormond). Rumor has it that Mikhalkov is considering running for President of Russia in the next presidential elections.

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