Periscope No. 2

Massacre: A Nightmare on Bronnaya Street

Twenty-year-old Alexander Koptsev horrified the entire Jewish community of Russia. Last Wednesday, eight people were wounded as a result of a massacre arranged by him in a Moscow synagogue on Malaya Bronnaya. “If the police had entrusted her protection, the tragedy could have been avoided,” now the capital's police department is justifying themselves, wondering how a bandit with a 17-centimeter hunting knife could get into the building after passing through a metal detector. The bandit was detained not by security at the entrance, but by Rabbi Yitzhak Kogan already at the time of the crime. “The time was around 5:30 p.m., when it sounded on the second floor—“I have come to kill you,” Kogan recalls. At one of the first interrogations, the offender stated that during the arrest he wanted to commit suicide, but could not. Alexander Koptsev has already been charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - inciting ethnic and religious hatred, attempted murder and intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm. According to Moscow prosecutor Anatoly Zuev, the arrested person was not a member of any extremist organization. “I read nonsense on the Internet and went to kill,” they say in the prosecutor’s office, referring to the testimony of the extremist himself (“The Jews are to blame for the fact that I live poorly, they live richly”), but the criminal himself has already refused these words. During a search of Koptsev's apartment on Kustanayskaya Street, 14 hunting and 50 small-caliber cartridges were seized, as well as a sheet of paper with the addresses of Moscow synagogues. The ammunition belonged to his father, as did the knife with the inscriptions “Good hunting” and “Good fishing”, which the extremist wielded in the synagogue. Investigators do not exclude that although Alexander Koptsev was not registered with a psychiatrist, the examination may declare him insane: “After questioning his neighbors and acquaintances, we found out that a year and a half ago, after the death of Svetlana’s sister from cancer, strange things happened to Koptsev , he dropped out of college, became withdrawn and completely withdrawn into himself. Many, but not all, tend to agree with this version. The head of the public relations department of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, Borukh Gorin, does not consider Alexander Koptsev to be a loner madman: “We have repeatedly said that there is a danger of fascism in Russia. They are moving from words to actions. The authorities are trying to somehow reassure the public and promise to strengthen the security of all synagogues in the country. Until it's not too late. Last Friday, just at the time when the Zamoskvoretsky Court in Moscow was issuing a sanction for the arrest of Koptsev, in Rostov-on-Don an 18-year-old student of the medical academy entered the building of the local synagogue and demanded that the guards meet with the rabbi. Having been refused, he began to threaten those around him with the neck of a broken glass bottle. After the arrest, the attacker told the police that he was simply inspired by the example of the Muscovite Koptsev.

Red Light Organs

The amendments to the Rules of the Road, which came into force on January 1, caused such a violent reaction from drivers that on Friday the State Duma decided to send a request to the government: why the changes were adopted without prior discussion and informing the population (according to polls, most citizens are not fully aware of them so far—see graph). The appearance of new signs - even as exotic as "Pool or Beach" and "Congestion" - was taken by drivers more or less calmly (they will be installed gradually). The order to drive outside the city even during the day with dipped headlights did not cause any scandals (for violation, a fine of 50 rubles). But real passions flared up around two other innovations. Now, when transporting children under 12 years old, it is no longer possible to do without special seats or “other means” that allow you to securely fasten the child with a seat belt. And if you have a “Japanese” or “American” with red rear turn signals, you urgently need to replace them with yellow or orange ones. Until the end of this month, traffic police officers are advised to limit themselves to warnings, but since February, driving with red lights is fraught with deprivation of rights for six months and evacuation of a car to a car impound. In 2004, they began to fight with the "wrong" turn signals in the Baltic States, and last year in Ukraine. But there they allowed the use of cars without orange optics if they could not be converted, forbidding the import and sale of such cars. According to experts, 10-15% of all cars in the country are equipped with red turn signals. According to New York Motors, a major Ford dealer, “all Americans do not have orange optics, and they can only be made in tuning studios.” The traffic cops themselves will have to resort to tuning. Their favorite FordCrown-Victoria Interceptors, which have been in service since 1997, are also flashing red. Meanwhile, Major-autoNewsweek reported that it will be possible to replace the rear headlight unit, for example, on the Infinity SUV only by the end of the year. And that is provided that Infinity will be officially delivered to Europe, which involves a complete set with orange lighting. The cost of one headlight for such a car is not less than $1000. President Vladimir Putin also becomes a potential violator: on his famous 21st Volga, like on all Soviet cars produced before the mid-1970s, the lights are red. Lawyer Leonid Olshansky, co-chairman of the Movement of Motorists of Russia, told Newsweek that all innovations in traffic rules are an excuse for cheap PR and extortion. “The traffic police arranges the 37th year on the roads. Drivers simply will not be able to comply with her demands, which means they will constantly be extorted money from them,” the lawyer said and announced his intention to challenge the government’s decision in court, possibly in the Constitutional Court.

Journey: Missing Kim and the train with him

Last week, the great leader of the North Korean people was lost. In Pyongyang, he did not appear in public. They say that Kim Jong Il's armored train got lost somewhere in the vast expanses of China. This mysterious story began to unfold last Monday. According to South Korean and Japanese media reports, the bearer of the "Juche idea" went to China on a secret visit. True, this version was categorically rejected by officials of both countries. It has long been known that the North Korean leader is reluctant to leave the borders of his state, and in few places is a welcome guest. In addition, the leader of the Korean people does not like to fly and travels everywhere on a special armored train. But this time it was the Japanese who caused the confusion. First it turned out that perhaps Kim Jong Il arrived in Shanghai. Later, another news agency reported that he was brought to this city by plane, which is surprising in itself. The journey of the Juche ideologue did not end there, however. Various versions of where he can go fell like a cornucopia. Some claimed that he was going to look at the successes of the Chinese economy, others that the ultimate goal of his visit was Russia. Journalists even managed to calculate that from Astana, with the inauguration of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Vladimir Putin could make an unexpected flight to Irkutsk, where the meeting of the two leaders could take place. In the end, Kim Jong Il "found himself" in one of the Chinese hotels. Rumors spread in Guangzhou that the entire hotel had been booked for the North Korean leader. However, officially the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that it has no idea where Kim Jong Il is now.

Renegade #1 | Reduction of sins

The Vatican decided to reconsider its attitude towards Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus Christ. This was stated in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa by the well-known writer and journalist Vittorio Messori, who is closely associated with the papal throne. According to him, the President of the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences, Monsignor Walter Brandmüller, will lead the process. Messori's statement gave rise to a number of media outlets to announce the impending rehabilitation of Judas, but the press service of the Vatican Newsweek did not confirm this information. “There is not and cannot be any rehabilitation, the journalists misunderstood everything,” they say in the Holy See. After all, what Iscariot did was also a divine plan. Now the attention of the flock will be drawn to the fact that Jesus forgave Judas, the Vatican clarifies, and therefore, believers should also be indulgent towards him. Interestingly, this year the Vatican will publish the Gospel of Judas for the first time in English, French and German.

Crisis | Moscow surrendered to Tehran

The resumption of the Iranian nuclear program has sowed fear in America and Europe. Tehran's refusal to negotiate if the Iranian dossier falls on the table of the UN Security Council was understood there as direct blackmail. In response to this, the European countries had no choice but to declare that all diplomatic efforts have reached a dead end. Great Britain, Germany and France demanded the convening of an extraordinary meeting of the IAEA. In fact, it should decide whether the Iranian issue will be on the agenda of the UN Security Council or not. After that, even Moscow, which once again offered Tehran to enrich its uranium at Russian enterprises, agreed to transfer the solution of this issue to the UN, which had previously seemed simply unbelievable. True, by this time the seals from the nuclear center in Isfahan had already been removed. And although Tehran continued to assure that its research had nothing to do with the military program, Iranian leaders stressed that they reserve the right to return to the process of uranium enrichment, that is, to the creation of nuclear weapons, at any time. Washington regarded this as a deliberate attempt to exacerbate the situation. Condoleezza Rice supported Europe: "The provocative actions of the Iranian regime have destroyed the very basis for negotiations." It seems that the world really trembled at the thought that nuclear weapons could end up in the hands of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a man who has repeatedly and publicly stated that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth and openly wishes for the death of its prime minister. Israel most likely already has its own plan of strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. After all, it is not only the head of the IAEA, Mohammed ElBaradei, who, unlike Israel, is only ready to publicly acknowledge the failure of his diplomacy, is losing patience.

Measures taken | Europe in flight

Contrary to the decision of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, EU air carriers refused to pay compensation to passengers for delays or cancellations of flights, as well as if they managed to sell more tickets on the plane than there are seats in its cabin.

Last year, the European Commission obliged all airlines to provide passengers with food and, if they require, a hotel if a flight is delayed by two hours or more. In case of a five-hour delay, carriers are ordered to refund the cost of the ticket and pay a fine, or provide customers with seats on flights of more punctual colleagues. The loser who did not get a seat on the plane receives, in addition to the opportunity to fly on the next flight, from €250 to €600 in compensation, depending on the flight distance.

Immediately after the introduction of these rules, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and several air carriers filed a lawsuit with the European Court - they say that delays often occur for reasons beyond the control of airlines. But on January 11, the court upheld the rules.

The Russian representative office of Lufthansa is dissatisfied with the decision of the court: "This illogical bureaucratic measure sets vague, unrealistic standards and increases the costs of airlines." “We believe compensation levels have been raised disproportionately,” echoes colleagues Andrew Hammans, British Airways Regional Commercial Director for Eastern Europe. ".

Airlines do not intend to obey the court's decision. They found a loophole in EU law: passengers may not be compensated if "the event was due to an extraordinary set of circumstances that could not have been avoided, even if all necessary measures were taken." According to lawyers for air carriers, a thunderstorm in the sky, and any unexpectedly detected malfunctions of aircraft, may fall under this definition.

Law | On a drunken affair

Distilleries are standing still, and Muscovites have been drinking illegal vodka for the third week already: these are the first consequences of the law “On State Regulation of the Production and Turnover of Alcohol-Containing Products”, which came into force on January 1. The new law, explained the chairman of the National Alcohol Association Pavel Shapkin, should strengthen state control over the circulation of alcohol. For this, a special excise stamp with a barcode containing all the information about the product was introduced. But the stamps were not printed on time. "We're standing still because there's nothing to put on the bottles," Igor Zhuravlev, head of the sales department at Moscow's Cornet champagne factory, told Newsweek. There are also other factories. With the control of retail sales, which by law is given to local authorities, not everything went smoothly either. The Moscow government, by its decree adopted at the end of the year, banned from January 1 the sale of drinks stronger than 15 degrees at night to all stores, except for those that received special permission from the prefectures. Shops have not yet seen this document, so they continue to trade as before. The company "Crossroads" Newsweek admitted that they learned about him from the press and are now trying to find out at least some details. Meanwhile, since July, Muscovites and guests of the capital will face new, even greater strictness: it will not be possible to sell strong drinks closer than 100 meters from “places of mass gatherings of citizens”, which include stations, markets, airports, cultural organizations and much more. Moreover, the Moscow resolution is far from being the strictest. In Veliky Novgorod, Shapkin complained, the sale of alcohol at night was banned not only for shops, but also for restaurants. And the authorities of another Novgorod, Nizhny, tried to ban the sale of alcohol within a radius of half a kilometer from "places of mass congestion." The decision was canceled when it turned out that almost the entire city had become a restricted area.

Just in case | Bad astronauts are not taken

All potential space tourists in the United States will be tested for involvement in terrorist organizations. This proposal was made by the US Federal Aviation Administration. US officials have published a multi-page set of rules for "civilian space transportation." The document, which should be finally approved in the near future, considers all legal aspects of space tourism. Only medical requirements for candidates are not there—amateur astronauts must take care of their health themselves. “With the advent of any new mode of transport, new risks also arise,” the government believes. The Fed's biggest fear is that terrorists could hijack a spacecraft and send it to targets on Earth. The VirginGalactic company, which plans to start regularly sending its tourists on suborbital flights by 2010, is perplexed: with its help, any terrorist attack, to put it mildly, is problematic.”