President to hold meeting on Crimea's strategic development on August 3

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will chair a meeting on the strategic development of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Simferopol on August 3. The meeting will be held in the Taurida National University named after Volodymyr Vernadsky, the main department of information policy of the Council of Ministers of Crimea reported on Friday.That day the president will also meet with representatives of the Crimean Tatars.

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Poland regrets Ukraine shying from Euro-Atlantic integration.

July 28, 2010 (Interfax-Ukraine news agency). Poland regrets Ukraine's decision not to join NATO, Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine Jacek Kluczkowski said on the Fifth TV Channel on Tuesday evening. "Poland regrets that this process is not developing simultaneously: the integration of Ukraine into NATO and the integration of Ukraine into the European Union," the ambassador said.He added that membership of NATO is not an essential requirement for entering the European Union, and for this reason Ukraine should concentrate on signing the European Union Association Agreement and agreement on free-trade zone as soon as possible."Then Ukraine will have European legislation and a transparent European economic policy," he added.

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Norway rafting accident kills four Ukrainians

Four Ukrainians died in a rafting accident today at Ridderspranget on the river Sjoa in Oppland. Police initially reported three victims, with one individual missing, but the person was found dead later, reports NRK. “We were out rafting with Sjoa Rafting and were called to the site when the accident happened. All the boats were then taken out of the water," said eyewitness Frode Evensen. Emergency services immediately put a complex rescue operation into action, involving Sea King helicopters, the air ambulance, police, the fire brigade, the Red Cross, as well as experienced paddlers from local rafting companies. The four victims were part of a group of 13 people, all of Ukrainian nationality. However it’s still unclear whether the expedition was supervised or not as they cannot communicate with the survivors until an interpreter can be found. According to NRK, several rafting companies regard the river Sjoa’s upper and lower parts as too dangerous to use.

http://theforeigner.no/pages/news/norway-rafting-accident-kills-four/

Chief of American army forces in Europe visits Ukraine

A U.S. military delegation headed by the commander of the U.S. army forces in Europe, Gen. Carter Ham, began a two-day visit to Ukraine on Monday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported. The aim of the visit is to discuss the current status of and prospects for cooperation between the U.S. army and Ukrainian land forces as well as to look for ways of how to improve the training of Ukrainian land forces and make them more compatible with the armies of NATO member states, the ministry said.Monday's program includes a courtesy visit by Ham to the chief of the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces, Lt. Gen. Hryhory Pedchenko, a one-to-one meeting between Ham and land forces commander Col. Gen. Hennadiy Vorobyov, and a briefing by the Ukrainian military on current and planned future cooperation between the U.S. army and the Ukrainian land forces.On Tuesday, the American delegates will visit the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security in Lviv region. They will be able to see a paratroop exercise and a fire practice session in which BTR-80 armored personnel carriers and small arms will be used.The delegation will finish its program by visiting the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny Land Forces Academy in Lviv. http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/75460/#ixzz0upDeAYsc

Putin arrives in Ukraine for talks with Yanukovych

Sevastopol, July 24 (RIA Novosti). Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Ukraine for talks with President Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday. Putin and Yanukovych will discuss "current issues of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation and other questions of bilateral interest," according to the Russian government's press service. Yanukovych met with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on Friday. Russia-Ukraine ties have strengthened significantly since Yanukovych replaced pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko as president in late February.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100724/159933793.html

Brooding Russians are happier than they look. Studies find that, while they may revel in misery, they get over it quickly.

All of life and human relations have become so incomprehensibly complex that, when you think about it, it becomes terrifying and your heart stands still.
With those words, Russian writer Anton Chekhov seemed to perfectly encapsulate the brooding spirit of his people, an attitude that U.S. ethnographers actually researched in “national character difference” studies in the 1950s. Then they concluded that Russian immigrants tended to dwell on negative memories more than Westerners. A new report from the University of Michigan, however, dispels some of those creaky stereotypes, as researchers have discovered that even though Russians tend to brood, they’re less likely than Americans to feel as depressed afterward.
“The conclusion that you often jump to is that Russians are unhappy,” says Igor Grossmann, a doctoral psychology candidate who co-authored the report, to be published in the August issue of Psychological Science. The report looks at the findings of two studies conducted in the U.S. and Russia in 2007 and 2008 and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. In the first study, the researchers looked at self-reflection and depression among 85 American students and 83 Russian students, age 21 on average. They used a personality-trait scale developed by Yale University’s Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, a leading expert on rumination. Sample statements included, “I often spend time by myself thinking about past negative experiences,” and, “I often like to walk in the park and think about past events,” Mr. Grossmann said. The researchers observed that although Russians were more likely to brood, they had fewer depressive symptoms than the Americans.
In the second study, 86 American and 76 Russian students were asked to recall a recent unpleasant experience, be it a breakup, infidelity or a fight with a friend. The participants were asked if they’d achieved closure or still blamed the other party. They were also asked to describe whether they were replaying the event through their own eyes or if they were watching it unfold as “a fly on the wall.”
Compared to the Americans, the Russian students were more likely to spontaneously distance themselves from the situation as they analyzed their emotions. “Distancing is one mechanism that helps them see the positive, despite the fact that they’re contemplating negative experiences,” Mr. Grossmann said, adding that this seemingly paradoxical ability may be tied to linguistics. “Past research also shows that the meanings of positive words often have negative connotations for Russians, and the meanings of negative words often have positive connotations for Russians. There is some kind of dialectical thinking going on there, where they see the other side.” The Russians were also less distressed after remembering the moment – and less likely to blame the other person. “Blaming the other person often leads to anger and pronounced negative emotions, past research in emotion-regulation shows,” Mr. Grossmann said.
The native of Ukraine – and self-confessed brooder – said the findings suggest culture can shape how individuals respond to negative interpersonal experiences. The report was co-authored by Ethan Kross, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/brooding-russians-are-happier-than-they-look/article1641593/

2 killed in Russian power station attack.

In this image taken from TV Russian NTV channel on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, smoke rising from the Russian hydropower station in Kabardino-Balkariya, one of the republics in Russia's restive Caucasus region where clashes with insurgents are frequent. Assailants attacked a hydroelectric station in southern Russia on Wednesday July 21, 2010, killing two workers and setting off bombs.

July 21, 2010 (Associated Press). Two carloads of assailants attacked a hydroelectric station in southern Russia early Wednesday, killing two workers and setting off bombs. The attack took place in Kabardino-Balkariya, one of the republics in Russia's restive Caucasus region where clashes with insurgents are frequent.A spokesman for the republic's police, Adlan Kakakuyev, said two cars carrying a half-dozen assailants attacked the Baksan plant at about 4:30 a.m., killing two guards and wounding three others in gunfire. The attackers then set off explosives in several parts of the 25-megawatt plant and detonated them before fleeing.There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.The explosions and subsequent fire destroyed two of the plant's three power units, but there was no danger of flooding downriver, the state news agency ITAR-Tass cited power company RusGidro as saying. The dam and plant are on the Baksan River, a waterway that flows into the Terek, a major regional river.Kakakuyev said the same attackers are believed to have earlier opened fire on a police station in the town of Baksan. No one was hurt in that attack.The attack on the hydroelectric station was the most dramatic outburst of violence in the Russian Caucasus in recent months. Although Kabardino-Balkariya sees less violence than nearby Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, the republic suffers from persistent tensions stemming from poverty and harsh police actions toward worship by unsanctioned Muslim sects.In October 2005, dozens of men stormed the capital city, Nalchik, attacking police and government offices. Some 139 people died, including 94 militants.Wednesday's attack did not cause power outages, according to Russian news reports. The plant produces only about 7 percent of the electricity consumed in Kabardino-Bakariya and other plants were able to make up for the loss.Although the plant has comparatively minor strategic value, the attacked demonstrated how regional militants continue to be capable of mounting bold assaults despite years of anti-terrorist efforts by police and the military.Concern about renewed insurgent attacks has been high since March's double suicide bombing of the Moscow subway that killed 40 people. Chechen separtist militant leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for that attack.

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