Twelve scantily clad women oozing praise for Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin versus six stern-looking beauties demanding human rights — who will win Russia’s battle of the calendars?
A day after 12 journalism students at Russia’s most prestigious university released a racy calendar in honor of Putin’s 58th birthday, six of their colleagues hit back with their own version, pointing to the murders and curbs on freedom under Putin.
“Who killed Anna Politkovskaya?” asks Yekaterina Ulianova, posing, like all the young women, in a somber black outfit with yellow tape sealing her mouth shut.
Politkovskaya, a journalist who was one of the Kremlin’s toughest critics, was shot dead on Putin’s birthday four years ago on Oct. 7.
The students in both calendars study at Moscow State University’s journalism faculty, which has produced some of Russia’s finest journalists, including Politkovskaya.
That reputation was called into question on Wednesday, when 12 of its students appeared in a calendar, titled “Vladimir Vladimirovich, We Love You! Happy Birthday, Mr Putin!”
Dressed in lacy lingerie, each young woman had a word bubble stretching from her mouth with phrases like “Can I be your co-pilot?” and “How about a third go?” referring to one of the prime minister’s manly stunts and the possibility he may return for a third term as president.
“When I first saw the calendar, I was absolutely shocked,” said Liz Menschikova, one of the opposition calendar’s co-producers. “People were calling girls from the journalism faculty ‘sluts.’ I knew we had to do something.”
Other women in her calendar say: “When will Khodorkovsky be freed?” referring to the jailed former CEO of Yukos oil company, and “When will the next terrorist attack be?”
Some students Menschikova approached to take part in the calendar declined, saying they feared the repercussions, she said.
“Girls from the journalism faculty are just being sold to the Kremlin and that’s not right,” Menschikova said. “They teach us to tell the truth and that’s what we’re doing here.”
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he was unaware of the second calendar.
As for the first, Peskov said: “I hope these girls study as well as they look.”
About 50,000 copies of the first calendar have been printed and are for sale at Moscow branches of French supermarket chain Auchan. The opposition calendar, for now, is only available online.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia