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Τρίτη 31 Δεκεμβρίου 2013

25 Olympic Torch Relay Photos That Prove Russians Are Total Badasses

25 Olympic Torch Relay Photos That Prove Russians Are Total BadassesImage Credit: AP

If there are two things all Russians are good at, it's drinking vodka and being badass. Fromshooting tigers with tranquilizer guns to riding horses with no shirt on, President Vladamir Putin has time and again proved that Russia is hands-down more hardcore than any other country.

Now, Russia is at it again, this time using the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic torch relay as a chance to flex its muscles. More than 14,000 people will serve as torch-bearers along the unprecedented 56,000 kilometer route, which winds through the North Pole, underwater in Lake Baikal, and into outer space. Yeah, that's right: freaking space.

So far, they've covered half the total distance, using the most Russian means of transportation available: dog sleds, snowmobiles, skis, zip lines, space shuttles, nuclear-powered icebreakers — oh yeah, and they carried the torch by foot, too.

The torch-bearers have braved the freezing-ass Russian winter with only a handful of incidents. And when the torch's flame happened to extinguish, one guy did what any sensible Russian would do: he whipped out a cigarette lighter from his pocket. Classic.

Here are 25 photos of the most badass moments from the 2014 Olympic torch relay. Make no mistake, these things would happen only in Russia.

1.

This dude snowboarded his way down a mountain — torch in hand — at Sheregesh winter sports resort in Siberia.
2.

These divers, sporting wetsuits and scuba gear, held their Olympic torches underwater in Baikal, Russia's largest lake. Yep, that's right: they brought the Olympic flame underwater.
3.

Meanwhile, this daredevil, otherwise known as Mikahil Chuyev, delivered the torch from a boat to shore using a jet pack. No, I didn't know jet packs really existed, either.
4.

These guys sprinted in foot-deep snow to carry the torch to the icebreaker you see in the background. Oh, and did I mention that the ship, 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of the Victory), is powered by nuclear energy? Because the 2014 Olympics wouldn't be Russian if they didn't involve the word "nuclear".
5.

Good old 50 Let smashed through some ice to ferry the torch to... the North Pole. It was the first time in Olympic history that this ancient Greek tradition made it up to Santa territory.
6.

Speaking of Santa, Dasher and Prancer here pulled a sleigh near the Siberian city of Yakutsk, about 4,830 kilometers (3,000 miles) east of Moscow, Russia. Unlike St. Nick's reindeer, though, they didn't fly.
7.

Now, you're probably thinking, "Hey Russia, how can you top the North Pole?" Well here's your answer, in the form of the Russian Soyuz-FG booster rocket and TMA-11M space capsule. Here, they're en route to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and set to transport the torch to the International Space Station (ISS).
8.

Kazakhstan, we have liftoff.
9.

Two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky, taking the unlit torch for the Sochi Winter Olympics on its first historic space walk. Unfortunately, space has no air to fuel flames — even if you're Russian.
10.

Via: sochi2014.com

Back on planet earth, these ice-swimmers took a quick dip in the Amur River in Blagoveshchensk, Russia's Far East. Somehow, despite being submerged practically naked in freezing-cold water, this guy managed to keep the flame dry at all times.
11.

In case you doubted how cold that water was, these swimmers wanted you to know that the white stuff in the foreground is ice. Solid ice.
12.

It's not just the men in Russia who seem to have incredibly good circulation and thick, heat-insulating skin. Here's torch-bearer Natalia Usacheva exiting the Yenisei River in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
13.

Just one more crazy more of transportation to add to the list: zipline.

14.

Russian badassery doesn't fade with age; 101-year-old Alexander Kaptarenko became the oldest torch-bearer in Olympic history this month. What's more, he's a pro ping-pong player who says he plans to compete in the European table tennis veterans championships.
15.

There's no stopping Elena Saprygina, either, who carried the Olympic flame on her wheelchair in a sport center in the Siberian city of Tomsk, Russia.
16.

The Kremlin rarely passes up a chance to show off Russia's military might, which is why the Olympic torch found its way to a photo-op in front of a fighter jet.
17.

Most people associate camels with the desert, but they've got their own special (and pretty badass) place in Russian history, too. During World War II, many military units of the Soviet Red Army took to using camels, which they called "Kuznechik,", to transport ammunition, fuel for tanks and aircraft, food, water for kitchens, fuel, and even wounded Red Army soldiers.
18.

Except for the cars in the background, this scene could have been lifted straight from the Bolshevik Revolution — just look at the guy on the left's furry hat. Victory, comrades.
19.

The torch was carried by foot to the top of the mountain so that this guy could spot his house. Fear of heights? Nonsense.
20.

Meanwhile, check out this massive invasion of rowboats on the Volga River in Tver. The torch is with the dragon boat (yep, the boat is painted to look like a dragon) leading the pack.

21.

One more reason why Russians are so badass; many of them are descendants of the Vikings. Huzzah!

22.

This torch-bearer climbed up a bridge to symbolize... absolutely nothing. She just did it for the hell of it.
23.

These guys went for a quick raft trip with the Olympic torch in Gorno-Altaysk because, well, why not?
24.

Torch-bearer Evgeny Scherbinin in Russia's Sverdlovsk region, riding in his badass motorcycle side-car. (Yes, side-cars are badass. Have you ever seen Wallace and Gromit?)
25.

Last, but not least, President Badass himself, posing with the Olympic torch and a smug grin that says, "See you at the Olympics."

2nd largest aquarium tank in the world

Δευτέρα 30 Δεκεμβρίου 2013

Νέα βομβιστική επίθεση στη Ρωσία! Έκρηξη σε τρόλεϊ, 15 νεκροί!

Πριν καλά καλά συνέλθει η Ρωσία από το σοκ της τρομοκρατικής επίθεσης στο σιδηροδρομικό σταθμό του Βόλγογκραντ, μια νέα έκρηξη, αυτή τη φορά σε τρόλεϊ, έρχεται να συγκλονίσει.

Οι πρώτες πληροφορίες μιλούν για 15 νεκρούς και δεκάδες τραυματίες, ανάμεσά τους κι ένα παιδί που έχει τραυματιστεί σοβαρά.
Με εντολή του Βλαντιμίρ Πούτιν πηγαίνει στο Βόλγογκραντ ο επικεφαλής των μυστικών υπηρεσιών, Αλεξάντρ Μποτνίκοφ.

Η έκρηξη σε τρόλεϊ και πάλι στο Βόλγογκραντ έρχεται λιγότερο από ένα 24ωρο μετά από την πολύνεκρη επίθεση της Κυριακής στον κεντρικό σιδηροδρομικό σταθμό της πόλης, με απολογισμό 16 νεκρούς.

ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ REUTERS

Οι αρχές ήδη μιλούν για νέα τρομοκρατική επίθεση. Και όλα αυτά ενώ η περιοχή του Βόλγκοκραντ έχει τεθεί σε επίπεδο αυξημένου αντιτρομοκρατικού συναγερμού για τις επόμενες 15 ημέρες.

Πλάνα που μετέδωσε η κρατική τηλεόραση δείχνουν ό,τι απέμεινε από το κατεστραμμένο μπλε και λευκό τρόλεϊ με την οροφή του να έχει αποσπαστεί από το υπόλοιπο όχημα και πτώματα και συντρίμμια σκορπισμένα στο δρόμο.

ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ REUTERS

Οι ομοσπονδιακές αρχές ανακοίνωσαν ότι για την έκρηξη, η οποία σημειώθηκε κοντά σε αγορά στη συνοικία Ντζερζίνσκι, διενεργείται έρευνα για "τρομοκρατική ενέργεια και διακίνηση όπλων".

Η περιοχή έχει αποκλειστεί από αστυνομικές δυνάμεις, ενώ στο σημείο της έκρηξης βρίσκονται και μέλη των υπηρεσιών εκτάκτων αναγκών.

ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ RT.COM

Την επίθεση της Κυριακής έκανε η Οκσάνα Ασλάνοβα, το κεφάλι της οποίας βρέθηκε στο χώρο της επίθεσης. Πυροδότησε τα εκρηκτικά λίγο πριν από τα μηχανήματα ανίχνευσης μετάλλων και καθώς είδε έναν αστυνομικό να την πλησιάζει.

Η Ασλάνοβα είχε παντρευτεί δύο φορές με αντάρτες. Οι δύο σύζυγοί της είχαν σκοτωθεί από τις ρωσικές δυνάμεις.

Όλα δείχνουν πως δεν ήταν μόνη αλλά είχε συνεργό ο οποίος προς το παρόν έχει αναγνωριστεί μόνο με το επίθετό του, Παβλόφ.

ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ: RT.COM

Καταζητούμενη από το 2012, η Οκσάν Ασλάνοβα ήταν φίλη μιας άλλης καμικάζι που σκότωσε έξι άτομα στο Βόλγκογκραντ τον Οκτώβριο όταν ανατινάχθηκε μέσα σε λεωφορείο γεμάτο φοιτητές, έγραψε η Lifenews.ru.

Μέχρι στιγμής καμία οργάνωση δεν έχει αναλάβει την ευθύνη για τη σημερινή ή τη χθεσινή επίθεση.

Και οι δύο επιθέσεις εντείνουν την ανησυχία σχετικά με την ασφάλεια των χειμερινών Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων, οι οποίοι είναι προγραμματισμένο να ξεκινήσουν στις 7 Φεβρουαρίου στο Σότσι που βρίσκεται σε απόσταση 690 χιλιομέτρων νοτιοδυτικά του Βόλγκογκραντ.

ΔΙΑΒΑΣΤΕ ΕΠΙΣΗΣ

Κυριακή 29 Δεκεμβρίου 2013

ΓΙΑΤΙ ΤΟ ΝΟΜΙΣΜΑ ΕΧΕΙ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΔΥΟ ΟΨΕΙΣ

An Ancient City Is Discovered Underwater. What They Found Will Change History Forever

Posted on: December 1, 2013 · By Sunny Skyz

Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

The city of Heracleion was engulfed underwater 1500 years ago. This grand city had been mentioned by the Greek writer Herodotus, the 5th-century BC historian. He had told a wonderful tale of Helen of Troy, who traveled to Heracleion, then a port of 'great wealth', with her Trojan lover, Paris.

When French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio stumbled upon some relics, it led them to one of the greatest finds of the 21st century; a city underwater. The discovery took place when Goddio had been in search of Napoleon’s warships from the 1798 Battle of the Nile, when he had been defeated by Nelson in these very waters, but to his surprise, he stumbled upon this magnificent discovery.

Here the team retrieves the statue of the god Hapi

More and more statues are brought to surface, still in excellent condition

god and goddess statues brought to surface

The discoveries include the colossal statues of the Egyptian goddess Isis, the god Hapi, and an unidentified Egyptian pharaoh, all preserved in excellent condition by their muddy burial shroud. Along with these 16ft statues there are hundreds of smaller statues of Egyptian gods, among them the figures that guarded the temple where Cleopatra was inaugurated as Queen of the Nile. Dozens of sarcophagi have also been found, containing the bodies of mummified animals sacrificed to Amun-Gereb, the supreme god of the Egyptians. Many amulets, or religious charms, have been unearthed, too, showing gods such as Isis, Osiris and Horus.

A red granite sculpture of a Ptolemaic queen

sculpture discovered from underwater city

A gold vessel, which is a shallow dish used throughout the Hellenistic world for drinking

A bronze statuette of a Pharoah of the 26th dynasty

An ancient lamp is discovered during the search

Here an archaelogist measures the feet of a colossal red granite statue

The god Hapi was the god of the flooding of the Nile, a symbol of abundance and fertility

A 1.9m inscribed pillar, commissioned by Nectanebo I (378-362 BC)

Evidence shows that Heracleion slipped into its watery grave sometime in the 6th or 7th century AD. The discovery of Heracleion will now add depth and detail to our knowledge of the ancient world, because among the discoveries, there are perfectly preserved inscribed pillars decorated with hieroglyphics.

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