DIY Da Vincis / 2021
#Russia

DIY, or maker culture, is booming! Do-it-yourself tutorials on how to transform everyday items into solar-powered cars or how to build a wooden hut from scratch rack up millions of views. People spend many hours watching others create.

Why are we so fascinated with DIY and how makers use skill and imagination in their projects?

Check out 'DIY Da Vincis' to meet major DIY Russian bloggers and to mark Geek Pride Day!

May 25 is a worldwide celebration of geekiness and all things geeky! Are you a geek? 🤯

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Once Upon a Crime: US Police Brutality / 2016
#USA

Exactly two years ago, protests broke out across the US following the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. The death of a 46-year-old Black man in police custody set off a powerful movement against racism, discrimination and police brutality.

Six years before the George Floyd protests, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. His death led to weeks of unrest and protests over police accountability.

The documentary 'Once Upon a Crime: US Police Brutality' delves deep into the reasons behind police violence and racial bias in the US legal system.

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Inferno Village / 2017
#India

Jharia in India looks a lot like a horror movie scene: it is wrapped in suffocating smoke from an underground fire burning for 100 years.

Jharia’s coalfields are just as rich in reserves as they are deadly. Even living here is risky: the ever-spreading pit of fire frequently consumes whole houses and blasting regularly shakes the entire village, damaging buildings and throwing plumes of coal dust into the air. High levels of carbon monoxide cause severe respiratory complaints among residents.

Despite the danger, most families daren’t relocate because extracting coal is their only source of income. Even little children work here.

What’s life like in hell? Watch 'Inferno Village'👆

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It’s a Pandaful Life! / 2017
#China

China is the only country where pandas still live in the wild. So no wonder the Giant Panda is a source of pride in China and a symbol of conservation and wildlife protection (remember the WWF logo?)

Chengdu’s Giant Panda Breeding Research Base is where scientists and caretakers work to ensure that the pandas successfully breed. They tend to the pandas’ every need, providing food, medicine, clean enclosures, and play. The caretakers even give these love-shy animals Sex Ed classes!

The Chengdu Centre has been so successful that pandas were taken off the endangered species list in 2016. There are some 600 pandas currently living in captivity and nearly 2,000 roaming the wild. But the viability of the black-and-white bears in the wild is still threatened by factors like loss of natural habitat.

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Tundra Wonder Mums / 2021
#Russia

A chum is a mobile home made from reindeer hides that is used by the indigenous people of Russia’s Far North. It has a simple design, tested by generations. The tent-like structure has to be easy to set up and move because this nomadic people has to change camps once every three to four weeks.

A chum takes about an hour to assemble. The task used to fall exclusively on the shoulders of women, though this custom isn’t often observed nowadays. But it’s still women who work to make their families feel comfortable and warm in these extreme conditions.

Since 2018, ‘chum-worker’ has been recognised as an official job noscript in Russia. Chum-workers are even paid a modest salary.

What does it take to keep the family hearth in the middle of the frozen tundra? Check out this beautiful documentary.

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Iceline. Lifeline // 2022
#Russia #Arctic

‘Once, the navigation started very early, and several ships got ice-locked. Back then I was working on the ‘Captain Dranitsyn’ and the old ‘Arctic’ icebreaker saved 5 or 6 ships. One was simply squashed’, recalls boatswain of new icebreaker ‘Arctic’. Back in the day the Northern sea route was dangerous even for icebreakers. For decades, only the Western part was used, but with new icebreakers of Project 2220 it can be finally open the whole year.

Nuclear-powered icebreakers travel through 118 inches thick ice for 8 700 miles from Northern Europe to asian coast of the Pacific Ocean. Jump on board to see how it is done from the inside!

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‘The Azov Regiment forced people out of their flats into the basement, and tanks started firing.’ Residents of Mariupol tell how they survived.

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Armageddon Ready / 2019
#USA

Roberta Griffin is ready for the end of the world. Her bunker in the backyard has a place to sleep, shower and stocks of canned fruit that should last for 20 years.

Roberta is one of America’s doomsday preppers, or survivalists, who plan for the worst-case scenario, from a zombie apocalypse to a civil war. Preppers are usually seen as crazy people, but when you visit some modern bunkers, you kind of wish you had one!

Numerous businesses cater to the needs of survivalists, offering modest and high-end options. There are underground escapes with swimming pools and movie theatres.

Meet the doomsday preppers and bunker sellers in Armageddon Ready and hear why they believe an apocalypse is inevitable.

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Dance, Sex, Dance / 2017
#India

There’s a red-light district in the Indian city of Muzaffarpur that some say has existed since the early 16th century. Men come here to watch women dance and sing, but it’s only a cover for prostitution. Nearly 2,500 sex workers live here. Some were sold or forced to sell their bodies, others had nowhere else to go, and some even followed in their mothers’ and grandmothers’ footsteps.

In a long-awaited ruling, India’s Supreme Court has recognised sex work as a profession and ordered police to treat sex workers ‘with dignity and equal protection under the law’. Sex work has been legal in India for more than 30 years, but prostitutes face violence and exploitation.

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Qatar 2022: Football Fever / 2021
#Qatar

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is around the corner, and it looks like the tournament will surprise you. When Qatar was chosen as the World Cup host, it raised concerns. The country is too small, too hot, and alcohol is prohibited.

The first country in the Middle East to welcome the major football event spent billions on infrastructure like a portable stadium and a driverless metro. The tournament was moved to late autumn to avoid scorching temperatures. And fans will have a chance to toast their teams’ victories in special recreation areas.

Learn more about Qatar’s preparation for the FIFA World Cup in the documentary.

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I am John Kopiski, a Russian farmer / 2020
#Russia

British trader John Kopiski came to Russia in the 1990s on a business trip that changed his life. ‘After Perestroika, everybody was so hospitable. It was a new life.’ John decided to move to Russia at 42 because he felt at home.

He met a Russian woman, converted to Orthodoxy and fathered five children. Together they run a massive farm with more than 4,000 cows in the Vladimir region. They produce 50 tonnes of milk every day, and John has taken up cheese production following EU sanctions against Russia.

John takes pride in his newfound motherland and says his relatives in the UK don’t get his love for Russia.

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EVALI: Vapes of Death / 2021
#USA

Mexico has banned the sale of vaping devices and electronic cigarettes after health alerts.

Since 2019, cases of a mysterious vaping illness have become widespread. In the neighbouring US, nearly 3,000 people were hospitalised between 2019 and 2020, and 68 died. The disease is now known as EVALI, short for e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury.

Discover what’s true and what’s a myth about vaping?

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Black Holes of Yamal / 2021
#Russia

Monstrous, perfectly round craters appearing in the Yamal tundra have been puzzling scientists since they were first found in 2013. The holes, which can reach up to 30 metres in depth, look as if powerful blasts or meteorite impacts left them.

While researchers have explored a massive gas emissions theory, the local Nenets people have their explanation. The Nenets are nomadic reindeer herders whose life revolves around nature. They believe the holes may be a bad omen or a warning that “someone sometime did something wrong.”

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Foreign Fighters of Donbass / 2022
#Donbass

‘It’s very sad that so many people had to die. But they wanted to seize these lands. That’s the result. That’s the result of Ukrainian policy,’ says Alexis Castillo, showing the remains of Ukrainian soldiers at the Illich plant in Mariupol. Ukrainian troops turned the industrial zone into a fortified area and have been shooting at the city for two months. Finally, after a series of brutal fights, the Russian army and the Donbass militia liberated the plant facilities.

Alexis Castillo was born in Columbia. In 2014 he felt it was his duty to join the Donbass militia. Alexis’ anti-fascist views drove him to protect the people of Donbass from Ukrainian nationalists. Today Alexis is one of the foreign volunteers of the special operation in Ukraine. Most of them fought for years on the frontlines of Donbass. So what stories do they tell?


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Syria: The Story of One Tragedy / 2021
#Syria

Leith was a happy boy. He had a mom and dad, brothers and sisters, rode a bike, kissed his mom before bed, and went to the seaside with his family. Then, when he was five, he suddenly lost them all.

Terrorists killed everyone. He only survived thanks to his father, who smeared Leith with blood so the murderers would think he was dead. His grandmother saw everyone die in a matter of minutes. She was only left alive so the terrorists could swap her and other women for their people.

June 4 marks the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression. Millions of children like Leith from Syria suffer the consequences of war.

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Operation Liberation / 2022
#Ukraine #Donbass #Russia

“We understood that the situation was different. We fight not just against Ukraine; we fight against several countries on Ukrainian territory,” says military analyst Vladislav Shurigyn. According to him, if Ukraine were alone, the conflict would have ended by May 2022. During the special operation in Ukraine, the Russian army destroyed 16 Ukrainian military airports, 3,363 tanks and other armoured vehicles, 185 military planes and hundreds of other gear, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence.

It is the result of the first phase of the special operation in Ukraine, which aimed to lower its military potential significantly. In April of 2022, the second phase started, which aims to liberate Donbass and Southern Ukraine territories. Even though NATO and the USA provide help, Ukraine continues to lose its grip on Donbass. Go to the Operation Liberation documentary for a truthful account of the special operation.

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♻️ Happy World Environment Day!
🎲 Test how knowledgeable you are about recycling and eco living?

🖊 5 questions · ⏱ 1 min

Green Citadels / 2018
#USA

Near Taos, New Mexico, a group of enthusiasts builds sustainable houses to take your eco-consciousness to a whole new level! In the Greater World Community, they make homes from recycled and natural materials that are completely off-grid. Architect Michael Reynolds calls them Earthships.

He started building his eco-houses in the 1970s. They don’t need access to water, gas or electricity. Instead, Earthships store rainwater and the sun’s heat, treat sewage and garbage, maintain a comfortable temperature, and generate sustainable power. So what else do you need?

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