World War Zero
#video #Russia

We all know World War I and II, but few have heard of WW Zero. The Russian Empire fought for world dominance with Turkey, France, Great Britain, and a number of other countries. Casualties in Crimea were roughly 309,000 people. An international group of historians travelled to Crimea to excavate the mass graves and to rebury the fallen soldiers. They saw it as an act of dignity that would give closure and solace to the families whose ancestors died in the war.

Bone fragments and clothing artefacts helped identify the soldiers, and modern technology helped scientists recreate the appearance and even identify the soldiers' ailments when they were alive. This amazing quest has contributed a lot to the general knowledge of the war.

Tune in to watch the premiere of World War Zero: Lost in Action right now on RT Documentary.

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The boy who’ll never grow up
#video #Russia

Denis is ageless. The Russian is 33 but looks 13.

A rare genetic disease has left him with a childlike face and adolescent’s body. A pituitary gland problem prevents Denis from looking his age, but not from living life to the fullest.

Denis has a job at a power station. He’s in a long-term relationship. And he’s a keen hunter. Although Denis has to put up with insensitivity from outsiders and answer questions like ‘Aren’t you too young to drive a car?’, he is wise beyond his years. Denis is just an old soul trapped in a young body.

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Black magic cult or misunderstood religion?
#video #Haiti

Do you know what Voodoo is? For most of us, the word probably conjures up images of voodoo dolls or disturbing rites we’ve seen in movies.

Voodooism has long been stigmatised as a sinister cult with scary rituals that even involve cannibalism. However, the reality is very different. Voodooism, which originated in West Africa, is closely linked to slavery. In the early 18th century, Haitian slaves overthrew their European rulers and took control of the island. Many slaves were Voodooists, so no wonder the cult was banned! Voodooists believe in the spiritual world and worship their ancestors. In the past, they often embraced Catholic symbols of saints to avoid detention and punishment.

In 2003, Voodooism was finally recognised as an official religion in Haiti, on a par with Catholicism and Protestantism.

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#video #Japan

Japan’s Yakuza gangsters are portrayed as merciless, but wise and noble guys. Beneath their sharp suits, they’re all covered in tattoos (irezumi in Japanese). Their pinkies are missing because that’s how they demonstrate loyalty to the yakuza boss, known as oyabun. They drive fancy cars and are popular with women… Well, apparently, that’s how it used to be!

Since Japan passed stricter anti-gang laws, life has become difficult for Yakuza members. Mobsters can’t open bank accounts, rent apartments, or even send their kids to good schools. Their ranks have been dwindling and ageing. Are they becoming good for nothing?

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#photo #France 🇫🇷

Today, Napoleon’s lost friend, General Gudin, is finally coming home to rest, after having gone missing for over 200 years in Russia.

Charles Gudin de la Sablonniere was Napoleon Bonaparte’s school friend and an acclaimed revolutionary general. He broke the Emperor’s heart when he was killed at the beginning of the calamitous 1812 Russia campaign. Gudin’s grave was then lost until, incredibly, a Franco-Russian team of archeologists found it in Smolensk, Western Russia, in the summer of 2019.

Now, on 13 July 2021, the warrior’s remains are being flown back to France. The French Defence minister is meeting the bones at Le Bourget airport, before they are taken to the family vault in Montargis, south of Paris, and laid to rest.

To find out more about this very special Napoleonic General and the amazing story of how he was found, watch our film, Find My General!

#video #India

Can you believe that millions of people around the world consider toilets to be an inaccessible luxury? 🚽

In India, there are many people who have a mobile phone, but no toilet. To answer the call of nature, nearly 600 million Indians go outside and use a latrine. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, he launched the Clean India campaign, which aims to eradicate the practice.

Though open defecation may seem as natural and old as humankind itself, with larger and denser populations, it often results in diseases and polluted water.

It can be especially dangerous for women, as they must expose themselves to snakes and sexual harassment in the process. And many women are just too shy to relieve themselves in front of men.

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Till death do us part?
#video #Russia

Margarita Gracheva’s life took a tragic turn on December 11, 2017. Her husband Dmitry, the father of her two children, drove her to the woods, tied her wrists with plastic straps, and chopped off both her hands with an axe. He then took Margarita to the hospital and turned himself in. “If you’re not mine, you’ll be disabled,” he repeated as he tortured Margarita.

Their marriage had been crumbling. Dmitry suddenly became jealous and suspicious when Margarita asked for a divorce. She says her husband planned it all ahead of time and felt no remorse. Dmitry is now serving a 14-year sentence, while Margarita has reinvented herself as a campaigner for stricter domestic violence laws in Russia.

Doctors managed to surgically reattach on of her hands and replaced the other with a bionic prosthetic. Margarita is married again and is expecting her third child.

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Barbarity or tradition?
#video #theFaroeIslands

On Denmark’s Faroe Islands, pilot whales are slaughtered in a centuries-old tradition called ‘the grind’. The sight is terrifying – the mammals are driven into a bay by small boats and hacked to pieces by a bunch of waiting men, as the water turns red.

Animal rights activists from around the world are calling for an end to be put to the custom, which some say makes the island’s inhabitants ‘Europe’s last barbarians.’ But the islanders say the ‘grind’ is part of their cultural identity. It provides a sense of community… and a source of food. In their defence, the Feroese argue that it would be the same if “cows were killed in a pool.”

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Russian collider studies universe

NICA is the Russian mega-science project conceived at the nuclear research facility in the Russian town of Dubna. Once launched in 2022, it will become a physics time machine, as it will be used to recreate the start of the universe 14 billion years ago. This research will take science to a whole new level. It will allow physicists to study matter they believe existed just after the Big Bang formed our universe.

This project is the next step after another groundbreaking discovery in particle physics, which deals with the universe and its properties. The Higgs Boson was theoretically predicted in 1964 by Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs and proved in 2012 by the team of Swiss physicists from the CERN project. The research centres keep in touch and exchange their knowledge. Tune in for the premiere of Russia’s NICA. Big Bang Questions right now!

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