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Dear Educators,
Happy New Year and welcome back. The Davis Center is excited to bring you a new semester of programming, especially as our region takes the world stage with February's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. If you're interested in discussing the Olympics or its surrounding geopolitical issues in your classroom, please be in touch. We're always happy to share helpful resources or arrange a classroom visit.
In addition, we have the opportunity to submit any questions you might have to an on-the-ground expert who will be reporting from the games. Read more and share your questions below.
Best wishes for the new semester,
The Davis Center Outreach Team
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Submit Your Olympics 2014 Questions
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This winter, the Davis Center has the opportunity to submit a select number of questions to an on-the-ground journalist who will be covering the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Submit a question from your classroom about any aspect of the Games (athletes, Sochi itself, atmosphere, politics etc) and our expert may answer it from the field in February.
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In the News
Following Bombings, Sochi Preparations Continue
In the wake of two terror attacks in the Russian city of Volgograd (approx. 600 miles southeast of Moscow), analysts and media outlets were quick to connect the incidents to Russia's upcoming Olympic games in Sochi, a resort city not far from the North Caucasus. Putin publicly put armed forces on "combat alert" during the Games, the U.S. defense department pledged American cooperation on security measures, and many in the media saw the attacks as a reminder of Russia's instability as its moment in the spotlight grows closer.
The bombings, which took at last 34 lives, have thus far not been formally linked to any group, though initial evidence (and widespread assumption) points to Islamist extremists in the North Caucasus region. Despite the hubbub, preparations in Sochi continued as planned, with Putin taking to his skis for a trial run on the Olympic slopes. Photo: Memorial for victims in Volgograd.
Amnesty for Russian Political Prisoners
In late December, the Russian government announced a sudden new amnesty law for political prisoners, freeing such high-profile inmates as ex-oil baron Mikhail Khodorkovsky, members of the punk band Pussy Riot, and Greenpeace activists, previously apprehended for environmental actions in the Far North. Despite their newly found freedom, the former prisoners were quick to remind the public of their criticisms of President Putin and his human rights record. Many in the media additionally noted the law's well-timed passage, given the barrage of criticism recently aimed at the state of Russia's civil liberties. Photo: Khodorkovsky at first press conference since release, credit Mitya Aleshkovsky.
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