«Titanic» director James Cameron spent his birthday underwater. Cameron, who turned 56 on Monday, dived beneath the surface of the world’s deepest lake in a submersible he used to film the wreck of the Titanic, the Foundation for the Preservation of Lake Baikal said.

Cameron boarded the Mir-1 submersible and spent a few hours in Lake Baikal’s waters, the Russian-based group said. The Mir-1, less than 8 meters long, is one of two submersibles Cameron used to film the Titanic in preparation for the 1997 blockbuster.

Russia used the vessel in 2007 to plant a Russian flag on the sea floor near the North Pole. On Monday, it was piloted by Anatoly Sagalevich, director of the technical council of the preservation foundation, who invited Cameron on his first visit to Lake Baikal and gave him a hardy «hydronaut’s» watch. The sickle-shaped lake in Siberia, some 5,000 kilometers east of Moscow, is the world’s oldest and deepest lake, according to UNESCO, which lists it as a World Heritage Site. It holds one-fifth of the world’s unfrozen fresh water. Ecologists say the 25 million-year-old lake, which reaches a depth of 1,637 meters, harbors 1,500 plant and animal species, including a unique freshwater seal.

Фрагмент взят из газеты «The Moscow Times» 2010 год

Beneath Ниже, под

Blockbuster Кассовый хит (зарабатывает более 100 миллионов долларов

Board (v) Подниматься на борт

Deep Глубокий

Director Режиссер

Dive Нырять

Harbor Содержать, укрывать

Hardy hydronaut’s watch Водонепроницаемые часы

Hold (held, held) Держать, содержать

Invite Приглашать

Plant Устанавливать

Plant and animal species Виды растений и животных

Reach Достигать

Sea floor Морское дно

Seal Тюлень

Sickle-shaped lake Серповидное озеро

Sink (sank, sank) 1) погружаться, 2) тонуть

Spend (spent, spent) Проводить время

Submersible Подводный аппарат

Surface Поверхность

Vessel Корабль, судно

World Heritage Мировое наследие

Wreck Крушение

FSB Detains Romanian «Spy»

The Federal Security Service said a Romanian diplomat was caught spying Monday and given 48 hours to leave the country.

Gabriel Grecu, first secretary in the political department of the Romanian Embassy in Moscow, was detained while trying to obtain secret military information from a Russian citizen, the FSB said in a statement. «Espionage equipment seized from the agent fully reveals his hostile activities against Russia,» the statement said.

Russia has made a formal protest to the Romanian government about Grecu’s activities and declared him persona non grata, the FSB said.

The Romanian Embassy in Moscow and Romania’s Foreign Ministry in Bucharest both declined to comment on the matter. Relations between Russia and Romania are cool. Romania joined NATO in 2004, and it has annoyed Russia by supporting the pro-European government in Moldova, a former Soviet republic where two-thirds of the population speaks Romanian. In June, Moldova ordered Russia to withdraw 1,500 troops who have been stationed in a separatist region of the country since the Soviet Union collapsed nearly two decades ago.

Фрагмент взят из газеты «The Moscow Times» 2010 год

Annoy Раздражать, сердить

Catch (caught, caught) Поймать, ловить

Decline Отказываться

Detain Задерживать, арестовывать

Equipment Оборудование

Fully Полностью

Give (gave, given) Давать

Hostile Вражеский, враждебный

Join Присоединяться, вступать

Matter Дело, вопрос

Obtain Получать, добывать

Relations Отношения

Reveal Открывать, разоблачать

Seize Завладевать, захватывать

Spy Шпион

Support Поддерживать

Troops Войска

Withdraw (withdrew, withdrawn) Выводить (войска)

Ship Carrying 111 Tourists Collides With Barge

More than 100 foreign tourists experienced a short-lived Titanic-like scare on the Volga River early Wednesday when their luxury cruise ship sailing from Moscow to St. Petersburg collided with a sand-laden barge. None of the 111 tourists from the United States, Germany and Italy were injured, while three of the 91 crew members sustained minor bruises during the incident on the Rybinskoye reservoir on the Volga River in the Yaroslavl region, emergency officials said. But the ship, the Sergei Kirov, suffered a 5-meter-long gash along its hull, and the crew prevented it from sinking, officials said.

«The crew listed the ship immediately and began bailing water out and removing property from cabins. The water was pumped out, and a patch was improvised from inside,» said a spokesman for the local branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry, Interfax reported. News reports gave no information about damage to the barge, which was transporting 4,500 tons of sand to Rybinsk, the second-largest city in the Yaroslavl region. It was unclear Wednesday which ship was to blame for the accident. Two motor ships were sent to the site of the incident to pick up tourists and bring them to Rybinsk, from where they were to be transported back to Moscow by bus later Wednesday, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. Eighty-three tourists refused to travel on a lower-class ship than the Sergei Kirov, and a third motor ship had to be sent for them, Lifenews.ru reported.

The Sergei Kirov, owned by a St. Petersburg company, was booked by the U.S. firm Viking River Cruises for trips between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Interfax reported. River cruises are a popular tourist attraction in Russia. Viking River Cruises had no immediate comment on the accident.

Tickets for the Moscow-St. Petersburg cruise start at $2,396, according to the company’s web site. The cruise, called «Waterways of the Tsars,» promises a «monumental 13-day itinerary,» with stops in Moscow, St. Petersburg and «quaint riverside towns like Yaroslavl, Uglich and Goritzy that only a river cruise can provide.» «See opulent palaces, discover fortified monasteries and visit beautiful cathedrals,» the website says. «It is an unforgettable way to experience the history and culture of this unique and mysterious country.»

Фрагмент взят из газеты «The Moscow Times» 2010 год

According to… В соответствии с…

Attraction Привлекательность, притяжение

Bail out Вычерпывать воду

Begin (began, begun) Начинать

Blame Обвинять, возлагать вину

Branch Филиал

Bruise Синяк

Carry Перевозить

Collide Сталкиваться

Crew Судовая команда

Damage Повреждение, ущерб

Experience Переживать, испытывать

Foreign Иностранный

Fortify Укреплять

Gash Впадина

Hull Корпус

Immediately Немедленно

Laden Груженый

Minor Незначительный

Monumental itinerary Грандиозный маршрут

Mysterious Таинственный, загадочный

Opulent Богатый, пышный

Patch Заплата

Prevent Предотвращать

Promise Обещать

Property Собственность

Quaint Привлекательный

Refuse Отказываться

Sail Плавать

Sand Песок

Scare Испуг

Sink (sank, sunk) Тонуть

Sort-lived Мимолетный

Suffer Страдать

Sustain Претерпевать, испытывать

Unforgettable Незабываемый

While В то время как

Interview with Robert De Niro

In 1976, Robert De Niro starred in the movie «The Last Tycoon.» Now De Niro is a tycoon himself, one so big that Crain’s New York Business has included him on its list of New York’s 100 most influential businesspeople. Of course, this did not happen because De Niro is a two-time Oscar winner and one of the highest-paid actors of our time. And it didn’t happen even because he is a co-owner of the famous restaurant chain Nobu. In addition to restaurants, De Niro also owns production company Tribeca Productions; Tribeca Enterprises, which conducts the Tribeca Film Festival; and a large real-estate business.

De Niro, a native New Yorker, turned the former port area of Tribeca into one of the most fashionable (and expensive) places in New York City. He got started by buying up and overhauling local real estate. Like any businessperson, De Niro knows both victory and defeat. Vedomosti interviewed the world-famous actor and businessman, and he told of the ups and downs of his long career.

Фрагмент взят из газеты «The Moscow Times» 2010 год

Conduct Проводить

Defeat Поражение

Happen Случаться, происходить

In addition В добавление к этому

Include Включать

Overhaul Реконструировать, перестраивать

Own Владеть

Real-estate Недвижимость

Turn into Превращать во что-то

Tycoon Финансовый или промышленный магнат

Winner Победитель

Reputed Crime Boss Survives Shooting

Reputed crime boss Asian Usoyan, 73, and his bodyguard were hospitalized in stable condition after being shot by an unidentified assailant on Tverskaya Ulitsa late last week, police said.

Usoyan, who is thought to be the most influential crime boss on former Soviet soil and is known as Grandpa Khasan, and his bodyguard Artur Bagramyan were shot by a Kalashnikov assault rifle equipped with a silencer as they entered a building late Thursday, police said, according to national news agencies. Usoyan had been staying in his son’s apartment in the building, Lifenews.ru said. In order to prevent more attempts on Usoyan’s life, police intentionally reported Friday that both men were killed, while in fact they were only hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, Interfax reported. The location was selected because it was one of the few places where Usoyan could be ambushed, Interfax said, citing a law enforcement source.

Usoyan lives in a Moscow region settlement closed to outsiders, avoids public places, travels in armored cars and employs former police officers as bodyguards, the source said. Police believe that the attacker lived in an apartment in a neighboring building and probably had accomplices who tracked Usoyan’s movements, the source said. The apartment cost 100,000 rubles ($3,230) a month and was rented by unidentified people in August, Lifenews.ru reported Sunday. The Interfax source said a search for the attacker was ongoing but he was probably killed by the people who ordered the hit. «First, he failed his task and, second, he knows his employers,» the source said. Usoyan said he did not know who might have ordered the attack, but police linked it to his alleged criminal activity, Inter

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