Russian round-up: bikes, McDonald’s and…selfies

Free Central Asian language classes will be on offer in Moscow to help build cultural bridges; McDonald’s is to open 70 restaurants in 30 Russian cities this year; and Russian designer Tigran Avetisyan has created an underwear selfie set specifically designed for taking ‘selfies’ in the mirror. A look at some of this week’s cultural news stories.

McDonald’s has announced plans to open 70 restaurants in 30 Russian cities this year, with the southern Siberian cities of Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk the first to welcome the American chain as part of the new venture.

Free Central Asian language classes will be on offer at the state-funded Muzeon Park this summer in a new project that seeks to build cultural bridges between the millions of migrant labourers in Russia and native Russians.

Moldova’s television watchdog has now suspended the broadcast of Russia’s Rossiya-24 TV channel until the start of 2015, citing the channel’s “non-compliance”.

State Duma has adopted a law banning the storage of Russians’ personal data abroad, with domain names or net addresses who refuse to comply put onto a special register of those violating the bill.

St Petersburg has launched the first automated bike-sharing system this week, with the system now operating 28 rental points with 170 bicycles currently available for rent.

And…Russian designer Tigran Avetisyan has created an underwear selfie set for fashion website SHOWstudio, with the outfit specifically designed for taking ‘selfies’ in the mirror.