Do You Link Me?

Let's dive right in to a heptathlon of links for this Friday.  As always, enjoy and feel free to contact me if you hear or read anything interesting.

1. According to RIA-Novosti, Slovenia wants in on Sochi building projects.  Slovenian prime minister Borut Pahor met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, recently to talk business relations, particularly to sign an agreement allowing the South Stream gas pipeline to go through Slovenia.
2.  According to the AFP and others, Putin looked into a snow leopard's eyes and saw its soul.  With the relatively recent coronation as one of Sochi's Olympic mascots, the snow leopard has seen a surge in popularity.  Also, it was widely reported that the leopard was Putin's first choice.  So, he met one, and had this to say about the significance of the meeting: "That one of the symbols of the Olympics is a beast that was wiped out by man in the 1950s shows that Russia is different. Russia cares about nature, about its riches and preserves them for future generations."
3.  As I wrote about this week, the IOC blew through town for the 5th time to check the progress of the Sochi build.  The USA Today leads with the headline "Sochi work on track at quick pace," according to the words of Jean-Claude Killy, the man who lead the recon.  On the other hand, the Toronto Sun heads their article with "IOC concerned about progress for Sochi Olympics."  I hope to write a bit more about the visit this weekend but these opposing viewpoints are interesting nonetheless.  
4. Longtime foes Georgia and Russia settled it all last week...on the rugby pitch.  Georgia dominated, winning 38-6.  This sews up the top spot in Division 1 for Georgia in advance of next year's World Cup.
5. Sochi/Adler airport, which will be used by most everybody headed to the Sochi Olympics, has upgraded its technology.
6. Companies (not sure which ones, exactly, beyond Gazprom) have signed a so-called "green" declaration, promising to protect the local ecosystem. 
7. Not really a link, but I'll actually be heading to Kazakhstan on Sunday to work as an election observer for the "accelerated" presidential election.  If I get some time over there and have access to the internet, I'll try to update any relevant news, etc.  Also, I'll try to write some stuff up this weekend to auto post over the next week.

Friday Link Heptathalon; Space Olympics Cancelled

Yeah, that's what I'm calling it from here on out, unless I get a better idea.  Seven seems like a nice number, so seven links you shall get every Friday for your edification.  Read 'em, get better informed, etc, etc.  Also, I'm going to try and incorporate a video or two each Friday, as well.  Some informative, most funny, many will involve women's gymnastics.  Anyway, onto the links:

1. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has announced that Sochi 2014 will use the international rink dimensions, as a opposed to the smaller, NHL-sized surface that was used in Vancouver in 2010.   The international rink is roughly 200 ft x 100 ft, as opposed to the NHL rink, which is 200 x 85.  Historically, the international surface is used in, well, international events and Vancouver 2010 is the first Olympics I'm aware of that used the smaller surface; even Salt Lake City 2002 used the international dimensions.  The IIHF also announced that, logically, the international size will remain the standard in Europe, while the NHL rink will be used even for international competition in North America.  Ultimately, as anyone who watched the 2010 hockey tournament (my favorite sporting event, ever) knows, the dimensions don't matter so much when the world's greatest players are on display.
2. RIA-Novosti interviews Orietta Moscatelli, New Europe Project Chief at the Apcom Press Agency, about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.   RIA is affiliated with Apcom, so fyi on that. 
3. Duncan Mackay at insidethegames.biz reports that Kommersant was awarded the  "Sochi 2014 official supplier in the printed media category."  Kommersant is owned by Alisher Usmanov, who also has a stake in Arsenal and Facebook and is ungodly rich, and provides the newspaper the right to use Olympic symbols, publish special Olympic editions (not Special Olympics editions), etc.  
4. Not gay Figure Skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek talks on video about what he's been up to, getting ready for Sochi and his relationship with all-around gold medalist Nastya Liukin.
5. Russian airline Aeroflot dropped over $2 billion on eight new Boeing planes, part of a larger order as the company gears up for what it hopes will be increased international travel as 2014 draws closer.
6. The Boston Globe reports that ski jumping is set to go co-ed for Sochi.  In case you somehow didn't know (and how wouldn't you???), women were shut out of ski jumping at Vancouver, with the IOC contending that there simply wasn't enough depth and geographical diversity to justify adding the women to the program.  That situation, apparently, has changed, and the IOC is expected to approve the program shortly.  The only other event that is only for men?  Why, that'd be nordic combined (ski jumping and cross-country skiing).  No doubt because it might affect women's abilities to have children.
7. Those of you who were hoping to compete in space swords, space disk or space luge, I gots bad news.  The Space Olympics have been totally cancelled.