MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2020) �In this digest, we'll discuss the justice done over a copy of a Witcher book, a way for insects to be helpful, and one foundation's dislike for Halloween.
A Moscow court agreed with another judge's decision to make AST publishing house pay 540,000 rubles ($6,820) to an illustrator, whose work was used on the cover of Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher without a credit.
According to court, AST published 3,000 copies without crediting Anatoly Dubrovik for the artwork.
The publishing house admitted that the book cover had an illustration by Dubrovik, but argued that the artist's claim was exaggerated.
The illustrator calculated the sum based on the law, which says that the compensation can amount to double the price of all the copies. As every book was sold to stores at 90 rubles, the entire amount for 3,000 copies came up to 540,000.
Russian scientists will breed a moth colony to help with plastic waste disposal. The project is set to launch in a pilot stage in 2021, the leading expert at the biotech lab of Yakutia technopark told Sputnik.
Scientists will create a special solution that can destroy plastic without a trace. As an inspiration, they have studied a ferment of honeycomb moth, which can dissolve plastic. This insect is capable of eating plastic bags and successfully digesting them. A hundred of these caterpillars can devour about 100 grams of plastic in 10-12 hours.
"We will decipher the DNA and based on scientific institutes, will try to synthesize this ferment. We will create a solution that can be used to coat plastic waste and thus dispose of it," Yevgeny Popov said.
But to get to the ferment, scientists will set up a colony of moths first.
The head of the Russian Peace Foundation, Elena Sutormina, is urging city authorities to ban Halloween celebrations wherever they can.
"This so-called holiday is completely against our cultural values and ideas. Unfortunately, in the 90s it made its way into our schools, educational institutions, of all places, under the influence of everything American and Western. And we are now dealing with the consequences. The original meaning of the holiday was lost even in the countries where it originated. Instead of honoring the memory of ancestors, this day results in wild discos, crazy costumes, inebriation and noise in the street, worry for the local residents," Sutormina said.
The head of the foundation added that the pandemic was yet another reason to say no to this holiday, given the rising number of new infections.
"And at this difficult moment, business people are making money on advertising and selling coronavirus costumes for Halloween. A feast in time of plague. As our doctors are saving thousands of lives, as volunteers are working to ensure safety of older people and everyone who's at risk, there are some people who do not understand how grave the situation is," Sutormina said.
The chair of the international affairs committee in the upper chamber of the parliament, however, believes that there is no need to ban Halloween.
"There is definitely no need to ban Halloweeen. Everyone should be able to decide on their own, without orders from above," Knstantin Kosachev told Sputnik.
The senator himself does not celebrate Halloween.
