From Russia With News

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2022) In this digest, we will tell you about Russian confectionery that successfully passed permafrost tests in the Arctic, the most popular Stephen King's book and most frightening character among Russians, and how the Moscow authorities move to prop up the city's cinemas amid current crisis in the country's screening industry.

The sweets of Russian confectionery giant United Confectioners have successfully passed permafrost tests in the Arctic, preserving its nutritional properties while staying underground for 12-42 years, the official website of the Moscow mayor and government said on Wednesday.

The experiments on food storage in the permafrost of the Arctic lasted for over 120 years, during which the products are placed in aluminum containers and immersed in a depth of about two meters (6.6 feet) in soil containing ice and subjected to significant temperature differences.

The Head of the Moscow Department of Investment and Industrial Policy, Vladislav Ovchinsky, was quoted as saying that all samples extracted from soil in Russia's Taymyr Peninsula, where the temperature in winter drops below minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, were "perfectly preserved," with the sweets maintaining normal food properties despite being a little "gray" due to the so-called migration of fats, inevitable in a temperature difference.

The freezing experiments will help scientists to understand how the composition of products is changing and how long they can be stored in low, unregulated temperatures, which will be useful for the development of the Arctic territories.

STEPHEN KING'S MOST FAVORITE NOVEL

The most popular book by US writer Stephen King among Russians is "The Green Mile," as well as its film adaptation, while the most frightening King's character is considered the Pennywise clown from the "It" novel, Russian e-book service LitRes said on Wednesday.

"Especially for the anniversary of Stephen King, the LitRes book service conducted a survey among users and learned how they feel about the works of the 'king of horrors.' The respondents' favorite work of the author was 'The Green Mile' novel (33.9%), the film adaptation of which respondents also called the best among all films based on King's books," LitRes said in a statement.

According to respondents, the most frightening character in the King universe is Pennywise, followed by Jack Torrance from "The Shining" novel and the killer nurse from the book "Misery" by US writer Annie Wilkes.�

FINANCIAL HELP FOR MOSCOW CINEMAS

The Moscow authorities have allocated 300 million rubles ($4.9 million) to the city's cinemas to keep them running, provided that film distributors do not close them for a period of at least three months after receiving financial support, the official website of the Moscow mayor and government said on Wednesday.

"The Creative Industries Agency helped 71 cinemas in Moscow by allocating an amount of 300 million rubles," Head of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of Moscow Alexey Fursin was quoted as saying.

According to Fursin, Moscow managed to create a powerful cinema infrastructure from scratch, which is important to preserve.

In June, Moscow announced support measures for the capital's film distributors, including direct payments to film networks and grants for the promotion of domestic films, after a number of Western film companies decided to leave Russia over the special operation in Ukraine.