RTDocumentary

Egypt’s Garbage City #video#Egypt Meet the Zabbaleen, Cairo’s traditional garbage collectors. Generations of Zabbaleen have been recycling Cairo’s trash for more than half a century. They are so good at it that they recycle up to 85% of the capital’s waste. To give you some perspective, a whopping 20 million people live in the Greater Cairo area. Imagine how much waste they produce every day! Zabbaleen’s garbage industry is an organized network of tens of thousands of people, each playing their own part. They gather, transport, and sort the rubbish. Even pigs play an important role, as they are fed the organic food waste. The Zabbaleen garbage collectors are largely independent from the rest of Cairo and live by their own rules. For example, the Zabbaleen never collect waste from a colleague’s turf. They have their unofficial mayor, shops, cafes, shishas, and schools. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

How Soviet WW2 survivors stole thunder at the 1952 Olympics They were wounded, severely underweight, and traumatised. But when the Soviet Union was invited to take part in the Olympics for the first time ever, Soviet athletes proved that the human spirit can achieve greatness even after the worst of hardships. Former soldiers, as well as survivors of concentration camps and the Leningrad siege, brought home 71 medals, second only to the USA. Galina Zybina was one of the first Soviets who won gold in Helsinki exactly 69 years ago. Follow:https://t.me/rtdocumentary

World’s most fertile mother #video#Uganda When Mariam Nabatanzi was born, her father had already arranged a marriage for her. She was married off at the age of 12. By 13, she started having her own children. “Nothing good happened to me in my marriage, except my children,” says Mariam. Her much older husband humiliated her and brought lovers home. Mariam says she couldn’t leave him because she only wanted to be with one man. After giving birth to three pairs of twins, Mariam asked a doctor for birth control, but he told her she couldn’t stop giving birth, as it could result in tumours… In total, Mariam gave birth 15 times and had 44 babies! Her husband eventually left her. Now, she’s a single mother. With 38 surviving kids, Mariam struggles to make ends meet and takes on every opportunity to make money. Although fertility rates in Uganda are one of the highest in the world, with 5.4 children per woman, Mariam’s story stands out. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Burning Village #photo#India India’s village of Jharia could be the set for a horror movie. Flames and blue flares shoot out of the ground, people suffocate in smoke, and the ground bursts open to swallow houses. But the locals don’t leave. Jharia lies at the heart of the country’s coal industry. Men, women, and their children scavenge and sell coal to make a living. An adult earns around 600 rupees ($8) for a basket of coal, while a child’s basket sells for $5. It’s dangerous to work in a coal pit: workers risk getting sick with asthma, tuberculosis, and skin conditions. Health risks aren’t the only hazards. Ground fissures and collapses can occur at any moment and consume entire houses and their inhabitants. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Russian collider studies universe NICA is the Russian mega-science project conceived at the nuclear research facility in the Russian town of Dubna. Once launched in 2022, it will become a physics time machine, as it will be used to recreate the start of the universe 14 billion years ago. This research will take science to a whole new level. It will allow physicists to study matter they believe existed just after the Big Bang formed our universe. This project is the next step after another groundbreaking discovery in particle physics, which deals with the universe and its properties. The Higgs Boson was theoretically predicted in 1964 by Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs and proved in 2012 by the team of Swiss physicists from the CERN project. The research centres keep in touch and exchange their knowledge. Tune in for the premiere of Russia’s NICA. Big Bang Questions right now! Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Barbarity or tradition? #video#theFaroeIslands On Denmark’s Faroe Islands, pilot whales are slaughtered in a centuries-old tradition called ‘the grind’. The sight is terrifying – the mammals are driven into a bay by small boats and hacked to pieces by a bunch of waiting men, as the water turns red. Animal rights activists from around the world are calling for an end to be put to the custom, which some say makes the island’s inhabitants ‘Europe’s last barbarians.’ But the islanders say the ‘grind’ is part of their cultural identity. It provides a sense of community… and a source of food. In their defence, the Feroese argue that it would be the same if “cows were killed in a pool.” Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Till death do us part? #video#Russia Margarita Gracheva’s life took a tragic turn on December 11, 2017. Her husband Dmitry, the father of her two children, drove her to the woods, tied her wrists with plastic straps, and chopped off both her hands with an axe. He then took Margarita to the hospital and turned himself in. “If you’re not mine, you’ll be disabled,” he repeated as he tortured Margarita. Their marriage had been crumbling. Dmitry suddenly became jealous and suspicious when Margarita asked for a divorce. She says her husband planned it all ahead of time and felt no remorse. Dmitry is now serving a 14-year sentence, while Margarita has reinvented herself as a campaigner for stricter domestic violence laws in Russia. Doctors managed to surgically reattach on of her hands and replaced the other with a bionic prosthetic. Margarita is married again and is expecting her third child. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#video#India Can you believe that millions of people around the world consider toilets to be an inaccessible luxury? 🚽 In India, there are many people who have a mobile phone, but no toilet. To answer the call of nature, nearly 600 million Indians go outside and use a latrine. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, he launched the Clean India campaign, which aims to eradicate the practice. Though open defecation may seem as natural and old as humankind itself, with larger and denser populations, it often results in diseases and polluted water. It can be especially dangerous for women, as they must expose themselves to snakes and sexual harassment in the process. And many women are just too shy to relieve themselves in front of men. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#photo#France🇫🇷 Today, Napoleon’s lost friend, General Gudin, is finally coming home to rest, after having gone missing for over 200 years in Russia. Charles Gudin de la Sablonniere was Napoleon Bonaparte’s school friend and an acclaimed revolutionary general. He broke the Emperor’s heart when he was killed at the beginning of the calamitous 1812 Russia campaign. Gudin’s grave was then lost until, incredibly, a Franco-Russian team of archeologists found it in Smolensk, Western Russia, in the summer of 2019. Now, on 13 July 2021, the warrior’s remains are being flown back to France. The French Defence minister is meeting the bones at Le Bourget airport, before they are taken to the family vault in Montargis, south of Paris, and laid to rest. To find out more about this very special Napoleonic General and the amazing story of how he was found, watch our film, Find My General!

#video#Japan Japan’s Yakuza gangsters are portrayed as merciless, but wise and noble guys. Beneath their sharp suits, they’re all covered in tattoos (irezumi in Japanese). Their pinkies are missing because that’s how they demonstrate loyalty to the yakuza boss, known as oyabun. They drive fancy cars and are popular with women… Well, apparently, that’s how it used to be! Since Japan passed stricter anti-gang laws, life has become difficult for Yakuza members. Mobsters can’t open bank accounts, rent apartments, or even send their kids to good schools. Their ranks have been dwindling and ageing. Are they becoming good for nothing? Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary