auto-update week 43

central-asia/rs.json

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   },
   "Geography": {
     "Location": {
-      "text": "North Asia bordering the Arctic Ocean, extending from Europe (the portion west of the Urals) to the North Pacific Ocean"
+      "text": "North Asia bordering the Arctic Ocean, extending from Eastern Europe (the portion west of the Urals) to the North Pacific Ocean"
     },
     "Geographic coordinates": {
       "text": "60 00 N, 100 00 E"
@@ -121,9 +121,6 @@
     },
     "Geography - note": {
       "text": "<p><strong>note 1:</strong> largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture</p> <p><strong>note 2:</strong> Russia's far east, particularly the Kamchatka Peninsula, lies along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire</p> <p><strong>note 3:</strong> Mount El'brus is Europe's tallest peak; Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, is estimated to hold one fifth of the world's fresh surface water<br><br><strong>note 4:</strong> Kaliningrad oblast is an exclave annexed from Germany following World War II (it was formerly part of East Prussia); its capital city of Kaliningrad - formerly Koenigsberg - is the only Baltic port in Russia that remains ice free in the winter</p>"
-    },
-    "Map description": {
-      "text": "Russia map showing major cities as well as the many bordering countries and neighboring seas."
     }
   },
   "People and Society": {
@@ -659,7 +656,7 @@
       "note": "<strong>note 1:</strong> the State Duma now includes 3 representatives from the \"Republic of Crimea,\" while the Federation Council includes 2 each from the \"Republic of Crimea\" and the \"Federal City of Sevastopol,\" both regions that Russia occupied and attempted to annex from Ukraine and that the US does not recognize as part of Russia"
     },
     "Judicial branch": {
-      "highest courts": {
+      "highest court(s)": {
         "text": "Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (consists of 170 members organized into the Judicial Panel for Civil Affairs, the Judicial Panel for Criminal Affairs, and the Military Panel); Constitutional Court (consists of 11 members, including the chairperson and deputy); note - in February 2014, Russia&rsquo;s Higher Court of Arbitration was abolished and its former authorities transferred to the Supreme Court, which in addition is the country&rsquo;s highest judicial authority for appeals, civil, criminal, administrative, and military cases, and the disciplinary judicial board, which has jurisdiction over economic disputes"
       },
       "judge selection and term of office": {
@@ -1153,7 +1150,7 @@
     },
     "Telecommunication systems": {
       "general assessment": {
-        "text": "the telecom market is the largest in Europe, supported by a population approaching 147 million; the overall market is dominated by the western regions, particularly Moscow and St Petersburg which are the main cities and economic centers; all sectors of the market have been liberalized, with competition most prevalent in the two largest regional markets; the incumbent telco Rostelecom, which absorbed most of the regional players, in late 2019 acquired the remaining 55% of Tele2 Russia which it did not already own; the deal strengthened the company&rsquo;s ability to compete in the offering a full range of bundled services; Telcos continue to deploy and modernize fixed-line network infrastructure to offer improved broadband services as well as a range of IP-delivered content; the fiber broadband sector has shown considerable growth, supported by the government&rsquo;s program to extend the reach of broadband to outlying regions; the development of 5G services has been stymied by the lack of spectrum; although MNOs have licenses to use 700MHz spectrum for 5G, this spectrum will not be released until at least August 2023; progress is being made by MNOs to develop a joint strategy to deploy 5G using shared network and spectrum assets; mobile penetration is high, though this is partly due to the popularity of multiple SIM card use; there is pressure on operator revenue from the poor economic climate, lower pricing resulting from intense competition, regulatory measures introduced in 2018 which saw the end of roaming charges, and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp; (2022)"
+        "text": "the telecom market is the largest in Europe, supported by a population approaching 147 million; the overall market is dominated by the western regions, particularly Moscow and St Petersburg which are the main cities and economic centers; all sectors of the market have been liberalized, with competition most prevalent in the two largest regional markets; the incumbent telco Rostelecom, which absorbed most of the regional players, in late 2019 acquired the remaining 55% of Tele2 Russia which it did not already own; the deal strengthened the company&rsquo;s ability to compete in the offering a full range of bundled services; Telcos continue to deploy and modernize fixed-line network infrastructure to offer improved broadband services as well as a range of IP-delivered content; the fiber broadband sector has shown considerable growth, supported by the government&rsquo;s program to extend the reach of broadband to outlying regions; the development of 5G services has been stymied by the lack of spectrum; although MNOs have licenses to use 700MHz spectrum for 5G, this spectrum will not be released until at least August 2023; progress is being made by MNOs to develop a joint strategy to deploy 5G using shared network and spectrum assets; mobile penetration is high, though this is partly due to the popularity of multiple SIM card use; there is pressure on operator revenue from the poor economic climate, lower pricing resulting from intense competition, regulatory measures introduced in 2018 which saw the end of roaming charges, and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. (2022)"
       },
       "domestic": {
         "text": "cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low-density; nearly 19 per 100 for fixed-line and mobile-cellular a bit over 164 per 100 persons (2020)"
@@ -1161,7 +1158,7 @@
       "international": {
         "text": "country code - 7; landing points for the Far East Submarine Cable System, HSCS, Sakhalin-Kuril Island Cable, RSCN, BCS North-Phase 2, Kerch Strait Cable and the Georgia-Russian submarine cable system connecting Russia, Japan, Finland, Georgia and Ukraine; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems (2019)"
       },
-      "note": "<strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced a downturn, particularly in mobile device production; progress towards 5G implementation has resumed, as well as upgrades to infrastructure; consumer spending on telecom services has increased due to the surge in demand for capacity and bandwidth; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home is still evident, and the spike in this area has seen growth opportunities for development of new tools and increased services"
+      "note": "<strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced a downturn, particularly in mobile device production; progress toward 5G implementation has resumed, as well as upgrades to infrastructure; consumer spending on telecom services has increased due to the surge in demand for capacity and bandwidth; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home is still evident, and the spike in this area has seen growth opportunities for development of new tools and increased services"
     },
     "Broadcast media": {
       "text": "13 national TV stations with the federal government owning 1 and holding a controlling interest in a second; state-owned Gazprom maintains a controlling interest in 2 of the national channels; government-affiliated Bank Rossiya owns controlling interest in a fourth and fifth, while a sixth national channel is owned by the Moscow city administration; the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian military, respectively, own 2 additional national channels; roughly 3,300 national, regional, and local TV stations with over two-thirds completely or partially controlled by the federal or local governments; satellite TV services are available; 2 state-run national radio networks with a third majority-owned by Gazprom; roughly 2,400 public and commercial radio stations"
@@ -1334,14 +1331,14 @@
       "note": "<strong>note: </strong>in September 2022, President Vladimir PUTIN called up 300,000 reservists to active military duty to support the war in Ukraine, and in August 2022 ordered the military to increase the total number of armed forces personnel by 137,000"
     },
     "Military equipment inventories and acquisitions": {
-      "text": "the Russian Federation's military and paramilitary services are equipped with domestically-produced weapons systems, although since 2010 Russia has imported limited amounts of military hardware from several countries, including Czechia, France, Israel, Italy, Turkey, and Ukraine; the Russian defense industry is capable of designing, developing, and producing a full range of advanced air, land, missile, and naval systems; Russia is the world's second largest exporter of military hardware (2021)"
+      "text": "the Russian Federation's military and paramilitary services are equipped with domestically-produced weapons systems, although since 2010 Russia has imported limited amounts of military hardware from several countries, including Czechia, France, Iran, Israel, Italy, Turkey, and Ukraine; the Russian defense industry is capable of designing, developing, and producing a full range of advanced air, land, missile, and naval systems; Russia is the world's second largest exporter of military hardware (2022)"
     },
     "Military service age and obligation": {
       "text": "18-27 years of age for compulsory service for men; 18-40 for voluntary/contractual service; women and non-Russian citizens (18-30) may volunteer; men are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; 12- month service obligation (Russia offers the option of serving on a 24-month contract instead of completing a 12-month conscription period); reserve obligation for non-officers to age 50; enrollment in military schools from the age of 16 (2022)",
       "note": "<strong>note 1:</strong> in May 2022, Russia's parliament approved a law removing the upper age limit for contractual service in the military<br><br><strong>note 2: </strong>the Russian military takes on about 260,000 conscripts each year in two semi-annual drafts (Spring and Fall); as of 2021, conscripts comprised an estimated 30% of the Russian military's active duty personnel and most reserve personnel were former conscripts; in April of 2019, the Russian Government pledged its intent to end conscription as part of a decade-long effort to shift from a large, conscript-based military to a smaller, more professional force; an existing law allows for a 21-month alternative civil service for conscripts in hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities for those who view military duty as incompatible with their beliefs, but military conscription offices reportedly often broadly ignore requests for such service<br><br><strong>note 3:</strong> as of 2020, women made up about 5% of the active duty military"
     },
     "Military deployments": {
-      "text": "information varies; approximately 3,000 Armenia; approximately 2,000 Armenia/Azerbaijan (peacekeepers for Nagorno-Karabakh); estimated 3,000-5,000 Belarus; approximately 7,000-10,000 Georgia; approximately 500 Kyrgyzstan; approximately 1,500 Moldova (Transnistria); estimated 3,000-5,000 Syria; approximately 5,000 Tajikistan (February 2022)",
+      "text": "information varies; approximately 3,000 Armenia; approximately 2,000 Armenia/Azerbaijan (peacekeepers for Nagorno-Karabakh); estimated 3,000-5,000 Belarus; approximately 7,000-10,000 Georgia; approximately 500 Kyrgyzstan; approximately 1,500 Moldova (Transnistria); estimated 2,000-5,000 Syria; approximately 5,000 Tajikistan (February 2022)",
       "note": "<strong>note 1:</strong> in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine with an estimated 150,000 troops; prior to the invasion, it maintained an estimated 30,000 troops in areas of Ukraine occupied since 2014<br><br><strong>note 2: </strong>prior to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was assessed to have about 3,000-5,000 private military contractors conducting military and security operations in Africa, including in the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, and Sudan"
     },
     "Military - note": {