Stories about International Relations from June, 2006
Poland: “Sex Slaves” Rumor
The beatroot writes that despite the worries of “Polish nuns, green feminists and George W. Bush,” there are no 100,000 East European “sex slaves” servicing the World Cup fans in Germany: “Sex slavery exists, for sure, but 100,000 women being imported into Germany? Surely most of the fans there are...
Poland: Hungary In 1956 Vs Iraq Now
The beatroot writes about “the major difference between Hungary back then and Iraq today”: “Hungarians led the uprising, which was later crushed by a Superpower. In Iraq today, a Superpower has ‘liberated’ Iraq and is now experiencing an insurgency by some Iraqis (and a few cross- border terrorist weirdos).” He...
Serbia: Football and the EU
Doug Muir of A Fistful of Euros writes about Serbia's poor performance at World Cup and the country's slim chances of getting into the EU anytime soon.
Ukraine: Oil Stocks; Gas Situation
Wu Wei writes about the gas situation and implementation of “an EU system of oil stocks” in Ukraine.
Latest in French-Speaking African and Indian Ocean Blogs
PAN-AFRICAN Homosexuality in Africa Not a Myth France-based Togolese blogger Kangni Alem reflects on a homophobic movement in Cameroon that sees homosexuality as a suspect new “religion” and concludes: Evidence des temps, l’homosexualité ne peut plus être perçue comme un mythe en Afrique. même moi je l’ai cru longtemps, jusqu’au...
Serbia: War Criminal's Concert and the Country's Image
Viktor of Belgrade Blog writes about Serbia's image abroad. He also links to the text on a concert by a “Serbian war-criminal,” written by the Serbian writer Jasmina Tesanovic for BoingBoing: “There is no excuse for going to Ceca's concert (“Ideally Bad”) but I found one: I took a foreigner...
Plane Crashed in Fujian
It's the “third crash of Chinese airforce planes occurred in this month”, The Horse's Mouth translates. Considering the recent crashes of the airforce planes (all) occurred in Nanjing Military District, which is confronting Taiwan, this reflects that the training volume of airforce planes in this area has gone up sharply,...
Uzbekistan: German Prosecution
Registan.net questions the usefulness of calls to prosecute Uzbek officials for human rights violations using Germany's courts’ universal jurisdiction over such matters.
Hungary: George W. Bush Visit
Pestiside.hu reports on George W. Bush's visit to Budapest: unprecedented security measures, a phone bomb scare at the U.S. embassy, an anti-Bush rally and the gay festival.
Hungary: New Foreign Minister and Human Rights
Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about Kinga Goncz, Hungary's new foreign minister, and her disappointing new views: “Yet in the corrupt world of realpolitik that she now operates in, all previous principles and beliefs have been thrown out the window in the interest of political and...
The Balkans: Comment on Srebrenica
Srebrenica Genocide Blog responds to an anonymous commenter's “attempt to justify Srebrenica massacre.”
Nigeria: UK travel advisory
Just Thots by a Naijaman reports that Nigerian has issued it's first warning to Nigerians travelling to the UK ….”The Nigerian government says citizens must beware of “miscreants” who employ a “great variety of tricks” to dispossess people of their property.”
Peace March from Seoul to Daechuri
Camp Humphreys, a U.S. Military Base in South Korea, will soon begin the expansion project to build new houses, gyms. This project will “destroy the farming communities of Daechuri, Doduri, and others”. Days in Daechuri blog about local protest activities and is organizing a Peace March on Early July.
Joint War-Fighting…to assure peace and stability?
Valiant Shield 2006…..More than 40 members from different countries all over the world to include China, Australia, Japan, India, Singapore, Republic of Korea and Russia are observing this exercise exhibiting U.S. capabilities and interoperability while working together as a joint force… the exercise enhances joint war-fighting proficiency and allows the...
India Changing: Calcutta to Kolkatta and much, much more…
Change is the central theme of the post...in how many ways is India changing, how are the changes coming etc. etc.
France, Various Africa, Middle East: France goes easy on mercenary
“The French again have demonstrated that crimes committed abroad in developing nations shouldn't necessarily be punished,” writes an outraged Fontaine, who reports that a French mercenary, who has also been implicated in several coups or coup attempts in other countries, has received only a five-year suspended sentence after having been...
Russia: Comparing the Chechen War to Iraq
Sean Guillory analyzes whether the war in Iraq can be compared to the war in Chechnya: “And I’m sure American politicians and policy makers would be delighted to have the problems Putin has in Chechnya. But as the current moment shows both Iraq and Chechnya are worlds apart. Still, a...
Belarus: Two Activists Awarded in Sweden
Vilhelm Konnander reports on two Belarusian human rights activists who have been awarded Swedish prizes for their work.
North Korea: Holocaust-style camps
As North Korea prepares to test-fire an inter-continental ballistic missile—”The US and Japan have warned the North Koreans not to test-fire their ICBM; but the lunatics in charge of the failed Stalinist state, led by the Hitlerian tyrant Kim Jong-il, have insisted on their right to fire away.”—China Confidential‘s Confidential...
Cuba: Donor agency head imprisoned
Medicina Cubana links to a news story about the sudden imprisonment in Cuba of a US citizen who runs an organisation which, for several years, has been sending donated medical equipment to Cuba: “In retrospect, Schwag, 53, thinks he might have run afoul of high-ranking Cuban officials who might have...
Haiti: Artists Promote Peace through “Sculptures for Peace”
Says AlterPresse (Fr): ” Haitian and foreign artists [including Togolese Kossi Assou] promise to work towards a culture of peace through a program, Sculptures for Peace put together jointly by Africamerica Foundation and the section on Disarmament, Demobilization and Social Reinsertion of the UN Mission in Haiti. The project, hosted...