Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from October, 2009
Russia: Medvedev's critical questions
CrisisCrunch comments on some critical issues about Russia raised by the country's president, Dmitry Medvedev, in a recent article.
Featured Editor: Veronica Khokhlova
Veronica Khokhlova has been Global Voices' Central and Eastern Europe Editor since January 2006 when she first published an "Introduction to the Ukrainian Blogosphere". She splits her time between Kyiv, Moscow, and Istanbul.
Pregnancy and Prisons: Women's Health and Rights Behind Bars
It is still a struggle to ensure human rights for pregnant women worldwide, and it seems that in the process, pregnant women in prison are many times overlooked. What have been some of the steps made to ensure that they are also treated humanely, with respect to the life they carry?
GV Blogger Interview: Sylwia Presley
Sylwia Presley is a name which pops up regularly on Global Voices Online. Her interactions spark discussions and ignite new ideas which helps our community develop. Juan Arellano catches up with our Translation Manager for Global Voices Polska and learns more about her fascinating work on and offline.
Russia: Soviet Legacy and Street Names
A few weeks ago, it seemed as if every single Russian blogger took the time to write something about the re-naming of Anti-Soviet Shish Kebab Restaurant in Moscow, a dissident journalist's protest article and a pro-Kremlin youth movement's counter-protest activities. One blogger alluded to the scandal in a post about street names that kept on preserving the questionable Soviet legacy.
Russia: Kindle
Profy reports on Amazon Kindle's “international expansion”: “This decision is obviously good at least because I personally don’t like any limitations and opening yet another window to the huge Russian market is hopefully a wise decision for Amazon. […] At the same time I myself suspect that the vast majority...
Russia: Stalin's Grandson vs Novaya Gazeta
Foreign Policy's Passport reports on a lawsuit brought against Novaya Gazeta by Josef Stalin's grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili.
UK: Russian Film Festival
Siberian Light writes about the 3rd Russian Film Festival, which begins on Oct. 30 in London.
Serbia: Preparations for Medvedev's Visit
Belatedly, a mock review of the preparations for president Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Belgrade – at Belgraded: “He already was in Serbia once last year, but this time there’s a lot more fuss about his visit, presumably because we need to suck up to the East at least as much...
Russia, Ukraine: A Georgian Politician's View
Window on Eurasia highlights a Georgian politician's view on the relations between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia: Polina Zherebtsova's 1999 Chechen Diary
Jost A Mon translates the intro and excerpts from Polina Zherebtsova’s 1999 Chechen Diary that were published in Bolshoi Gorod (RUS) in Sept. 2009.
Russia: More on the Recent Election
A discussion of last Sunday's local elections in Russia – at Sean's Russia Blog.
Ukraine: Child Rape and Politics
Ukrainiana reports on a controversial child molestation case, the details of which were leaked right before the official start of the presidential election campaign: “How much of this accounts for a smear campaign and how much portrays a shocking case of sexual child abuse remains to be seen.”
Russia: Election Fraud and Blogging
Reports of vote-rigging in the local elections, which took place in 75 of Russia’s 83 regions on Oct. 11, spurred protests by citizens and politicians in Moscow - and quite an outrage among some of the country's bloggers.
Hungary: “Downtown Smog Reducing Station”
Architects, artists, biologists and technicians worked together in downtown Budapest to show that a small plantation of algae could contribute to improving our environment.
Featured Author: Marietta Le
Marietta joined Global Voices after coming to the 2008 Global Voices Summit in Budapest to cover the event as a journalist for a local paper. A self-described technophile, Marietta likes how Global Voices uses technology to encourage dialog between distinct communities that often don't interact.
Russia: Photos From Yaponchik's Funeral
LJ user ssmirnoff posts a selection of photos and video (RUS) from the funeral of Russian mafia boss Vyacheslav Ivankov (aka Yaponchik), which took place on Oct. 13 in Moscow.
Russia: “Russian Obama” Defeated
Asylum in Bardak – Africans in Russia reports that Joachim Crima (a Guinea-Bissau native aka “Russian Obama”) did not get elected to the post of district chief or to the local parliament of the Srednyaya Akhtuba district in Volgorgad region.
Russia: Protest Against Voter Fraud
LJ user avmalgin posts footage from and writes this (RUS) about the rally against voter fraud in Moscow, following the governing party's victory in local election: “On Pushkin Sq., it turns out, someone was going to protest against something. Naive people. It's like coming out of the theater and holding...
Ukraine: Kyiv Market
A few photos from a Kyiv market – at Greetings from Kyiv.
Serbia: Moja Rusija/My Russia Party
Belgraded writes about a new Serbian party – the Moja Rusija (My Russia) Party: “As it usually happens, the best kind of comedy is the non-intentional kind.”
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