· January, 2011

Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from January, 2011

Russia: Students Launch Online Map of Illegal Gambling

RuNet Echo  26 January 2011

Students of Saratov University of Technology launched gdecasino.ru, a crowd-sourcing website dedicated to map illegal gambling sites. A representative of Russian police said [RUS] to “Komsomolskaya pravda” newspaper that the website has already helped to close few illegal casinos.

Russia: Internet Industry Stays at Home

RuNet Echo  25 January 2011

Emma Barnett, digital media editor at “The Telegraph“, summarized reflections from her recent trip to Russia and explained “Why the Russian Internet doesn't need the West.” According to Barnett, the Russian Internet industry is “self-contained and self-sufficient” and it has no “ambition for the foreseeable future to expand internationally.”

Russia: First Twitter Reports of Domodedovo Suicide Bombing

RuNet Echo  24 January 2011

A deadly explosion killed at least 35, and wounded as many as 70 people in the Moscow airport Domodedovo. Early reports assert (ru) that the attack was a suicide bomb. Information has been coming in from many sources. Twitter is experiencing an explosion of tweets with the hashtag #Domodedovo.

Russia: Domodedovo Airport Blast

RuNet Echo  24 January 2011

A bomb exploded at Moscow's Domodedovo airport, at least ten casualties reported. An avalanche of Twitter items here (RUS) and here (RUS, ENG). @ann_mint, who works at Domodedovo, was one of the first Twitter users to report on the blast; “There're victums in #domodedovo Pray for us,” she wrote (ENG)...

Russia: Bloggers Choose RuNet Events of 2010

RuNet Echo  24 January 2011

LiveJournal administration published [RUS] list of the most memorable events and personalities of 2010 chosen by bloggers. The winners: Wikileaks, Moscow mayor's resignation, wildfires, riots on Manezhnaya square, investigation of corruption in Russian pipeline company “Transneft”. Ilya Varlamov (Zyalt) has been chosen as the best blogger, and the photo of the year...

Russia: Why Skype Worries The FSB?

RuNet Echo  22 January 2011

While Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urges government officials to get hip to technology, Russia’s Security Service, the FSB, has begun to clamp down on officials’ use of email and Skype, in a measure some are arguing is meant to stop possible ‘leaks’ of governmental information.

Russia: Will Russian Language Be More Popular Online?

RuNet Echo  22 January 2011

Blogger oleg-kozyrev writes [RUS] about the future of Russian language online initiating discussion in blog comments. The blogger concludes that the future of Russian language is strongly connected to the future of Russia's influence in the world.

Tunisia: Serbian Tourists Refuse to Return Home

  20 January 2011

Eleven Serbian tourists spending their holidays in Tunisian resort towns of Sousse and Hammamet have categorically refused to leave this North African country before the end of their tour arrangement. Sasa Milosevic reviews some of the online reactions of these Serbian tourists' compatriots.

Russia: Putin's Palace Exposed on Ruleaks

RuNet Echo  20 January 2011

The Russian Wikileaks website published photos [RUS] of what is allegedly known as Vladimir Putin's $1 billion-worth palace on the shore of  Black Sea . The story of the secret construction has been exposed [ENG] by Vedomosti newspaper few weeks ago.

Russia: Social Network User Accused of Piracy

RuNet Echo  20 January 2011

Russian Ministry of Interior reported [RUS] of the first criminal case against a user of the most popular Russian social network Vkontakte.ru. The user allegedly shared several copyrighted materials on Vkontakte.ru.

Poland: More Reactions to IAC Report – on Microblogs and via Cartoons

  20 January 2011

The Interstate Aviation Committee's report on last April's Smolensk plane crash has provoked many insightful posts from bloggers, but microblogging platforms - Twitter and Blip.pl - have also become good spaces for Poles to express their opinions, and quite a few of visuals criticising the report have appeared online as well.

Poland: Initial Reactions to Russian Report on Polish Air Force One Plane Crash

  19 January 2011

The Interstate Aviation Committee's report on the crash of TU-154M airplane near Smolensk on April 10, 2010, has generated an outburst of strong opinions about the validity and objectivity of the document, as well as the effect it might have on the Polish politics in 2011. Most discussions in various social media are highly negative of the document's content, but gradually bloggers are beginning to elaborate on the topic.

Russia: Blogger Tests if $88 per Month is Enough to Survive

RuNet Echo  18 January 2011

Volunteer project minproduct.ru launched by a 17-year-old Muscovite examines the state-defined monthly living wage (around $88 per month). Many Russians retirees have nothing but this amount to live on. Vitaliy, an author of the blog, shares recipes and pictures of his humble daily diet.

Russia: HimkiLeaks Project Launches Campaign Against Corrupt Mayor

RuNet Echo  18 January 2011

LJ account HimkiLeaks [RUS] published several reports exposing Vladimir Strelchenko, ill-famed mayor of Khimki city. Previously, Strelchenko's name has been connected with such drastic events as repressions against environmentalists, assaults on journalists Konstantin Fetisov, Oleg Kashin, Mikhail Beketov, etc.

About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage

Filip Stojanovski
Filip Stojanovski is the Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

Daria Dergacheva
Daria Dergacheva is the Eastern Europe editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.