Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from November, 2010
Latvia: The Kristovskis Scandal
All About Latvia covers the xenophobia scandal that involves Latvia's new foreign minister Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis – here, here, and here.
Estonia: Pensioners’ “Relative Wealth”
AnTyx does some “number-crunching” and concludes that “on average, British pensioners are 76% better off than Estonian ones.”
Czech Republic: Russian Presence in Karlovy Vary
The Czech Daily Word writes about Karlovy Vary, a famous Czech resort town popular with tourists from the former Soviet states: “And one can see the Russian presence on almost every main street in downtown Karlovy Vary, where even hair salons, post offices, hardware stores etc. have signs in four...
Russia: Changing Time Zone in Primorsky Krai
Masha Egupova analyzed bloggers' reactions to Primorsky Krai officials' executive decision to change the time zone in order to be closer to Central Russia.
North Korea: A Closer Look At North Korea, By A Russian Web Designer
Photos of North Korea taken by a Russian web designer, has been retweeted by @chakanangma, @demoon84 and many other South Korean Twitterers.
Russia: Commentary on Oleg Kashin Beating
A roundup of the English-language reports and commentary on the beating of journalist Oleg Kashin (as well as the cases of Mikhail Beketov, Konstantin Fetisov and Anatoly Adamchuk): Julia Ioffe at Foreign Policy and The Moscow Diaries (here and here); Miriam Elder at GlobalPost; Natalia Antonova at GlobalComment; Poemless; Sean's...
Russia: Bloggers and Watchers
A Good Treaty translates a “friends and enemies” Russian LJ blogger list allegedly posted by a pro-Kremlin activist. The Kremlin Stooge rates the Russia watchers Anglophone blogging “pack.” Siberian Light posts the latest Weekly Russia Blog Roundup.
Russia: Khodorkovsky's Final Statement; Kuril Islands Dispute
The Moscow Diaries, Robert Amsterdam, and Siberian Light reprint Mikhail Khodorkovsky's closing statement delivered in a Moscow courtroom on Nov. 2. Vadim Nikitin and Anatoly Karlin discuss the Khodorkovsky case and the Kuril Islands dispute – here, here, and here.
Russia: Interview With @KermlinRussia
A Good Treaty does a short interview with @KermlinRussia (RUS), who “regularly posts acerbic, ironic tweets mocking news stories about Russia’s leaders”: “For instance, hours after news emerged that journalist Oleg Kashin was savagely beaten and put into a medically-induced coma, Kermlin tweeted the following: ‘Today’s beating of oppositionist journalist...
Ukraine: FEMEN Activists Protest Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani's Death Sentence
A group of female activists from FEMEN protested the death sentence given to Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani in front of the Iranian Embassy in Kyiv on Nov. 3 (a YouTube video) and at the opening ceremony for an event promoting Iranian culture on Thursday (photos of the topless protesters by Sergei Svetlitsky,...
Technology for Transparency: Five New Cases, With More to Come!
The Technology for Transparency Network is thrilled to announce the start of the publication of our second phase of research. Beginning with five cases — Accountability Initiative in India, Amatora mu mahoro in Burundi, Democrator.ru in Russia, Excelências in Brazil, and Mam Prawo Wiedzieć in Poland — we will be...
Czech Republic, Slovakia: “Teapartismus”
Dr. Sean's Diary writes about the Tea Party movement in the United States and the reported emergence of “Čajové dýchánky or teapartismus” in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Serbia: Netizens and Media Report on the Kraljevo Earthquake
Sasa Milosevic reports on the online and citizen media coverage of the earthquake that hit Serbia last week.
Russia: Soccer Hooligans Might Be Involved in Assault on Oleg Kashin
Investigative blogger Anticompromat re-posts [RUS] a new version of attack on Oleg Kashin. He quotes LJ-user cleric_r saying that the assault might be connected with soccer fan groups. Kashin knew way too much about the relations between soccer fan groups, pro-Kremlin youth movements, and President's Staff. LJ-user semen_f19 adds [RUS]...
Kazakhstan: LiveJournal Suspends Oppositioner's Account
LiveJournal has suspended account of Rakhat Aliev, Kazakh opposition politician and a former president Nazarbaev‘s son-in-law, LJ-user Dolboeb reports. Previously Kazakhstan blocked entire LiveJournal in order to silence Aliev. At the same time, it is the second suspicious suspension in LiveJournal – on November 3, 2010 Russian opposition blogger pilgrim_67...
Russia: More Assaults on Journalists
Igor Podgorny reports on the attack on Sergey Mikhailov, Saratov journalist, that took place on November 5th, 2010. Kommersant writes about another attack on Anatoliy Adamchuk, journalist from Zhukovskiy city (Moscow region). Adamchuk was assaulted on November 7th, 2010.
Brazil-Russia: more than just good luck
Robert Amsterdam discusses the similarities between Russia and Brazil while analyzing the electoral victory of Dilma Rousseff and the challenges for her new government.
Russia: Bloggers Discuss Attack on Journalist Oleg Kashin
The brutal attack on Oleg Kashin, a prominent Russian blogger and journalist, became topic #1 in RuNet several hours after it had occurred. Kashin is still in a medically induced coma; his legs, jaws and fingers are broken, one of the fingers on his hand has been amputated. The main questions that the bloggers are asking now are, "Who did this?" and "Will the attackers and their patrons be punished?" While there are at least three possible answers to the first question, there's no answer for the second one.
Russia: Demanding Adequate Investigation of Attack on Kashin
A dozen people or so have gathered in front of the Moscow Criminal Police building (Petrovka, 38), demanding an adequate investigation of last night's attack on journalist Oleg Kashin, who is now in a medically induced coma. Some photos and Twitter reports (RUS; hashtag #KSHN) – by @plushev, @berillii, @adagamov,...
Russia: Journalist Oleg Kashin Severely Beaten in Moscow
Journalist Oleg Kashin (LJ user kashin/@KSHN) was severely beaten in Moscow Friday night and is now in intensive care. LJ users p0grebizhskaya and navalny host some of the initial Russophone discussions on the attack; Twitter reactions (RUS) are here. One of Kashin's recent texts for the Russian daily Kommersant dealt...
South Korea: Putin's Son-in-law Fiasco Caused By Media Frenzy
Overnight, Mr. Yoon became famous in South Korea because of media coverage introducing him as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's future son-in-law. Days later, Yoon resigned from his job and said he was no longer able to speak with Katya Putin. Yoon lost both his love and his job within less than a week.
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