Blog de Connard reports that the Ukrainian parliament has, after some arm-twisting, passed legislation designed to ease Ukraine's entry into the WTO.

Three malls in Budapest were evacuated after copycat bomb threats were called in, reports Pesticide.

The Daily Czech notes that Mikulas Dzurinda, the Slovak Prime Minister barely survived a no-confidence vote earlier this week; apparently, 22 MPs didn't bother to show up for the vote.

Blogrel points us to a blog written by American teen-aged missionaries in Armenia; for many of these youths, it's the first time they've ever been to a foreign country.

Afghan Warrior has two stories of note: first, he reports that three Afghani journalists were arrested in Kunar province and apparently abused while in custody; the specific charges against the journalists is unclear. On a more optimistic note, twenty Taliban commanders handed over their weapons and signed pledges to support the Afghan government last week in western Afghanistan; they're only the latest former Taliban military troops to pledge allegiance to the government under an amnesty program.