Stories from 5 June 2006
Belarus: Vitryssland or Not
Tobias Ljungvall writes about the difficulties one faces when not translating ‘Belarus’ into Swedish.
Hungary: Budapest's Tough Streets
Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about the tough streets of Budapest: “When I first moved to Budapest, I was convinced, within a couple of weeks, that the whole city had declared war against me.”
Poland: Politics and Protest
The beatroot writes about the recent Law and Justice Party convention: “…a victory rally. Not much else, really.” He also writes about the upcoming “summer of protest”: “The Tolerance Parade, and the counter demonstration by Polish far-rights groups, have received official permission from Warsaw’s local authorities to go ahead on...
Poland: History and the Present
The beatroot writes about an unfriendlyy Auschwitz encounter between Lebanese and Israeli tourists; a 1980 opinion poll taken secretly in Poland; and the belated investigations of the alleged Communist spy priests.
Romania: The Annual Days of Brasov
Romerican writes about and posts pictures of the “annual weekend of city pride”: the Days of Brasov.
Poland: Poet Juliusz Slowacki
Our Man in Gdansk writes about a Polish poet Juliusz Slowacki and his work called Anhelli.
Soviet History: Stalin's Labor Army
J. Otto Pohl writes about a special category of Stalin's victims: “During World War II, the Stalin regime mobilized nearly 400,000 Soviet citizens belonging to suspect nationalities into forced labor detachments. The majority of these men and women, 220,000 in total, worked in corrective labor camps under conditions almost identical...
Palestine: Army's Wishes Come First
It really irritates me how the actions of the Israeli army are always ignored by authorities. If they kill, and they claim it’s by accident, then it’s by accident for sure, no one doubts that. If they raid and bomb and kill hundreds of innocent people, it’s just victims of...
Qatar: The Battle for Al-Jazeera Int'l
The first rule of journalism is that you don't miss deadlines. So far, al-Jazeera has missed at least three for the launch of its international channel, suggesting that all is not well with the Arab network's first attempt to break into the English market. Officially, al-Jazeera International (AJI) is due...
Morocco: Please Respect Local Culture
Behind the scenes at the Fes Festival there are several little issues that need clearing up. One is the dress code acceptable in Morocco. For a start the Moroccan people are far to polite to say anything … but plunging necklines and short skirts are as welcome as motorbikes in...
Egypt: Alaa got a 3rd 15 days
Egyptian State Security renewed Alaa’s detention for another 15 days today (he already spent 30 days in prison) . His wife Manal visited him today and reports that he took the news stoically and is trying to remain strong. Renewing them another 15 days could go on forever.
Iraq: Ishaqi Crime
Because of the quantity of articles and opinions that appeared in the media about Haditha crime, one thing you need to know… many missed about Ishaqi crime, LadyBird said.
Israel: 666!
On Tuesday, many people around the world will wake up to a calendar number date that has been one of dread and apocalyptic connotation since it first appeared in the beginning centuries of the Common Era, EB said.
Panama: Chef Melissa in La Prensa
Chef Melissa de Leon appeared in the pages of the Ellas Magazine from the newspaper La Prensa in Panama, in which the newspaper reviews her talent and experience in the kitchen as well as two of her recipes.
A Monopoly-like Game to Carve out Africa
Mocking Africa, a French Monopoly-like game, Kangni Alem repeats the game's description [“Your goal is to explore, to conquer and to develop [the] new colonies. You will be able to betray alliances to exploit the lands of your adversaries, the goal being to own the most land at the end...
Blacks in France: Kofi Yamgnane Contending to be Socialist Party Candidate for Legislative Elections
Kofi Yamgnane, a French politician of Togolese descent and the Vice President of the General Counsel of Finistère [a region in northwestern France] in charge of water management, announces (Fr) that he is presenting his candidacy to the Socialist Party to represent them in the 2007 legislative elections. The Socialists...
Kazakhstan: Perceptions of Foreigners
The latest Kazakhstan Stories podcast covers Kazakh perceptions of foreigners.
Philippines: Doctors from India
Mongster's nest has a post that talk about Philippines planning to hire doctors from India to help offset the shortage of doctors in the country.
Singapore: Kampong Weddings
Singapore's heritage blogger Lam Chun See remembers weddings in the Kampong (village) days.
Kyrgyzstan: Balbals
The Golden Road to Samarqand writes about balbals, stone grave markers found on graves across Central Asia.
Armenia: Protest Against Racist Attacks
Onnik Krikorian reports on a protest in front of the Russian embassy in Yerevan against racist attacks in Russia.
