Stories from 19 May 2008
Ukraine: Crimean Tatar Deportations; “Tercuman”
Window on Eurasia writes about the 64th anniversary of the Crimean Tatar deportations by Stalin – and about Tercuman, a newspaper launched by Ismail Gaspirali, a Crimean Tatar educator and publisher.
Ukraine: Political Ads
A guided tour through Ukraine's current political advertisement – at Ukrainiana.
Russia: Foreign Investment
Two-Zero writes about Russia's foreign investment.
Ukraine: Kyiv Graffiti
Moscow Through Brown Eyes offers samplings of Kyiv graffiti – here and here.
Croatia: Marko Perkovic Thompson
Balkan Baby writes about Marko Perkovic Thompson, “Croatia's leading rock star of present times.”
Armenia, Russia: Shavarsh Karapetyan
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about Shavarsh Karapetyan, the man who saved 20 people in the trolley bus accident in Yerevan in 1976.
Poland: Homophobia
Raf Uzar reports that the Polish president “has managed to get himself inaugurated into the infamous HRW Hall of Shame for being homophobic.”
Israel: 1000 Days Since the Gaza Strip's Evacuation
Jameel at The Muquata reflects that it has been 1,000 days since Israeli citizens and military forces left Gaza as an occupying force. “The blatant callousness of the Israeli government and of Disengagement supporters who do not spend every second of their days trying to help the solve the refugee...
Israel: “Survivor” Strikes a National Chord
Over 46% of Jewish Israeli households tuned in to watch the finale of the reality T.V. show “Survivor,” says Jameel of The Muquata. That's approximately 1.3 million people.
Egypt: A Taxi Driver's Words of Wisdom
Israeli-American blogger Daniel Lubetsky, traveling in Egypt, interviews his taxi driver on leading figures in the Middle East. “I asked him to rank people or countries, thumbs up or thumbs down. Here were his rankings on 24 questions from Bush to Ahmadinejad, from Olmert to Nasrallah, from Bin Laden to...
Poland: Religion
Polandian writes about religion in Poland.
Israel: New World Record for Biggest Hummus Plate
Weighing in at 400 kilos (880 pounds) on a plate that was 4 meters (4.35 yards) in diameter, Hummus Tzabar became the Guinness Book of World Record's official title holder for the biggest plate of hummus served at last week's Independence Day celebrations. The experts at Hummus101 report that Israelis...
Serbia: Eurovision
Belgrade 2.0 writes about the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade.
Estonia: Anna-Maria Galojan
Inno & Irja Blog describes the case of Anna-Maria Galojan, “a young estonian politician who's accused of stealing money from European Movement Estonia”: “Finnish journalist Leena Hietanen has pointed out that we, estonians don't like russians. Well, we also don't like other nationalities, like armenians. Anna-Maria is armenian and i...
Czech Republic: Cycling Trip Report
The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks describes and posts pictures from the first week of a cycling trip through the Czech Republic: “I slept in a 13th century hilltop castle, had coffee with the mayor of Moravská Třebová, was interviewed for the Svitavy daily newspaper and met a 96-year-old man who...
Serbia: Coalition Options
East Ethnia writes on the coalition-building process in Serbia: “[…] the question remains whether for DS, the price of forming a coalition with SPS might not be higher than the price of spending some time in opposition.”
Albania: A Walk in Tirana
Living in Shkoder takes a walk through Tirana's quiet backstreets.
Soviet History: Milk Stores on Flickr
Stephan of Everybody I Love You has created a Soviet Milk Stores group on Flickr (four pictures there so far).
Ukraine: “Great Ukrainians” Voting Fraud?
Okeksandr Demchenko writes about the alleged voting fraud in the “Great Ukrainians” TV show.
Iran:12 women sites got filtered in last 24 hours
Change4equality says [Fa] that 12 Iranian sites supporting women's rights such as Change4equality or Photochange got filtered by Iranian authorities today,19th of May.
Malawi: To believe or not to believe rumors of a coup plot
Following Victor Kaonga's Monday May 12th breaking news post of the unusual arrests in Malawi of high ranking former and current military and police officers, as well as opposition figures, amid government accusations of a coup plot, Malawian bloggers and netizens have been reacting to the news with shock, skepticism, bewilderment, and ambivalence.
