30 January 2009

Stories from 30 January 2009

Ethiopia: What a Difference Water Makes

At the end of last year, five families decided that visiting Ethiopia with their daughters would be the best way for them to see what their donations to provide fresh, clean and safe water sources were doing to change the lives of families and complete villages. Through their blog and videos, they have been able to share the importance of charity:water in making this possible, and hopefully raise more donations and engage more people to help.

30 January 2009

Japan: Blurry Lines Between Buzz and Truth – McDonald's Quarter Pounder Debut

Cultivating imported products into megahits is a big part of creating consumer trends in Japan, and food is no exception to the rule. Last year, it was the American donut shop, Krispy Kreme. The year before that, it was the American ice cream shop, Cold Stone Creamery. Both are Western foods that are familiar to the Japanese, with a unique twist. Both gained fame for long lines in front of their stores. And both were carefully cultivated hits.

30 January 2009

Russia: Medvedev on Markelov's Murder

RFE/RL's The Power Vertical, Robert Amsterdam's Blog, and Sean's Russia Blog comment on Dmitry Medvedev's remarks about the murders of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova in Moscow last week.

30 January 2009

Ukraine: KGB Archive

Sean's Russia Blog writes this about Ukraine's plans “the entire KGB archive dating 1917-1991″: “These materials will certainly be employed in the further crafting of Ukraine’s ‘imagined community’ of victimization...

30 January 2009

Moldova: A “Stable” Economy

Moldova's economy has been declared “well-protected […] from the slowdown” by London-based magazine The Banker. Eternal Remont comments: “This one gets filed under, ‘I've been down so long it looks...

30 January 2009

Poland: Maanam

the POLSKI blog writes about Maanam, a Polish band that, in the early 1980s, was “the epitome of cool, largely thanks to their unique sound and the distinctive voice and...

30 January 2009

Latvia: Snap Election?

All About Latvia thinks the country is “heading for snap elections” and this may be a good thing: “While the IMF sees an election as a liability because it ushers...

30 January 2009