BRUSSELS/WARSAW — After centuries as Europe’s stomping ground and years as its prickly gadfly, Poland is now poised to lead the continent. Poland, a member since 2004, takes over the European Union’s six-month rotating presidency amid high hopes. “Europe’s foundations are threatened” and strong leadership is needed, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said recently, in [...]
Tag: Germany
June 30, 2011
June 30, 2011
Irate WWII vet moves into refurbished house instead of new home
A Russian World War II veteran who made headlines by mailing his war medals to the prime minister demanding a new house, on Thursday agreed to move into his old house after it was completely refurbished. The authorities in the central Russian Voronezh region said they were unable to provide 87-year-old veteran Vasily Zasorin with [...]
June 29, 2011
Graft and Unrest Put Kyrgyz Gold Rush on Ice
The Kumtor mine. With 100 sizable gold fields mapped but never tapped, Kyrgyzstan is ripe for a mining boom. 1 of 2 BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The bus loaded with supporters of a planned $100 million mine had just left its remote Kyrgyz village when a mob on horseback blocked the road. What happened next was a warning to foreign mining companies who [...]
June 29, 2011
Vegetable Ban Is Lifted For Holland, Belgium
Onishchenko The country is ending a blanket ban on vegetable imports from the European Union put in place over fears of E. coli infection, starting with the Netherlands and Belgium, the nation’s top consumer rights watchdog said Tuesday. Shipments were allowed to resume Tuesday, the agency said, following a 26-day ban intended to prevent an E. coli outbreak centered in Germany from spreading east. Germany reported one more death in the outbreak, [...]
June 29, 2011
Ex-Spymaster Convicted Of Betraying Chapman
Ex-Spymaster Convicted Of Betraying Chapman ‘Mary, try to take it calmly. I’m leaving … forever,’ Poteyev wrote. By Alexander Bratersky The St. Petersburg Times Published: June 29, 2011 (Issue # 1663) MOSCOW — A senior intelligence official was sentenced in absentia Monday to 25 years in prison for betraying Anna Chapman and the nine other sleeper agents in the United States who [...]
June 29, 2011
June 29, 2011
Kremlin Envoy Calls for End to Syria Violence
Mikhail Margelov, left, welcoming a Syrian opposition delegation headed by Radwan Ziadeh, second left. A Kremlin envoy told Syrian opposition members on Monday that “leaders come and go,” an apparent signal to President Bashar Assad that he cannot count on Russia’s unconditional support as he struggles to contain more than three months of protests demanding [...]
June 29, 2011
Who Really Won World War II?
Who Really Won World War II? By Alexei Bayer Published: June 29, 2011 (Issue # 1663) Russians react nervously to any narrative about World War II that differs from their own. When the United States, Britain or France pay tribute to their countrymen who fought and defeated Adolf Hitler, it is seen in Moscow as [...]
June 29, 2011
Stereoleto part II
Stereoleto part II The second night of this year’s Stereoleto will be held this weekend. By Sergey Chernov The St. Petersburg Times Published: June 29, 2011 (Issue # 1663) FOR SPT The Austrian modernist pop group Architecture in Helsinki will perform at Stereoleto this weekend. Stereoleto, arguably St. Petersburg’s finest outdoor summer event which marks [...]
June 28, 2011
Maria Sharapova reaches Wimbledon semifinals
Russia’s Maria Sharapova defeated Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the Wimbledon semifinals on Tuesday. Former Wimbledon champion Sharapova will meet Germany’s Sabine Lisicki in Thursday’s last four.
June 28, 2011
Hitherto we shall be the Kingdom of Sakartvelo!
This would be something I most likely would have wanted to hear as it would be more than logical. But, alas, it’s not to happen! One of Russia’s southern neighbors wants to “rename” itself so that the name of the country sounds the same in all languages: Georgia… Georgia in English is obviously Georgia; however, [...]
June 28, 2011
Ex-Spymaster Convicted of Betraying Anna Chapman
A senior intelligence official was sentenced in absentia Monday to 25 years in prison for betraying Anna Chapman and the nine other sleeper agents in the United States who flew to Moscow in a spy swap last summer. The Moscow District Military Court said Colonel Alexander Poteyev, who oversaw the sleeper agents as deputy head of the “S” department of the Foreign Intelligence Service, fled Russia shortly [...]
June 28, 2011
German doctors confirm Egypt’s ex-leader Mubarak has cancer
A team of German has inspected former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and confirmed that he has cancer, Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday. The newspaper says that basing on blood test results and other tests doctors diagnosed that Mubarak, 82, has an early stage cancer, which “progresses very slowly.” Last week a lawyer for Mubarak’s [...]
June 27, 2011
Vkontakte Said to Be in Talks on 2012 U.S. IPO
Vkontakte, the largest Russian social networking web site, is in early discussions with investment banks about a potential initial public offering, said people with knowledge of the talks. The company has discussed selling shares in New York as early as next year, said the people, declining to be identified as the matter is private. No final decision has been made on whether to press ahead [...]