German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will brief French and Polish officials on a joint proposal for Russian-European “cooperation on security,” according to a statement from Westerwelle’s spokesman on Monday. The proposal emerged out of talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev earlier in June and is based on a draft Russia [...]
Germany wants Russia to withdraw its forces from Transdnestr, a breakaway territory located between the Dniester River in eastern Moldova and Ukraine, in exchange for promoting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s May 2008 initiative on drafting a European security pact, the paper’s sources say. The EU would subsequently be willing to discuss this new continental security [...]
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is going to reward people helping the secret services to uncover and prevent terrorist attacks and catch those masterminding them. In the past the FSB has occasionally paid civilians for their services: in March 2005 they handed over $10 million for help in the killing of Chechen rebel leader [...]
As the commentor Rustigjongens points out, this is the fifth Guardian article questioning the Flemish for supporting autonomy. No mention has been made to date of the Walloon party whose position is analogous. Simon Jenkins defines the success of Flemish nationalists in Belgian elections as a bold step forward. It is anything but New Flemish [...]
Perturbed Hindus have asked for the immediate withdrawal of skateboards and pet/dog clothing carrying images of Hindu deities sold by a Redwood City (California, USA) based firm Zazzle, calling it inappropriate. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Hindu deities were meant to be worshipped in temples or home [...]
In Poland’s presidential elections the government’s candidate Bronisław Komorowski attained 41 percent of the vote, falling short of an absolute majority. At 36 percent his Eurocritical challenger Jarosław Kaczyński still has a chance in the run-off vote on July 4, writes the press, and if elected could pose a threat to the liberal-conservative government. Not [...]
Not only men are interested in football, Ene Poll explains in the daily Postimees and counters the all too prevalent prejudices: “For example a presenter invites a woman to the TV studio and begins with the question: ‘How is it that this male domain … .’ Or some smart aleck tries to describe the unhappy [...]
At the urging of US President Barack Obama the oil company BP has expressed its willingness to pay at least 20 billion US dollars into a fund for victims of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The European press writes that Obama is trying land a coup with the move, as his presidency [...]
Following the Slovakian parliamentary elections last weekend the liberal-conservative parties have chosen Iveta Radičová to be the country’s first female head of government. The 53-year-old sociology professor is not in an enviable position, writes the leftist daily Pravda: “The future prime minister, who by nature is closer to liberal pioneer Ralf Dahrendorf than the former [...]
Vogue India editor, who made Hindus upset by her reported remarks challenging Hindu gods, has apologized. Priya Tanna, editor of Vogue India, in a communiqué to Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, said: “The intent behind my quote was certainly not to upset anyone or hurt the sentiments or the followers of any religion. Being an Indian [...]
