December 2004
December 10, 2004
Ukraine president, assembly deadlocked over poll
Many of you are aware of what is going on in Ukraine now. The results of the latest presidential elections were found fraudulent and it took the
decision of the Supreme Court to appoint the re-run on December 26th. Meanwhile streets in various cities of the country are full of people supporting the opposition. For an outsider it does seem an expression of democracy, freedom of speech, and fight for one’s own rights. However, under the surface, everything appears to be not so transparent. According to one saying “Money is the root of all evil”. Another saying goes as “Money makes the world go round”. Both are true. Nowadays when the politics is a matter of money this truth is getting bitterer. Money in politics can do magic: it buys friends, allies and support. Read more about the political crisis in Ukraine:
News Analysis: Ukraine resentments sank EU's mediation
It seems that whenever a conflict emerges in one of the countries, other countries rush to rescue offering its help and advice. Last week the
European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, came to Ukraine to mediate in the ongoing crisis. Such attempts were also made by the Polish
president Alexander Kwasniewski and other European leaders. Why the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder did not hurry to pay a visit to Ukraine? May be it is more expedient to let the country choose its fate without interference?
Storied Wine Collection Goes to Auction
In one of the previous issues you could find out about Ukraine's most famous winery Massandra which produced wine of the best quality for
Russian czars, Nikolas II in particular. Nowadays Massandra has won international glory and some of its wines have been auctioned in London since 1990. Read about recent sales of the Crimean wine in Christie's and Sotheby's.
Powell's last mission in Europe turned into failure
Colin Powell, the US-state secretary, came back from a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels empty-handed. He asked for more support in Iraq, but although certain members of the alliance,
including Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland promised to send more troops to training facilities, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, and Spain claimed not being able to support the troops. This provoked an angry outburst from Powell at the press conference.
Berlin hosts the Athletics Championships 2009
With Leipzig and Dresden failing to win the Summer Olympics in 2012, there is some comfort that Berlin got one of the most important sports events. Getting 24 out of 26 votes, it is about to host the Athletics World Championship in 2009.
Hamburg Sea Devils join the NFL Europe
Now its official - NFL Europe should change to NFL Germany. Now that the Hamburg Sea Devils replace the defunct Scottish Claymores in April, the only non-German Football-Team in the League are the Amsterdam Admirals. They join the Cologne Centurions, Rhein Fire, Frankfurt Galaxy and Berlin Thunder in the six-Team league that tries to bring the American National Sport in to Europe.
CHIRAC’S ATTEMPTED ASSASSIN STANDS TRIAL
Two years ago, during the Bastille Day parade, a 27 year-old student tried to assassinate Jacques Chirac. He confessed that he wanted to die
in the attempt and enter History. Among the crowd, he fired a single-shot at Chirac (and obviously missed him) before being overpowered by
bystanders. Maxime Brunerie now faces a possible life term imprisonment. His defense will be based on possible psychiatric problems.
ABORTION IN FRANCE
At a time when abortion is put into question in several American states, let’s take a look at how France deals with it. It’s been thirty years since abortion was legalized. Despite the fact that 220,000 women go through this every year, the process is still similar to an “obstacle race”. Getting an appointment can take a long time because more and more clinics are closing their abortion units (considered as not profitable).
THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS' LETTER TO AMERICA
In a letter published in The Wall Street Journal on November 8th, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier has called on all Americans to quit
bashing the French and start working on improving transatlantic relations instead. He evokes historic and economic ties between the two nations
dating back to the US war for independence. This letter came a week after the candidate clearly favored by the French lost his bid for the White
House, and two years after French opposition to the war on Iraq soured relations between the two historic allies.
Abuse of recruits
The abuse and mishandling of recruits in the German Bundeswehr now brings back an always present topic in the headlines. The draft. It has been argued forwards and backwards but the Federal Defense Minister Peter Struck always rejected demands to get rid of the conscription and transform the Bundeswehr in a solely professional
army.
Do Schalke’s investments pay back?
Now, I finally provide you some more news from the German Bundesliga: Seems like the millions Schalke invested before the season pay back now. After a bad start in the season and hiring the new coach Rangnick the went to the top of the league and are now second. But Swabian team VFB Stuttgart also did well, won 5:2 and is only three points behind...
Germany’s upper nobility
To bring another yellow press topic in I show you an article about the behavior of the descendant of Wilhelm II., the guy who began World War I. I am excited what he is going to do next after urinating at the Turkish pavilion at the Expo in Hannover, beating up journalist and, now, giving the nazi-salute. Isn’t he a paragon?
Strong Euro good for exchange students bad for Europe`s economy
What means for Europe's economy that exports will most likely decline in the upcoming months, becomes for us exchange students more and more like the permission to print money: the rise of the Euro against the Dollar in the last month. Trading now at an exchange rate of far more than 1,30
Dollar for 1 Euro the only possibility is to react by buying presents for everyone at home, including oneself.
Germans leading in not wanting children
For a long time it was taken for granted, that the typical German family would consist of father, mother and two children. The problem for a long
time was that for many couples their wish for children just did never
come true. As this article points out, this wish does not even longer exist. Germans seem to be the leading people in wanting to have no
children any more in Europe.
A taste of Swabia and Stuttgart
Although I study in Hamburg, my home is in the south of Germany and the most important and loveliest city in the South is clearly Stuttgart,
which is affimed by this article. So, everyone who does not want to come to Stuttgart enjoy this article, get a taste of Swabia and change your mind.
German leader starts Asian tour
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder began a three-day visit to China Monday seeking further trade and to have the country revalue its currency. German companies delivered $24.4 billion in goods and services to China in 2003, while China exported $33.6 billion worth of electronics, clothing and machinery to Germany.
Claim against Rumsfeld filed
US constitutional rights lawyers say they have filed a criminal complaint against the US Defence Secretary. Donald Rumsfeld and others are named in the complaint, lodged in Germany, over the abuses in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
Fighting the preachers of hate
Germany is afraid of a clash of cultures within its own borders. How can it be avoided? A new tough stance against radical Islamists is helping. But how far can a democracy push in its fight against radical beliefs?
One of the most popular of Royal Family dies at 93
Prince Bernard, the oldest member of the Dutch Royal Family died last week. He was the husband of late Queen Juliana who died last March of Alzheimer. Bernard died of several forms of cancer and hadn’t been in public for a while.
He was very controversial in several ways. First of all, he was German, which already influenced the way people saw him. He was someone who made clear what he thought of things, be it state visits (boring and a waste of time) or two employees of a supermarket being fined for catching a thief (he paid their fine). More seriously, he was involved in the so-called Lockheed affaire (a fraud scandal in the 70s) and there were a lot of reports of him being unfaithful to his wife, and even having children from those affairs.
Despite all that the Prince was one of the most popular members of the family, especially with World War II veterans. Especially older people remember him as someone who supported the resistance during the war. He will be buried next to his wife on December 11.
Dutch arrest key supplier of chemicals to Saddam Hussein
The Dutch authorities arrested a man on Monday who is suspected of having been on of the main suppliers of the raw materials needed to produce chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial government in Iraq. Frans van Anraat is now likely to face trial for complicity in genocide.
The annual Zwarte Piet debate
Every year on the fifth of December people in Holland celebrate a sort of holiday, called Sinterklaas. This was the original Santa Clause (notice the similar names) but with some differences. It’s a really fun phenomenon. After he arrives in mid-November, children start putting their shoes near the fireplace for the Sint to put little presents in it overnight (compare to stockings). On the evening itself, children get a lot of presents. Grownups normally do something called ‘surprise’, which is like Secret Santa, but instead of only buying a gift for someone, you also have to write a poem about the person and make a ‘surprise’ which is a luxurious gift-wrapping, having to do with that person as well. For example: my mom likes garden gnomes, so I made het a huge garden gnome once with the present hid inside.
Anyway, besides the date, traditions and looks of Sinterklaas, his helpers are different too: they aren’t elves, but guys called Black Peters. Every year there is a big debate whether or not this is just a nice tradition or actually a form of racism. Decide for yourself…
France Proclaims Bulgaria Competitor in Wine-making
According to the latest issue of French "Viti-Net", specialized in the field of viticulture and winery, Bulgaria is a pending competitor in the field of wine-making with the country's EU accession slated for 2007. This is an important acknowledgement for our wine industry which has struggled in the last couple of years, due to the decrease in grape production and the competition of imported wines.
Powell: We Feel Proud to Have You for Allies
The US Secretary of State Colin Powell appraised Bulgaria▓s involvement in the ⌠liberation■ of Iraq. He was visiting Sofia for the annual meeting of the OSCE. He also promised the support of the United States for the liberation of the five Bulgarian nurses who are still kept as prisoners in Libya. Bulgaria▓s Foreign Minister Solomon Passy presented Mr. Powell with a golden replica of the sword of Khan Kubrat, the first Bulgarian Khan in the 6th c. AD.
U.S. slams Bulgaria as toothless against crime
The US Ambassador to Bulgaria James Pardew declared that the Eastern European country was powerless against the thriving gangsterism. He also commented on the effectiveness with which the country is managing to seize large loads of illegal drugs and counterfeit money, but at the same time unable to put any of the crime leaders involved in these crimes in jail. Corruption was also described as a huge problem for Bulgaria by the top US diplomat in the country.
