Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Belarus

Belarusian Opposition Leader Loses Court Appeal

A rally in support of Kazulin in Minsk in December 2006 (Bymedia.net)

May 22, 2007 -- The Belarusian Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a jailed opposition activist.

TEXT SIZE - +

May 22, 2007

Alyaksandr Kazulin, one of two opposition figures who ran against President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in a March 2006 presidential election, was jailed for 5 1/2 years for organizing opposition marches following the vote, which was officially won by Lukashenka in a landslide.

In another case, opposition activists Pavel Sevyarynets and Mikola Statkevich were released by Belarusian authorities after serving two years in prison for organizing unauthorized anti-Lukashenka demonstrations.

(Reuters, AFP)

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

'Police Detain Stuffed Animals' In Minsk Toy Protest

Belarusian youth activists say police have "detained" some stuffed animals used in an antigovernment protest in Minsk, in an echo of similar recent protests in Russia. More

There are frequent reports in the Bulgarian and Ukrainian media about Romanian “pirates” robbing passing transport ships on the Danube. (file photo)

Reports Of 'Pirates Of The Danube' Get The Old Heave-Ho

An attack last month on a Ukrainian barge on the Romanian sector of the Danube River has caused a diplomatic tussle between Bucharest and Kyiv, sparking media reports of possible acts of piracy on Europe's second-largest river. But do “Danube pirates” actually exist? More