Minsk hosts the Ice Hockey World Championship this month. A Belarusian dissident who served time in twelve prisons shows a side of his country that sports fans might not get to see.
Members of BORN, a Russian ultranationalist group, will soon face trial for murder. They have been linked with Centre E and the presidential administration in Moscow; and with ‘Svoboda’ and ‘Pravy Sektor’ in Kyiv.
The last two decades have seen a growing global appetite for peace but unless concerted, informed action is taken the next two could bring darker times
Ukrainians may have had high expectations, but the unpleasant truth is that the EU has offered them more than it can deliver.
Extremists have hijacked the Anti-Maidan protests in South-Eastern Ukraine. and their extremism and ultranationalism is fomenting violence and hatred.
The issue of language and politics has long been a problem in Ukraine. Recent developments and unrelenting Russian propaganda have made the problem centre-stage once more.
With the mass trials in Egypt of Muslim Brotherhood members in the media spotlight, behind the scenes authorities are drafting wide-ranging “counter-terrorism” legislation which could add another turn to the authoritarian screw.
Reports that more than 200 girls kidnapped in north-eastern Nigeria have been forced to marry members of the rebel group Boko Haram bring home the brutal human-rights abuse—and, increasingly, security concern—that is child marriage.
Central Asian dictators close down the space for domestic political opposition. But politics is still present, only it has moved offshore.
In Russian, Krymsk and Krym (Crimea) sound quite similar. They also share double standards – as some residents of the Kuban region have discovered. на русском языке
Three recent court cases in Chechnya suggest that torture is routinely used to persuade people to confess to trumped up charges. на русском языке
