October 5, 2019

On Srebrenica Massacre Road, School Won't Teach Of Tragedy

Konjevic Polje was ground zero of Europe's worst atrocity since World War II -- the killing by Bosnian Serb forces of nearly 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in July 1995, known as the Srebrenica massacre.

Nearly a quarter of a century later, the all-Bosniak village's Bosnian-Serb administered school does not teach children about the atrocities that haunt the surrounding woods and road outside its windows.

In fact, the school -- now named after the Bosnian Serb writer and politician Petar Kocic -- was used as a military barracks by Bosnian Serb forces that carried out the massacre under the command of Ratko Mladic.

Like many other schools in the area, Petar Kocic Elementary School also reportedly was used as a temporary detention center for some Srebrenica massacre victims before they were transported to nearby execution sites.

Now, with the new school year beginning on September 2, most parents in Konjevic Polje are keeping their children out of the school to protest the language and history curriculum under its Bosnian Serb administrators.

link
https://www.rferl.org/a/on-srebrenica-massacre-road-school-won-t-teach-of-tragedy/30139243.html

October 5, 2019

5 Stories from Europe You May Not Have Seen

1. US diplomat’s wife suspected of involvement in crash that killed teenager leaves UK after claiming diplomatic immunity

The wife of a US diplomat has claimed diplomatic immunity to leave the UK after she became a suspect in a police investigation into a fatal car crash.

Harry Dunn, 19, died after his motorbike collided with a car near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on 27 August.

Northamptonshire Police confirmed a 42-year-old American woman being treated as a suspect in their investigation had left the country.

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In its own statement to Sky News, the US embassy in London offered its “deepest sympathies” to Mr Dunn’s family following the accident “involving a vehicle driven by the spouse of a US diplomat assigned to the United Kingdom”.

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“Due to security and privacy considerations, we cannot confirm the identity of the individuals involved, but we can confirm the family has left the UK.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/us-diplomat-wife-car-crash-killed-teenager-harry-dunn-leaves-uk-immunity-a9144051.html


2. Russian Authorities 'Harassing' Journalists Covering Case Against Prokopyeva

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is calling on Russian authorities to “stop harassing” reporters covering the terrorism case against journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva.

Prokopyeva’s prosecution and “the intimidation and harassment of journalists reporting on her case shows how far Russian authorities will go to silence independent voices,” Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said in a statement on October 4.

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The move came after the two outlets recently published an open letter in which Prokopyeva described the charges against her as "the murder of freedom of speech."

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Prokopyeva, a prominent journalist from Pskov who is a freelance contributor for RFE/RL's Russian Service, faces up to 7 years in prison on charges of "justifying terrorism" in comments made during a 2018 Ekho Moskvy broadcast.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-authorities-harassing-journalists-covering-case-against-prokopyeva/30199810.html


3. Dutch government ditches Holland to rebrand as the Netherlands

The Dutch government has decided to stop describing itself as Holland and will instead use only its real name – the Netherlands – as part of an attempted update of its global image.

The national rebranding, which has been signed up to by business leaders, the tourist board and central government, will be rolled out later this year.

Ministers want to shift the international focus from certain aspects of national life with which the country is commonly associated, such as its recreational drug culture and the red-light district of Amsterdam.

As part of the new strategy, the Netherlands will be the official brand at the Eurovision song contest, which takes place in Rotterdam next May, and during the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/04/holland-the-netherlands-dutch-government-rebrand


4. 1 Out Of 5 Million' Serbian Protests Resume, Shine Spotlight On Plagiarism
Serbian anti-government protesters marched through the streets of the nation’s capital for the 43rd consecutive week on September 28.

The latest protests took place at the headquarters of Belgrade University amid allegations that the finance minister, Sinisa Mali, may have plagiarized his doctoral dissertation.

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Controversy regarding the doctorate began years ago when a group of experts ruled that Mali copied other people’s works but within the allowable limit.

Some professors, however, subsequently analyzed the work and found additional parts were lifted from different authors without attribution.

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The latest protests are part of a wave of demonstrations dating back to December when leftist opposition leader Borko Stefanovic was beaten by masked attackers in central Serbia before a televised political debate.

https://www.rferl.org/a/out-of-5-million-serbian-protests-resume-shine-spotlight-on-plagiarism/30189355.html

5. Portugal election: What to expect from Sunday’s vote as Socialist Party fights to stay in power

No loud populists, no surging far-right groups, a liberal and migrant-welcoming Socialist Party tipped for a victory – Portugal's general election this weekend makes the country look like Europe's odd man out.

Across the European Union, radical new parties are reshaping the political landscape while Europe's socialist parties have lost ground in recent years.

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The two mainstream parties are expected to garner the most votes in Sunday's ballot, with the centre-left Socialist Party showing an opinion poll lead of at least 7 percentage points over the centre-right Social Democratic Party.

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On Sunday, prime minister Antonio Costa’s Socialists are set to win, according to opinion polls, but without an outright majority, after four years of economic growth.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/portugal-election-socialist-social-democratic-party-antonio-costa-exit-poll-a9143301.html

October 5, 2019

Judge shoots himself in court 'after being pressured to give guilty verdicts despite lack of evidenc

A judge shot himself in the chest in a court in Thailand after he was reportedly pressured to find several defendants guilty despite the lack of evidence against them.

Khanakorn Pianchana made the apparent suicide attempt after acquitting five people of murder and firearms charges in his courtroom in the southern province of Yala on Friday.

Mr Khanakorn was rushed to hospital for surgery but his injuries were not life-threatening, the Bangkok Post reported.

A statement attributed to him that circulated online claimed his superiors had tried to force him to change the verdicts to guilty.

The verdicts could have condemned three of the men to death and sent two to prison. The evidence did not support a guilty verdict, the statement said.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/thailand-judge-shoots-self-court-guilty-verdicts-khanakorn-pianchana-yala-a9143966.html

October 5, 2019

閃光少女，中西對決 - Our Shining Days (Shining Girl)

Our Shining Days is a Chinese musical about the struggles of a minority group in Chinese orchestra. Chen Jing (played by Xu Lu, who is from Inner Mongolia) excels at yangqin (a traditional Chinese instrument similar to the santur.
Angry at the prejudice of the classical instrument students, especially Wang Wen (a boy she has a crush on) towards the traditional instrument students, she forms her own ensemble group. Four of the girls agree to join only because Chen promises them expensive action figures. The four girls are Otaku; a Japanese term meaning obsessive interests, for the girls it's anime and cosplay. They name their group 2.5 Dimension, a blending of the 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimnensional universes. They perform at comicons and anime conventions, where they develop a following.

Chen Jing is crushed and demoralized when Wang Wen publicly rejects Chen and Chinese music. Chen Jing decides to disband the ensemble. The four Otaku girls are infuriated, as they have come to love Dimension 2.5 and refuse the action figures because they are angry. Chen Jing's mother convinces her not to give up the music, as it is a part of her.

The director of the school decides to close the Chinese Orchestra. Dimension 2.5 protests and other students join the protest. Dimension 2.5 organizes a competition with the Classical musical during a visit from an inspector. The Classical Orchestra is unable to keep up. (scene below)

At the end, the Chinese Orchestra get help from the Classical Orchestra for their live concert



tbh:
I have not seen the movie, but have seen the music from the movie. The music is quite impressive.
One of the twins (our BiSH punk daughter) loves this movie. I think she's Otaku about Asian music. She wants to learn the yangqin.
Also, I think she loves the movie because the girls in the movie are "Amazing performers and great actresses." (her description) The movie appears to have strong, positive, yet somewhat quirky female characters

October 3, 2019

Kosovo: What you need to know about the country's snap elections

Elections are October 6th.

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Rampant corruption, widespread unemployment and sour relations with neighbouring Serbia are themes dominating the poll — and must be addressed if the country is to make progress toward EU membership.

The election was triggered when Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj resigned after a war crimes court in The Hague summoned him for questioning as a suspect. It concerned his role in the 1998-99 insurgency against Serb forces.

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Predominantly Albanian Kosovo declared its independence in February 2008, when Serbia rejected the declaration as illegal but Europe's major powers and the United States recognised the move.

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Both Serbia and Kosovo aspire to EU membership — Serbia as a candidate country and Kosovo as a potential candidate. The EU insists that Serbia must normalise its relations with Kosovo before joining.

In 2013, Kosovo and Serbia agreed to EU-sponsored talks, but little progress has been made since.

link

https://www.euronews.com/2019/10/03/kosovo-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-country-s-snap-elections

note:
In true trumpian fashion, as a result of breakdown in talks between Serbia and Kosovo, Kosovo placed 100% tariffs on all imports from Serbia

October 3, 2019

The New WFWA (World Feline Wrestling Association) Champion has been crowned

https://twitter.com/i/status/1164933627001671682

In an amazing take down, Muffin the Mauler has ended the reign of the Macho Cat

October 2, 2019

Discover the art of the surimi masters

Odawara is nestled between the mountains and the great Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo.

At the Suzuhiro Kamaboko Village, visitors can experience how the flagship product, Kamaboko, is made.

"Kamaboko, just like judo, is an art. It is of exceptional nobility. A way to value fish." says French Michelin-starred chef, Thierry Voisin, who lives in Japan.

Traditional kamaboko is made of fresh fish. In a few precise movements, the fillets are moved, ready for transformation.

"Working by hand allows us to check the quality of the fish one by one and adjust the cooking temperature and other parameters. The dough will be lighter, which is very important for the texture," explains Kamaboko master, Takashi Nakano.

https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/30/discover-the-art-of-the-surimi-masters-the-chopped-fish-that-s-produced-in-odawara-for-cen

There's a video at the link

October 2, 2019

132,000 descendants of expelled Jews apply for Spanish citizenship

More than 132,000 descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain in the late 15th century have applied for Spanish citizenship under a law intended to make amends for the mass exile.

The law, introduced four years ago, was designed to atone for the “historical wrong” that saw the country’s Jewish community expelled, forced to convert to Catholicism or burned at the stake.

After being extended for a year, the law lapsed on 1 October. According to the justice ministry, 132,226 people of Sephardic descent applied for Spanish citizenship before the deadline, with a huge rise in applications in the past month.

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As well as taking tests in Spanish language and culture, applicants needed to prove their Sephardic heritage, establish or prove a special connection with Spain, and then pay a designated notary to certify their documents.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/02/132000-sephardic-jews-apply-for-spanish-citizenship

October 2, 2019

5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

1. Face Off: Local Council In St. Petersburg Replaces Putin Portrait With Sakharov

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That's the situation at a St. Petersburg district council whose deputies, at their first meeting following controversial September 8 elections, voted to ban the hanging of portraits of "active politicians" in their meeting room.

The new rule apparently rules out pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin-backed city governor, Aleksandr Beglov.

"Instead of Putin, they hung a portrait of human rights activist Andrei Sakharov," the liberal Yabloko party proclaimed in a post on Twitter after the September 30 decision.

The party won a majority on the Liteiny district council in the recent elections, in which the increasingly unpopular ruling United Russia party suffered notable setbacks in many races. The decision to remove Putin's portrait was adopted unanimously, as the United Russia members boycotted the opening session.

https://www.rferl.org/a/local-council-st-petersburg-replaces-putin-portrait-with-sakharov/30195174.html


2. Turkmen President Dismisses Once-Powerful Interior Minister

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has fired Interior Minister Isgender Mulikov amid allegations of abuse of power and corruption.

Berdymukhammedov fired Mulikov, who had served since May 2009, during a cabinet meeting on October 1.

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Mulikov's driver was immediately arrested and some of the minister's business interests, which include several restaurants, cafes, and shops in Ashgabat, were confiscated.

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Mammetkhan Chakiyev, a deputy chair of the cabinet, was appointed as Mulikov's replacement.

https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmen-interior-minister-isgender-mulikov/30195163.html


3. Beloved European horse chestnut tree 'close to extinction' warns report

Europe's beloved horse chestnut tree is officially considered vulnerable to extinction, according to a new report.

The tree is among more than 400 native European tree species evaluated for their risk of extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The study found that two fifths (42%) are threatened with extinction and that among endemic trees — those that don't exist anywhere else except Europe — it is 58%.

Pests and diseases are the main threat to these European trees, with the iconic horse chestnut tree being particularly ravaged by the leaf-miner moth — an invasive species from the Balkans.

https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/27/beloved-european-horse-chestnut-tree-close-to-extinction-warns-report


4. 132,000 descendants of expelled Jews apply for Spanish citizenship

More than 132,000 descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain in the late 15th century have applied for Spanish citizenship under a law intended to make amends for the mass exile.

The law, introduced four years ago, was designed to atone for the “historical wrong” that saw the country’s Jewish community expelled, forced to convert to Catholicism or burned at the stake.

After being extended for a year, the law lapsed on 1 October. According to the justice ministry, 132,226 people of Sephardic descent applied for Spanish citizenship before the deadline, with a huge rise in applications in the past month.

snip

As well as taking tests in Spanish language and culture, applicants needed to prove their Sephardic heritage, establish or prove a special connection with Spain, and then pay a designated notary to certify their documents.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/02/132000-sephardic-jews-apply-for-spanish-citizenship


5. Staff At Russia's Main Cancer Center Quit En Masse, Citing Low Wages And Dire Conditions

Russia’s main cancer treatment center has been rocked by a wave of resignations amid complaints about low wages and deteriorating conditions at its wards, in the latest indication of what medical professionals say is a systemic crisis that is endangering the quality and availability of critical care in the country.

At least 10 doctors have resigned over the past two days from the N.N. Blokhin Cancer Research Center, which bills itself as the biggest oncology clinic in Europe, following the publication of a video address from 26 staff members of its childhood cancer institute calling for the institution to reform its management and improve conditions for employees.

In the clip, which was posted to YouTube on September 30, four doctors from the institute decry falling salaries and alleged intimidation on the part of management, and paint a picture of a health-care center that has fallen into serious disrepair.

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According to Maksim Rykov, deputy director of the childhood cancer institute and one of the doctors who features in the video, at least 12 of his staff handed in their resignations on October 1 and dozens more are set to follow. He told RFE/RL the walkout may ultimately result in a loss of more than half the entire cancer center’s workforce, which amounts to over 3,500 people.


https://www.rferl.org/a/staff-at-russia-s-main-cancer-center-quit-en-masse-citing-low-wages-and-dire-conditions/30193826.html

October 1, 2019

Naga Munchetty: BBC reverses decision to censure presenter

The BBC has reversed its decision to sanction BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty for breaking impartiality guidelines with her comments about Donald Trump, following a staff uprising against the ruling and enormous political pressure.

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Asked about Trump’s comments on BBC Breakfast, Munchetty said: “Every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism.”

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The U-turn over censuring her came after the Guardian obtained leaked internal correspondence casting doubts on public claims about the complaints process made by a senior BBC executive, as he attempted to explain why Munchetty’s co-host Dan Walker had escaped punishment, despite taking part in the same discussion.

The BBC’s editorial standards director, David Jordan, said Walker could not have been investigated because the single viewer complaint which led to the ruling did not mention the male presenter. “The simple fact is we haven’t had a complaint about Dan Walker’s role,” he said in one interview. “The complaint was about Naga Munchetty.”

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The original complaint from a member of the public was titled “Blatant political bias from both presenters” and described Walker as “very unprofessional”, with the member of the public making clear that they blamed the male presenter for leading Munchetty into making the comments.

link
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/30/naga-munchetty-bbc-reverses-decision-to-censure-presenter