A fierce debate has been raging in Germany and Austria for weeks how ‘lawful’ the religiously motivated circumcision of little Jewish and Muslim boys is… Does it conflict with the basic human rights of personal integrity and self-determination? Or is it a sign of closet xenophobia against religious groups? See the articles below.
London 2012: A 12-part guide to the UK in 212 words each by Jon Kelly & Husain Husaini >full text (c) BBC News Magazine, 2012
“Creator of an Art Universe”
“Franz West, an influential Austrian sculptor with a penchant for art objects that were willfully unserious, nonideological and accessible and were displayed in Central Park and on the plaza at Lincoln Center, as well as in international exhibitions and blue-chip galleries around the world, died on Wednesday in Vienna. He was 65.” >full text (c) NYTimes, 2012
This letter was allegedly written by Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler on 23 July 1939: is it authentic or fabricated? There were letters written indeed, it seems; but this one? >more Btw., a controversial movie on this topic was shot in 2011.
“Maribor, only 15 kilometres from the Austrian border and just under a half of an hour by car from Graz, was mainly known as Slovenia’s most important industrial town in the past. Today. The city with its 95,000 inhabitants is also known beyond the country’s borders for its excellent wine. Yet even in architecture Maribor has been able to shape its own identity over the past two decades.” >full text
(c) wieninternational.at 2012
On the alleged decline of the ‚Austrian’ language.
Language seems to be a hot topic in Austria this year. After a series of other incidents, the Viennese daily Die Presse alarmed the sunny nation last Sunday that the Austrian variant of German is in danger of extinction. A survey among first-year students of German at the University of Vienna carried out by linguist Peter Wiesinger has revealed that one third of the young adults use German-German expressions even in cases where there is an Austrian word, eg. Junge instead of Bub („boy“, „lad“). Continue reading
“The 8th district of Prague extending from the centre to the northern city limits has over 100,000 inhabitants. Apart from industrial estates in Bohnice and Kobylisy it has ten nature conservation areas. Slightly off the beaten tourist track and yet quite close to the city centre, the district of Karlín has undergone positive changes in the last decade. Its history and present status are examined in this article.”
(c) wieninternational.at, 2012
“Stari Grad, the Sarajevo Old Town, is the historical core of the city. It is in the eastern part of Sarajevo and includes 16 residential areas, including Alifakovac, Baščaršija, Bentbaša, Vratnik and Bistrik. Its area of 55 km² represents 37 per cent of the city and makes it the largest district.” >full text from the “Districts” series (c) wieninternational.at, 2012
“It turns out that genocide denial has a price tag – and a hefty one at that. Financial records from the Bosnian Serb entity known as Republika Srpska reveal that a Hague-based group of pseudo-experts that calls itself the “Srebrenica Historical Project” has received more than $1 million from the cash-strapped mini-state over the past five years.” >full text (c) FOREIGN POLICY, 2012
Plus, on the same page: article on General Mladic in The Hague
“Ethnic divisions continue to plague this town, where more than 8,000 people were slaughtered in July 1995.” >Full report (c) AL JAZEERA, 2012; photo (c) AFP.
delirium clemens 