Un entraîneur peu scrupuleux, un slovaque et ancien boxeur talentueux, parcourent villes après villes l’Europe de l’Ouest (France comprise). Le coach emmène Jozef et d’autres boxeurs en “tournées” contre quelques euros de dédommagement. Sous de fausses identités, de fausses nationalités, de faux palmarès, ils combattent, dans le but unique de perdre : afin de faire monter [...]

El año 2011 tampoco se vislumbra con claros signos de recuperación económica en España. La previsión de crecimiento del PIB para 2010 se ha elevado en dos décimas porcentuales, hasta el -0,2%, mientras que la previsión para 2011 se ha revisado al alza en cuatro décimas porcentuales hasta el 0,8%. Sin embargo, existen importantes riesgos que pueden condicionar el cumplimiento de [...]

ROLL ON 2011! We’ve got big plans for Blogactiv in the New Year, and we’re looking forward to growing our community and expanding the EU debate online. In the meantime, the front page is going on holiday until January 3rd – when we’ll welcome in the new year. Posts will continue on individual blogs (and [...]

Anlaesslich des vom ungarischen Parlament beschlossenen Mediengesetzes: Die Freiheit der Medien gehoert zu den unveraeusserlichen Grundrechten in der Europaeischen Union. Keine noch so grosse parlamentarische Mehrheit darf diese beschneiden. Das vom ungarischen Parlament beschlossene und vom Ministerpraesidenten Viktor Orban initiierte Mediengesetz ist ein inakzeptables Instrument der staatlichen Pressezensur. Die Kontroll- und Eingriffsrechte der neuen Medienbehoerde [...]

Iran with a population of only 60 million ranks tenth in the world among C02 emitter countries. Its per capita C02 emissions amount to almost 8 tons, equal to Italy, and extremely high for a country with a relatively low level of economic development. Two major reasons account for this situation. First Iran is the [...]

As reported on Bloggingportal.eu: “On January 1st, Hungary will take over the Presidency of the EU Council. On the same day, a controversial new law will come into force that even the OSCE’s media freedom representative has openly criticised – arguing in a recent report that “regulating online media … exerts a chilling, self-censoring effect [...]

En Hongrie, Orban resserre le contrôle des médiasUne proche du premier ministre, Viktor Orban, a été nommée à la tête de l’Autorité nationale des médias et des communications pour neuf ans.De lourdes sanctions financières pourront être imposées au nom de «l’objectivité politique».  À dix jours de l’inauguration de la présidence hongroise de l’Union européenne, Budapest [...]

Although politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are trying to reassure their respective electorates that the worst of the latest sovereign debt crisis is behind us, 2011 appears to shape up as the year when the municipal bonds bubble bursts. In the US, municipal long-term debt has jumped from 1.5 trillion to 2.8 trillion [...]

El Gobierno de José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero ha sido incapaz de aprobar la llamada Ley Sinde – así nominada por su titular, la ministra de Cultura, la cineasta Ángeles González Sinde – en el Congreso de los Diputados al no lograr ningún apoyo del resto de los grupos parlamentarios salvo el socialista. El debate político [...]

Honestly nothing new was revealed at today’s conference in Budapest, where European Council (EC) president Mr. Herman van Rompuy addressed the audience, in the company of Mr. János Martonyi (Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Mr. József Pálinkás (president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences). Nevertheless, it was worth seeing. See some of the reasons. [...]

December 21st 2010. Mr Djukanovic, who led Montenegro 20 years (served 5 times as prime minister and once as President), has long signalled his plans to quit. He announced today, on a press conference that he quits position of Prime Minister, but he will keep his role in the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists. Now that Montenegro earned candidate country status for [...]

See amid the winter snow!  For the second year running Eurostar services from London to Paris and Brussels have been hit by the weather. This time last year freezing snow in the drive motors stopped the trains for three days; this year thousands of frozen passengers have been queuing at the Gare du Nord and [...]

Auch 2011 können sich Autofahrer laut ADAC wieder auf Autobahneröffnungen freuen. Das europäische Fernstraßennetz wächst in den kommenden Monaten um folgende Abschnitte: Österreich Ab Juni stehen Autofahrern auf der Tauernautobahn A 10 erstmals beide Röhren des 6,5 Kilometer langen Tauerntunnels zur Verfügung. Die Generalsanierung der alten Röhre ist dann abgeschlossen. Da [...]

After hearing daily about the problems experienced by the EU’s common currency, austerity measures and the like, one might be forgiven for being inclined to believe that the crisis and its ugly aftermath are the most important issues confronting us all. In fact, the most disquieting development, as suggested by a recent poll published by [...]

Congress created America’s current central bank the Federal Reserve System in 1913. As with all central banks its role ultimately is determined by the political process. [...]