Think Fidel Castro is going soft in his old age? A recently published report from Reporters Without Borders, “Going Online in Cuba: Internet Under Surveillance,” suggests you should think again. In fact, if authors Claire Voeux and Julien Pain with the French journalism organization are correct in their assessment, even the information age hasn’t changed much about daily life in this Caribbean nation of 11 million people. “With less than 2 percent of the population online, Cuba is one of the world’s most backward countries as regards Internet usage,” reads an excerpt. “The worst off by far in Latin America [...]
PERUGIA, Italy — Naples, Italy’s third largest city, is experiencing a wave of killings that has left 12 dead in 10 days. The killings are the result of a feud between clans belonging to the Camorra, the loose criminal system operating in the region of Naples. Interceptions collected throughout the year by the Carabinieri — the Italian military police — in the Neapolitan quarter of La Sanita’ were published last week by Il Mattino, Naples’ most widely read newspaper. After the killing of a clansman, an unidentified man was quoted as saying: “Now I will repay you with the same [...]
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina — Apparently, this is a year for close referendums in the Balkans. Earlier this year, Montenegrins voted for independence from Serbia with a 0.5 percent margin of victory. The “yes” vote needed to be 55 percent for the tiny republic to become an independent state. The “yes” campaign carried the day with 55.5 percent. On the weekend of Oct. 28-29, the citizens of Serbia voted in a referendum to approve Serbia’s first non-communist constitution in 60 years. It was another close one. For the constitution to be approved, at least 3.3 million people needed to vote [...]
