In Minsk, Fighting Democracy with Disco MINSK — Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has used most of the instruments in the dictator’s toolbox to repress his people. He’s beaten and jailed political opponents. He’s thrown student activists out of university. He’s established a monopoly on television and radio, and continually harasses the handful of independent journalists who work here. On the evening...
Film Director Peter Weir On 'The Way Back' Peter Weir is Australia’s most acclaimed film director, with movies like “Gallipoli,” “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” “The Truman Show,” and “Dead Poets Society” to his name. His most recent release, “The Way Back” starring Ed Harris and Colin Farrell, traces the purportedly true journey of prisoners who escaped from the Siberian gulag and made it...
Tom Stoppard On Belarus’s Lukashenka: ‘He’s Made Monkeys Out Of Us’ Born in Zlin, in the former Czechoslovakia, in 1937, Tom Stoppard is one of the world’s most celebrated playwrights. The winner of an Academy Award for best original screenplay (“Shakespeare in Love”) and four Tony Awards, he is the author of such acclaimed works as “Rosencrantz...
In Serbia, Gay Activists Prepare for the Worst BELGRADE — Gay activists, planning to hold a demonstration on October 10 in the Serbian capital, are hoping that the third time’s the charm. In 2001, a hastily arranged parade ended in violence when ultranationalists disrupted the small gathering. Gay activists waited eight years before deciding that the atmosphere might be safe enough to try...
Showdown in Osh A political and potentially even violent showdown may be in the works as Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva arrives on July 29 in Osh, the southern city wracked by ethnic riots in early June that left over 300 people dead and some 400,000 displaced. Almost two months later, the origins of the violence remain a mystery....
The Mountain Roza Otunbaeva Has to Climb BISHKEK — Roza Otunbaeva may be the head of Kyrgyzstan’s interim government, but she’s the country’s chief mourner as well. The 59-year-old former diplomat — known to everyone here as “Roza” — has emerged this week as the calm, motherly face to a chaotic domestic political situation. On April 7, violent protests initially sparked by...