Global Dispatches

There are some important moments in a country’s history when a nation is either helped or destroyed—or both.

As the eurozone crisis continues to burn hot, not everyone in Poland is as optimistic as outgoing European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek.

After two days of rousing rhetoric by politicians, including heads of state, and world-renowned experts on development at the European Development Days 2011 in Warsaw last week, it is a speech by Nobel Peace laureate professor Shirin Ebadi that keeps reverberating in my mind. Ebadi, a laywer, former judge, and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran won the honor in 2003.

Japan—Suspicion and Helping Hands After the Quake

The apartment building being erected next to mine, here in Warsaw, is being built almost entirely by Chinese construction workers. It’s the second one to stand on a run-down property picked up by a Chinese investment holding.

If words are anything to go by, love was in the air of the diplomatic world of international relations.

Thailand remains profoundly divided by last year’s events and many believe the upcoming elections will only worsen political tensions.

WARSAW, Poland—As many of the world’s economies are buttressing themselves with signs of solid recovery from the global financial meltdown of ‘09, analysts are taking stock of the damage and business journals are compiling who’s-who lists of star survivors and sore losers.

Good things come in three’s they say, and leaping into the third day of the month of May in Poland lands you in the middle of Constitution Day celebrations and its sea of red and white flags.

“Songkran” means “passage” or “move into” and it refers to the position of the sun within the solar system.

Johan Cruijff is regarded as one the greatest soccer players in history.

Since I like happy endings I’m going to reverse the chronology for this one.

ATHENS, Greece—For 400 years starting in 1453, the land of Greece was dominated by Turkey.

After being in a coma for four years, Thai pop star Apichit “Big” Kittikorncharoen finally succumbed to the fungal brain infection which he contracted following crashing his car into a polluted Bangkok canal.

The film is based on real-life events surrounding the emergence of the Solidarity labor union movement.

Salaries in the public sector have been drastically cut while taxes have increased.

BIRMINGHAM, England—Tea is more than just a drink. It is more than a tonic. It is more than a comforting and addictive ritual.

I bet that very few people here in the Netherlands have managed to escape the latest “Farmer Wants a Wife” craze that is hovering over our lowlands.

The handling of the Smolensk air crash investigation sparks a hyper-politicized crescendo of partisan battle cries.

We Brits are a deferential lot; to the point of silliness at times.

There are some important moments in a country’s history when a nation is either helped or destroyed—or both.

As the eurozone crisis continues to burn hot, not everyone in Poland is as optimistic as outgoing European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek.

After two days of rousing rhetoric by politicians, including heads of state, and world-renowned experts on development at the European Development Days 2011 in Warsaw last week, it is a speech by Nobel Peace laureate professor Shirin Ebadi that keeps reverberating in my mind. Ebadi, a laywer, former judge, and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran won the honor in 2003.

Japan—Suspicion and Helping Hands After the Quake

The apartment building being erected next to mine, here in Warsaw, is being built almost entirely by Chinese construction workers. It’s the second one to stand on a run-down property picked up by a Chinese investment holding.

If words are anything to go by, love was in the air of the diplomatic world of international relations.

Thailand remains profoundly divided by last year’s events and many believe the upcoming elections will only worsen political tensions.

WARSAW, Poland—As many of the world’s economies are buttressing themselves with signs of solid recovery from the global financial meltdown of ‘09, analysts are taking stock of the damage and business journals are compiling who’s-who lists of star survivors and sore losers.

Good things come in three’s they say, and leaping into the third day of the month of May in Poland lands you in the middle of Constitution Day celebrations and its sea of red and white flags.

“Songkran” means “passage” or “move into” and it refers to the position of the sun within the solar system.

Johan Cruijff is regarded as one the greatest soccer players in history.

Since I like happy endings I’m going to reverse the chronology for this one.

ATHENS, Greece—For 400 years starting in 1453, the land of Greece was dominated by Turkey.

After being in a coma for four years, Thai pop star Apichit “Big” Kittikorncharoen finally succumbed to the fungal brain infection which he contracted following crashing his car into a polluted Bangkok canal.

The film is based on real-life events surrounding the emergence of the Solidarity labor union movement.

Salaries in the public sector have been drastically cut while taxes have increased.

BIRMINGHAM, England—Tea is more than just a drink. It is more than a tonic. It is more than a comforting and addictive ritual.

I bet that very few people here in the Netherlands have managed to escape the latest “Farmer Wants a Wife” craze that is hovering over our lowlands.

The handling of the Smolensk air crash investigation sparks a hyper-politicized crescendo of partisan battle cries.

We Brits are a deferential lot; to the point of silliness at times.