Monday, May 15, 2006

THE SPIES WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD While the media are once again focused on the former East German Stasi (State Security), the story of spying by the West German BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) is getting less coverage. DeutscheWelle: "Germany's intelligence agency, the BND, illegally spied on journalists and kept tabs on their professional and private lives, according to a report by the former chief judge of the Federal Court of Justice, Gerhard Schäfer, who on Wednesday presented the findings to a parliamentary committee investigating the agency." 12:04:29 PM

THE BLESSINGS OF THE GEORGIAN REVOLUTION NPR: "In some rural parts of the Republic of Georgia, an old custom is experiencing a revival. Women are being kidnapped and held for a night by men who want to marry them, thereby making eventual nuptials a necessity, according to local traditions. Some families say they fear letting their daughters go out into public, lest they be forced into unwanted marriages. Activists are speaking out against the 'tradition', but they concede it may be hard to change attitudes." 11:53:51 AM

© Copyright 2006 Hetty Litjens.