Published: 05 June 2013

At present, the history of Eastern European Jewry in particular is a popular field of scientific studies. Our correspondent has had an interview with an expert in this field Oleg Kozerod, Doctor of Historical Sciences, member of the European Association for Jewish Studies (Oxford).

From the sidelines, historians have always better ways to see what is happening in the today’s world. As the Ukrainian history expert, how would you assess the current situation with international relations in this country?

An experienced historian always assesses political processes against other times. Moreover, he always compares concurrent processes taking places in different countries. The present-day world is strongly diversified, and this has to be taken into account. The only unquestionable achievement by the current leaders of Ukraine, and I would like to stress the word “unquestionable”, is that one can hardly hear the voices of anti-Semites and racists. Authors and editors of anti-Semite articles are not put into prison yet, as distinct from Russia, however, at least the leaders have managed to establish a relevant silence. Remember what happed at the time of Yushchenko. Dozens of officially registered racist editions issued offensive articles on representatives of other nationalities on the daily basis; they revived the Beilis case and called for reprisal based on the nationality. A simple denial of the Holocaust was just a baby talk compared to the contents of these articles. At the same time, representatives of the Ukrainian intellectuals, professors, litterateurs…were taken to courts for trying to criticize this emergence.

And what is more... the courts decided in favour of the anti-Semites, and the elites did not want to deal with all this. I will tell you what saved Ukraine from the world scandal in the “orange” period: at the time, nobody could bring the observed situation to the world community’s knowledge. There was a couple of such cases, and the Ukrainian reporter, the author of one article published, as I remember, in the Jerusalem Post, was brutally beaten in the entrance hall, and thereafter other people no longer wanted to “raise the tide” on the issue in the West.

Yes, now it is clear why neither Ukrainian politics, nor representatives of the Jewish community preferably raise this issue in the West …

Certainly, they do not know who will come to power in the nearest 2-3 years (laughing). I have to review reports on anti-Semitism development in Ukraine and can admit there was no argument from Goebbels propaganda luggage that was missing in the Ukrainian mass media of 2000^es. I will put it baldly: in the nearest future, we may be strongly nostalgic about Yanukovych regime. Every day of his ruling may be recalled as a light period of life in terms of international relations. At the same time, nobody cherishes illusions about present democratic processes in Ukraine, everyone knows about the list of “Die Zeit” stating a circle of dictators who may be overthrown in 2013 and later on.

However, is it possible that the United Opposition stands for the international piece, and only some representatives of radical organizations “muddy the waters”?

For a country pretending to be a civilized state, it makes no difference who “muddies the waters”, as you say. If these occurrences take place, and people have a relevant courage and this life philosophy, nevertheless, nobody prevents the Opposition from making one page statement where it distances from these points of view. What do we have today? Svoboda leaders have been included in the list of leading anti-Semites, and no Opposition leaders are making any statements. What stops the present opposition leader from writing a couple of sentences even if she is imprisoned? Not to mention the Holocaust lessons for this country. Where is the European understanding of tolerance, where is the Christian Zionism, care of the Bible nation, after all? I would stress that nobody may call himself a normal Christian if he is hostile to the Jewish people. The chief ideologist of Svoboda, whom Tyahnybok is proud of, Law Professor at Kiev National University Mr. Alexander Shevchenko, has recently given an interview to Glavcom.ua. Nothing less than the Law History expert…he accused the Jewish nation of deception traditions. As Mr. Shevchenko admitted, “values of hucksters are not typical for Ukrainians; they are closer to traditions of the Jewish people”. I would like to cite one passage: “It’s only a traditional Jewish law stipulated that one may deceive a person while paying or making an agreement, but one has to warn that person: “Recount” or “Think it over”. If that person does not notice any deception, one has the right to appropriate his money. However, it is a unique case. Neither the Ukrainian law, nor traditional laws of other states have ever had a similar rule”.

Read more ...

Published: 07 March 2013

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has been convicted for the illegal publication of transcripts of wire-tapped conversations in a newspaper owned by his media empire.

A Milan court on Thursday sentenced him to one year in jail, although he is unlikely to be put behind bars during a possible appeal.

The verdict carries no impact on Mr Berlusconi's eligibility to participate in a new government.

Read more ...

Published: 06 November 2012

Sickness benefit will be stripped from claimants who refuse to get treatment for their problems under a crackdown to be tested in a £25 million Government trial.

Ministers want to extend the concept of "conditionality" used to force the jobless to seek work to welfare payments for those with health complaints as well.

A series of pilots around the country for what is being touted as a "tough love" approach by Downing Street sources will be announced before Christmas.

Chancellor George Osborne is seeking ways to slash a further £10 billion from the welfare budget by 2016/17 on top of £18 billion of cuts already announced.

Under the proposals claimants would be expected to attend regular sessions with a health care professional who could require them to attend therapy and other treatments to help them recover.

It is unclear exactly what conditions would be caught but No10 suggested drug and alcohol addicts who failed to attend rehab courses would be among them in the initial trials.

Funding for the pilots has been agreed, they said.

Read more ...

Published: 18 October 2012

Venerable US magazine Newsweek announced Thursday its last print edition would be December 31, saying it would turn all-digital to cut costs in an increasingly challenging media environment.

"We are transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it," wrote Tina Brown, editor-in-chief and founder of the online Newsweek Daily Beast Company, in a statement posted on the Daily Beast website.

"This decision is not about the quality of the brand or the journalism -- that is as powerful as ever. It is about the challenging economics of print publishing and distribution."

Brown acknowledged the merger of the print edition and the online Daily Beast operations, called "Newsweek Global," would require layoffs.

She said the all-digital publication "will be a single, worldwide edition targeted for a highly mobile, opinion-leading audience who want to learn about world events in a sophisticated context.

It will be available on the web and on tablets via a paid subscription, with "select content" available on The Daily Beast website.

Read more ...

Published: 03 October 2012

Dame Marjorie Scardino - the first woman to head a FTSE 100 company - is to step down as chief executive of Penguin books and Financial Times owner Pearson.

Dame Marjorie's departure at the end of the year will leave just three female chief executives among London's top 100 public companies as she will be replaced by John Fallon, head of Pearson's international education arm.

The 65-year-old transformed Pearson when she joined as chief executive in 1997 from a diverse conglomerate, owning a range of unconnected businesses from Alton Towers to Thames Television, to a more focused "learning" company.

Announcing her departure, the American-born British citizen said: "It has been a privilege to be part of such a great company for a small part of its history."

Angela Ahrendts at fashion group Burberry, Cynthia Carroll at miner Anglo American and Alison Cooper of Imperial Tobacco will be the remaining female chief executives on the FTSE 100 Index.

The Government-commissioned Lord Davies review, published in February 2011, recommended that firms listed on the FTSE 100 Index should aim for a minimum of one in four female board members by 2015.

A voluntary code, developed in response to the Lord Davies review, was implemented in July 2011 to set out key principles of best practice for executive firms.

The number of women in the boardroom's of the UK's top companies increased in the past year, according to a progress update from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in July this year. Women now make up 16.7% of FTSE 100 Index, up from 12.5% at the time of the Lord Davies report, and 10.9% of FTSE 250 boards, up from 7.8%.

Read more ...

Published: 25 September 2012

French magazine Closer said its editor Laurence Pieau had received death threats for publishing pictures of Prince William's wife Catherine sunbathing topless.

"We have received more than 300 insulting emails of which several contain death threats," Closer said, adding that it had notified the police.

Fourteen of the most violent messages addressed to Pieau were handed over to the police. One vowed to "never let her stay in peace."

After their debut in the French weekly, the photos of the British Duchess of Cambridge have appeared in magazines in Denmark and Sweden, Ireland's Daily Star and Italy's Chi, which like Closer is owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mondari media group.

The pictures were taken when the royals were vacationing in southern France at a chateau owned by Viscount Linley, the son of Princess Margaret, the deceased sister of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

After publication, Pieau defended them saying they were not in the "least shocking".

"They show a young woman sunbathing topless, like the millions of women you see on beaches," she told AFP.

Read more ...