A GOTHIC JUNE ENDS IN A FLOOD OF COLOURS FOR BULGARIA, AS GAY PRIDE TAKES TO THE STREETS.
30th June 2012

Bulgaria’s 5th annual Gay Pride has seen thousands take to the streets of Sofia in a celebration marked by solidarity and jubilation. Amongst those present were a number of MPs and the ambassadors of Britain and the US.

Other news from Bulgaria this month focused on skeletons and vampires and would have kept the likes of Van Helsing in excellent spirits. On the one hand, you have part of the head and bones of St John the Baptist, on the other, “vampires” with stakes through their hearts.


The bones purported to belong to St John had been found a couple of years ago, but the Bulgarian archaeologists who had evidence to link them to the cousin of Jesus, were scorned for their assumptions... until now. Carbon dating and other tests by Oxford University archaeologists have confirmed that they date back to the first decades of the Christian era: around the time Herod Antipas would have ordered St John’s beheading at the bequest of Salomé. They are also likely to belong to a man from the Middle Eastern region. The bones had been found in a reliquary in the 5th Century monastery on Sveti Ivan Island, close to an urn with the saint’s name and traditional birth date etched on it.

Meanwhile, archaeologists excavating a monastery near Sozopol, by the Black Sea have discovered 800-year-old skeletons with stakes through their chests. The burial sites had all the markings of ritual burials performed in order to prevent the men from turning into vampires. The skeletons caused such a stir, that the National Museum in Sofia has prepared specially designed glass coffins so that the public may visit them. It is thought that you would have had to be pretty bad to have a stake hammered through your heart, possibly after you were already dead, but I dread to think what constituted bad in those days. Perhaps they were just a couple of guys with a bad sense of timing, who tought that it would be a good idea to organise the first Gay Pride. Whoever they were: may they rest in peace.

UNESCO FLEXES ITS MUSCLES AND GIVES BETHLEHEM A HELPING HAND
29th June 2012

UNESCO voted 13 to 6 at a meeting in Russia’s St Petersburg today, to grant the city of Bethlehem, in the occupied Palestinian territories, the status of endangered World Heritage site. Despite Bethlehem’s 1.5 million visitors as year, it has not blossomed owing to security concerns and Israeli restrictions. The Church of the Nativity, for instance, which is considered to enshrine the site where Jesus was born, is said to be in serious need of repair. The vote will now generate a welcome boost to the city and its holy places thanks to the added attention and funds it will receive.

Israel and the US, however, are not amused. They consider the move a propaganda coup for Palestinian authorities and fear it will be exploited to the limit. The two countries cut their contributions to UNESCO in consequence of its acceptance of Palestine as a full member state. That amounted to over a quarter of its annual revenue, so UNESCO has little left to fear from Obama or Netanyahu.

BHUTAN PLEDGES TO REBUILD ITS LOST TREASURE
28th June 2012

The Wangdue Phodrang built in 1638 by the nation's founder, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, burnt down over the weekend and by Tuesday only the stone steps to the building remained intact.


The site is one of the oldest and most important in the country and the Himalayan region. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and his wife went to the scene while the fire was still raging to offer their support. Most of the relics were in storage while the historic building was being restored and the army managed to save many of the remaining treasures. The Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley has stated that the site would be rebuilt, just as Paro Taktsang, another iconic monument, had been when it burned down in 1998. This is indeed reassuring, but after such a president, it is a pity that more care was not taken to prevent a similar occurrence. It is believed that the fire may have been caused by a short circuit in the wiring.

Part of the inside of the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong in Bhutan. (Photo: Flickr)

A similar thing happened to the Cutty Sark, when it was being restored. The cynic inside me says: "was there an even greater cynic who advised that it would be cheaper to build the whole thing from scratch?" Just look at Ypres, few would notice it had been rebuilt, and a lot fewer would even care.

MALI DESCENDS INTO EVEN GREATER CHAOS
27th June 2012

If Mali had to be compared to a nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty would seem like a likely candidate. From a beacon of democracy in the African continent, its disintegration now would take more than all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to put together again. However there is another that is even more fitting: There Was An Old Woman...

On the 22nd March, 2012 President Amadou Toumani Toure was ousted by a group of junior officers who imagined that they could do a better job. On the 6th April, Taureg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared the whole of the upper part of the country (the bigger of the two butterfly wings), which includes the major cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu, an independent state: Azawad. Next appear the fundamentalist Islamic group Ansar Dine who are wrestling power from MLNA and trying to establish strict Sharia Law in the region (we must be at the bird by now). Today at least 21 people were killed in clashes between the two groups, while the region is having to cope with dire food shortages and all the terror associated with religious bigotry. Enter the cat. The U.N Security Council has said that it would support military intervention from Mali’s neighbours, as long as it had a chance to examine and approve their plans.


Where is it all going? If only it had not swallowed that fly in the first place!

“There was an old woman who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a bird,
How absurd! to swallow a bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a cat,
Imagine that! to swallow a cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a dog,
What a hog! to swallow a dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a goat,
Just opened her throat! to swallow a goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a cow,
I don't know how she swallowed a cow!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a horse,
She's dead—of course!”

TURKISH PLANE TAKES ANOTHER NOSEDIVE
26th June 2012

NATO and Russia have finally made their positions clear regarding the downing of a Turkish warplane by Syria on Friday. NATO’s secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned Syria’s actions “in the strongest terms”, while the Russian foreign ministry advised against using the incident as a pretext for interference into Syria’s affairs: “It is important that what happened is not viewed as a provocation or a premeditated action.” How the Syrian military could have premeditated shooting a plane that shouldn’t have been there in the first place, is anybody’s guess. Unless the message is that Syria is well aware of foreign powers snooping in its territory. No surprises there.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, warned against upsetting Turkey: "Everybody should know that Turkey's wrath is just as strong and devastating as its friendship is valuable."

Whatever the rhetoric, it is unlikely that this incident can be blown up any more than it has been. What is certain, though, is that the blood of innocent Syrians seems to have little currency in this conflict.

THE OUSTING OF PRESIDENT FERNANDO LUGO GIVES SOUTH AMERICA THE JITTERS
25th June 2012

Federico Franco has sworn in Paraguay’s new government on Monday, despite protests and threats from other South American countries at the impeachment and removal of Lugo on Friday. Many countries have called back their ambassadors, including Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and Franco’s administration can expect to be snubbed and ostracised, both politically and economically. Venezuela has already declared that it will cut off fuel sales to Paraguay.

Lugo was not so lucky with his friends at home. His allies from the Liberal Party had withdrawn their support a few days earlier and it only took six hours for Congress, which is dominated by the opposition, to oust him a year before the natural end of his mandate. The pretext was the handling of the mid–June Canindeyú land riots that cost the lives of six police and 11 protesters.

With a history of coups and counter-coups that rocked the southern continent in the 1970s and 1980s, it is not surprising that neighbouring countries should be alarmed. If they had to be impeached every time a Canindeyú-like incident occurred, most would not even have made it through their parliament doors! Due process may have been followed by the Paraguayan Congress, but that does not make its decision right or in the best interest of the country or the region. Logo’s allies abroad do well to support him and their resilience in this case may prove their own salvation.

PRESIDENT MOHAMMED MORSI BRINGS HOPE AND UNCERTAINTY TO EGYPT'S NEW DEMOCRACY
24th June 2012

The worst of the best possible scenarios in Egypt, now that Mohamed Morsi has won the presidential elections, is a compromise with the military that will very gradually give way to a fully fledged and inclusive democracy. The military elite will be given the time it needs to legitimise its financial assets and cover up its murky past, while liberals will be allowed enough breathing space to survive any bigotry the Brotherhood may impose on the nation, until better times and farer elections. There will be a status quo with Israel and the economy will be saved from disaster thanks to a steady increase in tourism and market confidence.

Anything better than this is so unlikely, that it is hardly worth considering. After all, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) dissolved parliament by means of the country’s constitutional court (which it strongly influences) and voted itself new powers while the electoral process was in full swing; it is unlikely to “go gentle into that good night”. Nor do Morsi’s years as a fundamentalist MP between 2000 and 2005 bode well for tourism, liberals or foreign policy. Morsi won with 51.7% of the vote against Ahmed Shafiq’s 48.3. Shafiq was the last prime minister under Hosni Mubarak and the turnout of the run-off elections was a mere 51%: this is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Brotherhood.

But it was hope that brought Egypt this far; and hope may surprise us yet. For all we know Morsi will be true to his word that “the presidency will be an institution” and that “the Superman era is over”.