New articles on the TOL website

FEATURES AND COLUMNS

BOOKS
With Blinders On
Russia’s privileged young millennials are savvy and sophisticated but also disillusioned, paranoid, and politically apathetic.

AROUND THE BLOC

July 18

Hostage Drama Unfolds at Yerevan Police Station
One officer killed, four wounded on Sunday as opposition-aligned gunmen attack station, taking five police hostage.

Serbia to Use Joint Military and Police Teams to Curb Migrant Influx
The Serbian government steps up its efforts to secure its borders with Bulgaria and Macedonia against migrants and smugglers.

Four Dead in Almaty Shootout
Three police and a civilian reported killed when two men attacked a police station today.

Impending Pokemon Release in Russia Triggers Panic Among Some
Russian conservatives fear that players might become spies for the CIA.

July 19

Almaty Shooting Suspect Identified
Lone gunman adopted radical Islam in prison says security chief.

Ministers Deny Polish Responsibility for Jewish Pogroms in the 1940s
Polish education, defense ministers place blame elsewhere for massacres in the Jedwabne and Kielce.

Russian Heads Roll in Doping Scandal
Allegations of state-sponsored doping during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics might lead to Rio Games ban.

FROM THE TOL ARCHIVE – EDITORS’ PICK

A Family Reflects on the Chernobyl Disaster
Three generations explain how their lives were transformed by the nuclear explosion in 1986. From The Guardian.
By Olga Tsvetkova

Ukraine’s Avenging Angels
One group has been the main engine behind the country’s anti-corruption efforts.
By Tatania Kozak

Russia Set to Veto MH17 Resolution, Orban Lashes Out at Refugees, European Left
Plus, a detained Azerbaijani journalist appears in court, and Serbia vows to keep Kosovo out of UNESCO.
By Timothy Spence

Azerbaijan Journalist Says Wife Held Hostage to Make him Return
Cloak-and-dagger meetings in a border town as police try to force journalist to come back. From IWPR.
By Afgan Mukhtarli

ANNOUNCEMENT

After months of preparation (and seed money from Google’s Digital News Initiative Innovation Fund), we’re finally ready for the launch of Press Start, a crowdfunding platform designed to support independent journalism in emerging democracies and developing countries. For our inaugural campaigns, we’ve chosen five outstanding reporters who have won awards crusading for human rights, a cleaner environment, historic preservation, and honest governance in some pretty inhospitable places. They are Armen Melikbekyan, co-founder of the Independent Journalists’ Network in Armenia; Douce Namwezi N’ibamba, editor in chief of Mama Voice magazine in Congo; Wendy Funes, a seasoned investigator in Honduras; Habib Battah, a two-time recipient of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press in Lebanon; and Zaklina  Hadzi-Zafirova, founder of SCOOP Macedonia, an independent investigative reporting network. Please follow the link here to find out more about them and what they aim to do with the money they raise via Press Start. As our fundraising goals are truly modest, even a small donation makes a big difference. If each of you donated just $10 to Press Start, we’d make our goals for all of our journalists. We think we’ve made it easy and inexpensive to support independent journalism this way, so please give, and spread the word.