16-Jan-2012 Politics Parliamentary elections were held in Kazakhstan on January 16. The Nur Otan Party from President Nursultan Nazarbayev held all the seats in parliament but now has to share Parliament with two other parties. Nur Otan still managed to clinch more than 80% of the votes. Nazarbayev has been President since 1990 and brought stability and growth but also corruption and suppression of the opposition to Kazakhstan. More: Kazakhstan elections
02-Jan-2012 Fun Images of the funeral of Kim Jong Il were carefully scrutinized by bloggers and news papers around the world. One image caught the attention of some alert people, a giant was standing between a column of soldiers saluting Kim on his last journey. Speculation on who or what this man could be went wild with explanation varying from a trick photo, a genetically modified super soldier to some kind of dummy. More: Giant at Kim Jong Il funeral
25-Dec-2011 Fun Decorating the Christmas tree is the start of the holiday season for many people. Comtourist found a nice object to use as the tree topper. The hammer and sickle proofed to be a trough crowd pleaser and will top the Christmas tree for years to come (don’t tell the girlfriend). More: Soviet Christmas tree topper
24-Dec-2011 Politics The North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il died Saturday the 17th of December. The news broke two days later in the West where speculation on the future of the DPRK started directly. Familiar images of citizens crying in the Pyongyang streets started to pop up the following days. There were also images and video’s of Kim Jong Il lying at state in Kumsusan Memorial Palace where his father is also on display. More: Dear leader Kim Jong Il is dead
23-Dec-2011 Politics The French National Assembly passed a bill criminalizing public denial of the Armenian Genocide on December 22 2011. The Turkish government is outraged by this bills and threatens that the relation between the countries is at stake. Over 1.5 million Armenians were murdered in a planned and centrally coordinated operation by the Ottoman Turks in 1915. More: Armenian Genocide bill
20-Jul-2011 Fun Kim Jong Il looking at things was a giant hit with bloggers on the internet. We westerners would think that the North Koreans would not be amused since these blogs did not take the dear leader very serious. The opposite seems to be true since the North Koreans posted many new photos and stories on Kim giving field guidance on the state website Naenara. More: Kim Jong Il giving field guidance
22-May-2011 Politics United Russia, the party of Vladimir Putin holding 70% of the Duma seats has launched a website with a poll about the future of the Lenin mausoleum. Visitors can vote "Da" if they want the mausoleum to be removed and "Njet" if they want Lenin to stay on the Red Square. Comtourist advices its readers to go to www.goodbyelenin.ru and vote Njet! More: Lenin mausoleum vote
06-Feb-2011 Politics The FIFA choice for Russia to host the 2010 world cup has spawned an avalanche articles bashing Russia in European newspapers. It was no surprise that tabloids like the British Sun expressed their fury with headlines referring to Russia as a mafia state and Putin and Blatter as mafia dons. Incorrect and tendentious reports in "quality" newspapers seems to be a new trend however. More: Western media on Russian WC bid