Whenever there is a vacancy in the Office of the President, the First Vice-President shall assume that office for the remainder of the term and shall appoint another to serve as First Vice-President for the remainder of the term. — Section 83, Subsection 4 of the Malawi Constitution When President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika …
When Geraldine, “The White Rose of Hungary”, married King Zogu I of Albania on 27 April 1938 she had no idea of what was to come. Indeed, it was a life no one could have predicted: filled with lavish luxury and exile, living in Albanian castles and a modest Bungalow in South Africa and …
The letters began flying furiously back and forth on 27 March 1948. Instead of seeking a friendly agreement with the Soviet Government on the question of military advisors, the Yugoslav military leaders began to abuse the Soviet military advisors and discredit the Soviet Army. It was clear the situation was bound to create an atmosphere …
Miroslav Krleža was a communist who had been kicked out of the Communist Party. He was a friend of Tito who had not fought as a Partizan during World War II. He signed the Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian Literary Language, but in the 1930s convinced many southern slavic youth of …
Enver Hoxha died on 11 April 1985. It was the end of more than an era. Hoxha had ruled Albania with an iron fist since 1944. More Stalinist than Stalin, Albania’s allies had all fallen away at various times in his rule; since the Sino-Albanian Split in 1978 Hoxha’s nation had been completely alone. …
Cats are mostly known as independent and freedom loving creatures. These wayward animals that have always had a detached way of living, have also been long admired by humans. Cats were seen as graceful, selfish, cunning and clever creatures who live only for their own pleasure. However cats enjoy their coziness and are more attached …
On 10 September 1960, Abebe Bikila found that the new running shoes he had purchased in Rome were uncomfortable. Undeterred, he decided to run the marathon barefoot. He took the 1960 Rome Olympics gold medal. On 23 November 1915 the retreat from the World War I Serbian front began. Every male over the age of …
The most popular walking tours in London include strolling by known plague pit sites, where the hundreds of thousands of Londoners who died during the numerous outbreaks of plague are buried. The Black Death killed between 1/3 and 2/3 of Europe’s inhabitants over the course of its random and terrifying outbreaks. The impact of the …
“At first we were confused. The East thought that we were West, while the West considered us to be East. Some of us misunderstood our place in the clash of currents, so they cried that we belong to neither side, and others that we belong exclusively to one side or the other. But I tell …
In the Balkans, language rolls off the tongue and defines the culture profoundly. The way people speak is the way they think and also how they act and react. Tradition is key – the way things are done is the way things have always been done. Nothing changes easily. It is little wonder there are …