The Whistleblower takes up the age-old problem of who will police the police, but on an international level at which diplomacy can trump the law. It’s both a crime and political thriller based on the experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, a former Nebraska police officer who was hired by a private security firm to work for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Bosnia following the end of the war in 1995.

In the film, Rachel Weisz plays Kathy, who is assigned to work on an international police force in Bosnia. She begins her job with a brutal domestic violence case in a country that hasn’t traditionally prosecuted such crimes, and she quickly learns that ethnic and religious differences from the war hold over in the prejudices of local policemen and bureaucrats. Then she gets involved in a brothel bust and realizes the biggest obstacle to repatriating two young Ukrainian women forced into prostitution is corruption within both the local police force and international agencies.

The brothels are full of mostly foreign Ukrainian women who have been tricked and forced into indentured prostitution. The abundance of the brutal and filthy bordellos is not just tolerated or ignored by the authorities but embraced as a cottage industry of bribes and kickbacks. The only thing more common is a steady clientele of international peacekeeping force members. As Kathy seeks help from diplomats, including Madeleine Rees (Vanessa Redgrave), it becomes clear that it’s not a local problem involving a glut of prostitution in a recent war zone, it’s much more involved. Unfortunately, Ukrainian women Kathy has already exposed the two women as willing to cooperate with police. She’s up against the world to try to save them, but the film is grounded by her simple goal to just do her job. Weisz very convincingly handles the cop’s steely resolve and frustration and anguish in fighting forces so much larger than herself.

Marija Ulitina advances in Women’s Singles qualifying round of the 2011 Dutch Open – Badminton news

Ukraine’s Marija Ulitina advances in the Women’s Singles qualifying round, as she tamed Debbie Janssens of Belgium in her opening match in the 2011 Dutch Open, on Tuesday, October 11, at Almere, Netherlands.

Ulitina proved that she is ready to take the big guns as she played wonderful badminton against the Belgian lady and won the straight-set battle by taking just 22 minutes of the court time.

Janssens completely failed to put up strong resistance against the in-form Ukrainian opponent and lost the both games in a completely one-sided way.

Ulitina played to her full potential in both sets and showed no mercy to her opponent in the whole match. She perfectly executed her strokes in the right areas and faced no difficulty in beating her challenger in straight games.

The Ukrainian opened the first game in a striking way as she played with precision and established a convincing lead. She delivered a stunning performance and manipulated all weaknesses of her confused opponents.

Until the interval in the opening set of this qualifying-round battle, Ulitina was leading the game with a remarkable margin of 11-5.

After taking a 60-second break, Janssens employed a few attacking strokes to tackle the aggression of her opponent but failed to get any benefit as her rival played superb defensive strokes. Ulitina’s flawless game helped her in taking the opening game in a convincing fashion with a wonderful 21-13 score in just 12 minutes.

In the second set of this Women’s Singles contest, Janssens played a different game in the starting points. But she failed to dominate the rallies as her Ukrainian opponent was everywhere in the court.

Ulitina spared no room for the Belgian to fight back in the match. Until the interval, the Ukrainian remained successful in setting up a huge lead of 11-5.

Ulitina continued her phenomenal performance after the break and remained positive until the end of the match. She displayed a fabulous show of impressive badminton and bagged the second set with a stunning margin of 21-11 in just 10 minutes.

Ulitina made her mark over Janssens in just 22 minutes with a one-sided score of 21-13 and 21-11.

Babi Yar massacre was ‘taboo’ subject in Soviet Union

Even after 1945, though the number of Jews killed emerged quickly from Nazi records, the full details of the Babi Yar story remained untold for at least two decades.

The Soviet Union never stressed the ethnic nature of the killings, referring to their victims as “Soviet civilians”. A curtain of Soviet silence fell across the region’s history.

“It was a taboo subject in the Soviet Union,” says Desbois.

One of the reasons was the collaboration of the local population. When Nazi death squads found the psychological pressure of systematic killing difficult to handle, they would instruct Ukrainian guards to take over.

“Nobody talks about the fact that Ukrainians took part in the killings, just like the French, Poles and Belarussians,” said Ukrainian parliament deputy Oleksander Feldman.

“But Ukrainians, the French, Poles and Belarussians also saved (Jewish) people.”

The first monument to “Soviet citizens and soldiers” was erected at Babi Yar only in 1976, 15 years after prominent Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko devoted a poem to it which began with the line “There are no monuments at Babi Yar”.

The first Jewish monument was erected at the site only after the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991.

The ravine no longer exists and the area is now covered by several apartment blocks and a park, where almost a dozen small monuments have been erected in different spots in the past 20 years.

Raisa, a small and talkative woman who walks with a dancer’s grace, is cheerless as she approaches a menorah-shaped monument, regretting that the full depth of the tragedy has yet to be marked.

She points to birch trees planted by Jewish activists 20 years ago and said there were supposed to be nameplates next to each tree devoted to Ukrainians who had saved Jews.

“Unfortunately, this has never been done,” she says.

There are signs attitudes are changing, however. A group of Ukrainian Jewish organizations have announced plans to build a memorial museum in the park, with the first stone to be symbolically laid early next month.

In recent days, the Union of Afghan War Veterans, many of whom were being employed to help construct Euro 2012 infrastructure replacing these synagogues, has threatened to begin bombing the very same buildings that it erected due to its disgust over the country’s economic and political policies . Moreover, the organization has joined forces with over 100 civic organizations and 30,000 activist groups, according to its leaders, to demand that the government step down by November and that new elections be held, saying that it has discredited itself and ruined the future of Ukrainian youth. The group held a forum, today, in Kiev, led by representatives from the All-Ukrainian Veterans’ Association, in which it announced that, should the government not heed its demands, it would launch revolutionary activities.

Meanwhile, governments including those of the US and Australia have posted on their sites travel warnings for Ukraine, citing the potential of civil unrest and selective justice, warning their citizens that they could be held and prosecuted without due cause and punished without legal recourse or limitation. Yesterday, Amnesty International compounded fears by condemning Ukraine for allowing police brutality against civilians.

Ukrainian journalists also continue to voice concerns regarding the games. In past days, writers from Ukrainskaya Pravda, perhaps the country’s last significant remaining Ukrainian-language newspaper not under government control, have debated the relative merits of the games, and the immense amount of monies being lavished upon them by the government of the impoverished state, which they say are widely believed to be bringing immense financial benefit, through rigged tenders and various forms of bribery and corruption, to the very same oligarchs who are financing the authoritarian crack-down spearheaded by Yanukovych.

This crack-down came to a pitch on Tuesday, when, following a lengthy and perverse trial, which the EU and leaders around the world have widely condemned as a grotesque example of the selective justice practiced in Ukraine, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the country’s political opposition, was sentenced to 7 years in prison and a fine of 190 million dollars for exceeding her powers while in office, under an abstract and antiquated law which lingers in the Ukrainian criminal code, originally created and utilized by Josef Stalin to purge enemies of the Soviet state without particular reason.

Protestors from all groups have asked UEFA representative Michel Platini to explain why UEFA is helping to promote Ukraine and encouraging hundreds of thousands of tourists to visit the country in lieu of these significant concerns.

Last weekend, Shakira did the salsa for a select crowd of Ukraine’s oligarchs and their friends, as well as the country’s President Viktor Yanukovych, at the opening of a new Kiev Ukrainian stadium which is meant to host the final match of UEFA’s 2012 World Cup Finals. Outside, as witnessed by democracy4us.org, despite new government bans on all organized protest, FEMEN members have continued to garner attention for their movement to stave off the games, which they feel will turn economically weak Ukraine into a brothel for sex tourists around the world. Prostitution in Ukraine is illegal but reports say the country remains one of the main suppliers of prostitutes to Western Europe. However, sex tourism is only one of many concerns surrounding the games.

Local and global animal rights groups such as Global Animal are expressing fury and conducting their own protests over the fact that stray dogs, formerly killed with shots of an illegal poison, are now being herded, in preparation for the games, into 900 degree gas chambers in droves as part of a mass clean up operation.

Likewise, in Lvov, a 16th century synagogue where the Nazis herded and burned Jews alive during World War 2, is being bulldozed, like others in Ukraine, to pave way for facilities for the games. Tom Gross, a journalist from The Guardian, first wrote of the destruction of the Golden Rose Synagogue, a UNESCO monument. And where is the European football body, UEFA?” asks Gross. “So much for UEFA’s much-hyped campaign to ‘kick racism out of football.’” Leading religious figures, from all faiths, have written an open letter to Ukrainian authorities reiterating Gross’ statements.

Topless Women’s Group, Other Activists, Protest UEFA 2012 Ukraine Games, for Promoting Dictatorship, Anti-Semitism, Canine Murder, Prostitution, Threaten Violence

The Ukrainian women’s activist group FEMEN, with its members flaunting their female assets to gain attention, has led demonstrations against Ukraine’s co-hosting of the Euro 2012 Games. However, voices of concern and protest from other prominent activist groups and lobbies, journalists, and governments, are beginning to be heard in the wake of the conviction of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko after a prolonged show trial that world leaders have universally condemned as an abomination of justice and democratic Principle, reports democracy4us.org. Meanwhile, Ukrainian citizens argue amongst themselves whether the games, which are and will continue to bring enormous financial benefit to the country’s oligarchs, who support its widely condemned authoritarian president, should be held in their country.

Temper your expectations

There isn’t a single person out there who hasn’t time and time again made the mistake of hyping up an evening out by saying, “Tonight, I have to meet someone!” But Newman insists that you need to ditch this approach. “Sometimes singles set their expectations so high that they get anxious and put too much pressure on themselves to meet someone, which takes away the fun,” she explains. “You have to tell yourself, ‘It’s just another night.’ The idea is just to make a reasonable effort, whether or not you connect with a prospective love interest. You cannot control the outcome of the evening, but you can control your approach and mindset.” Lopez has an attitude everyone could emulate. “One time I went up to a guy and flat-out told him I thought he was attractive,” she says. “He didn’t ask for my number, but I didn’t feel rejected. Not every guy will ask for your number, but you can’t have fear. I just remind myself that these guys will not make or break my life.” Amen to that!

Set small goals for each outing

Before you step out the door, take a minute to set a couple of small goals for yourself. “If you’re going to a party, set a goal on how long you’re going to stay — it’ll help your attitude before you go out,” recommends single Jodie Gould, best-selling author of Date Like a Man: To Get The Man You Want. Not only does striving toward a goal keep you focused, but it can also take the pressure off of the situation, explains Gould: “Just say to yourself, ‘What’s an hour of my time?’ Plus, the next time you might challenge yourself to stay at a party a little bit longer.” Another goal you could target is “talking to at least one person,” she adds. Even if the night ends up being a bust, you might be surprised by how good you feel if you accomplish your short-term goals — and you’ll look forward to giving it another try.

Use friends to your advantage

Shy people are generally more confident when they’re in their comfort zone, so when you go out, it’s a good idea to bring along a few close friends for support. Beth Shapouri, 28, of New York, NY, says that she’s always helping her shy friends branch out and that talking to attractive strangers is all about teamwork. “It’s usually easier if there’s more than one of you so you can tag-team the individual in a cute way,” she says, explaining how she and her friends devised a plan together to attract the interest of a group of guys sitting next to them one night. “We started talking loudly about how we were curious what the guys were talking about,” Shapouri explains. “They ‘overheard’ us and filled us in. I told them our topic was better, and they agreed… and we hung out for the next four hours.” Just make sure you aren’t out with too many friends, since packs of people can be intimidating. “Going out with two people is perfect,” Slotnick says. “You have a backup if one leaves the group, but you also don’t come off as a people who is unapproachable because you are out with all your friends. The object of your attention will feel more comfortable to make his or her way over.”

See your shyness in a positive light

Aggressive people may seem like they’ve got it all, but shy ones possess appealing qualities, too — and those traits can (and should) be used to your advantage. “Shyness can be very sexy,” points out Debra Mandel, PhD, psychologist and author of Healing the Sensitive Heart. “Shy people are often better listeners and more thoughtful than aggressive ones. They also spend a lot of time observing others from outside the centre of the action, so they often see things others don’t notice and can therefore offer many important insights into people. All of these qualities can be very attractive to the opposite sex.” So get a little confidence boost from knowing that people can be drawn to your subtlety… and make a bit more of an effort to smile and open up when you are approached. Dylan Solise, 25, of Athens, GA, says, “I don’t like aggressive girls, because they usually want to be the centre of attention all the time. Quiet girls seem more mysterious, which makes me want to make the effort to get to know them better.” Exactly — why lay all your cards on the table right off the bat? Make the most of your reserved nature! daily times monitor

Dating advice for shy singles

Talk to others like they are your pals, not possible dates

It might seem silly to approach a potential love interest in the same manner as you would a pal, but this tip may be just what you need to put your nerves at ease. “Talking to a guy like he’s just one of your friends takes away the pressure,” says Jessica Slotnick, LCSW, a psychotherapist in New York City. Kateri Lopez, 25, of Bronx, NY, agrees: “I talk to a guy like he’s my brother, just no one special,” she says. “When I’m out, I’ll usually just be like, ‘Hey, what’s up? Are you having fun tonight?’ It puts me at ease — and him, too.”

Be aware of your body language

Shy people often unintentionally come across as cold and aloof all due to the simple fact that their body language is transmitting “keep away” signals. To avoid this, “hold something in your hand to keep you from crossing your arms,” says Robin Gorman Newman, author of How To Marry a Mensch. And self-proclaimed wallflower Lauren McCormick, 20, of Lexington, KY, shares her secret to appearing open and friendly at a party — even when she’s feeling nervous: “To feel more comfortable at social gatherings, I like to help the host with anything that needs finishing,” she says. “This gives me something else to focus on other than forcing a conversation. Offering dating advice refreshments to people always seems to lead to an easy, flowing conversation.”