Bibi Aisha, 18, who was disfigured as retribution for fleeing her husband’s house in Oruzgan province, in the centre of Afghanistan. At the age of 12, Aisha and her younger sister had been given to the family of a Taliban fighter under a Pashtun tribal custom for settling disputes. Continue »

Art Market 2011 Budapest, a CEE art fair that is part of the week-long Art Week Budapest, is taking place for the second year running at the end of October. Designed as a cultural and social event to make contemporary art easily available for viewing and collecting, Art Market Budapest aims to further the reputation and development of the contemporary Central and Eastern European art market by taking art out of the museums.  Continue »

A Kyiv court has sentenced former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in jail for abusing her power in a 2009 gas deal with Russia. The conviction and jail sentence come just as Ukraine hopes to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union. Continue »

Slovakia’s centre-right coalition government fell on Tuesday following a vote on the reinforcement of the European Financial Stability Package (EFSF). Slovakia became the last country remaining to vote on a package boosting the eurozone’s bail-out fund after Malta’s parliament agreed in favour on Monday.  Continue »

The budget deficit in August was HUF 50.1 billion (EUR 169.31 million), about HUF 33 billion (EUR 111.52 million) lower than in the same period of 2010, the Ministry of National Economy announced. Continue »

Real estate development in the CEE could reach EUR 6 billion by the end of the year – equal to investor activity in 2005 – but the fourth quarter could be a good one in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, property consultant Cushman and Wakefield said this week. Continue »

Consumer prices fell 0.1 per cent in September compared to August but rose 3.6 per cent against August 2010, data from the Central Statistical Office has revealed.  Continue »

The integration of the Hungarian units of German engineering conglomerate Siemens into a single firm was completed on 1 October, the firm announced on Monday. Continue »

Hungary faces a “real risk” of a downgrade by international credit-rating agencies, according to most respondents in a poll by online financial journal Portfolio.hu last Friday. Continue »

Having recognised the advantages and safety of the mWallet system, Hungary’s three mobile services providers as well as MasterCard, OTP Bank and SuperShop have established the Mobile Wallet Association, the founding members announced at a joint press conference on Monday. Continue »