An information and analytics digest for everyone going abroad or staying home

№ 22 (434)

Auto tour

Germans are the best drivers in Europe

The best drivers in Europe are residents of Germany. This is according to the results of a survey conducted among European drivers by the insurance company Aha.

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Everyday life

EU Countries Support Reduction of SMS Costs

Most ministers of EU member states in charge of telecommunications support the European Commission's proposal to cap the cost of roaming SMS messages within the EU starting July 2009.

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Visas

Control tightened at Finland's border

According to a Finnish government decree, border controls on the country's internal borders will be reinstated for the period from November 24 to December 5. This will entail checks on persons…

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Visas

Switzerland Joins Schengen Area

On Thursday, November 27, at a meeting in Brussels, the interior ministers of the European Union member states officially announced that Switzerland should join the Schengen Agreement in the near…

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Tourism

European hotels rapidly become cheaper

The global economic crisis has forced European hoteliers to reduce the cost of hotel rooms by 50% or even more. If not for this extreme measure, most hotels in major European cities would have been…

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Immigration

Crisis pushes Ukrainians to emigrate

The latest wave of economic crisis has significantly strengthened emigration sentiment in Ukraine. This is stated in a new study by the Israeli national repatriation agency 'Sokhnut'.

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Europeans' Battle for the Harvest Curiosities

Europeans' Battle for the Harvest

The financial crisis forced Europeans to take a fresh look at vegetables and fruits. And to acknowledge as erroneous the standards on the appearance of agricultural products previously introduced by…

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Tourism

Best Travel Ideas for 2009

Lonely Planet has released a new guidebook, Best in Travel 2009, which gathers the best travel ideas. The guidebook brings together 850 travel destinations and routes that, according to the authors…

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To Canada – via University Education

To Canada – via University

In April of this year, Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley made a sensational statement. At her briefing, she announced that foreign students who have received Canadian…

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The Most Modern Translator Education

The Most Modern Translator

For those learning a foreign language, the world's leading manufacturer of pocket dictionary-translators, the American company ECTACO Inc, has developed a new product - the Partner ER850 Deluxe.

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Applying to Universities in the Czech Republic Education

Applying to Universities in the Czech Republic

Our compatriots who wish to receive higher education in Europe are increasingly choosing the Czech Republic. The high level of teaching at universities, the similarity of the Czech language to ours…

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Diaspora Does Not Change Menu Money

Diaspora Does Not Change Menu

Financial crisis in the US has not spared the large diaspora of people from former Soviet republics. The biggest losses, as elsewhere in America, are borne by real estate and construction companies…

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The "Plumber" Turned Out to Be a Myth Immigration

The "Plumber" Turned Out to Be a Myth

The "Polish plumber" (a collective term for labor migrants from the new EU member states), which had long been used to scare the Western European public, turned out to be a myth that never…

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Tourism

Jumping off Niagara, don't bring your cat

When you go to Canada, you subconsciously picture scenes from Discovery Channel films: pristine nature, mountains, forests, wild but cute bears (on screen they are all cute) catching fish in the…

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States Expand Visa-Free Regime Visas

States Expand Visa-Free Regime

On November 17, a visa-free regime came into effect between the US and six EU countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic), as well as South Korea. Citizens of these…

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Money

Quiet and Happy

On the financial map of the world, you can find "quiet havens" that are least affected by storms. As Itogi notes, these states can be conditionally divided into four types. The first includes…

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Polar Paradise for Migrants Immigration

Polar Paradise for Migrants

Spitsbergen, or Svalbard as this Arctic archipelago is called in Norway, is rightly considered the last island of freedom in the Western world. According to the international treaty of 1925, anyone…

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Tourism

Ball, Europe, New Year

In December, Europeans waltz, sing, lose huge sums of money at the races, drink beer and cider, put on fireworks, and choose gifts for relatives and friends. In short, they have fun and entertain…

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Tourism

«Borat» Advertises Kazakhstan

The scandalous 2006 film 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan' still attracts tourists to the former Soviet republic. Kazakhstan, which had previously…

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Everyday life

Ranking of US cities compiled

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, recorded the highest crime rate in the United States. According to CNN's website, such information is provided in a report by CQ Press (Congressional Quaterly).

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Blue Card Gets Green Light Immigration

Blue Card Gets Green Light

The European Parliament approved the introduction of the "Blue Card" in the European Union – an analogue of the American green card for professionals from other countries needed by Europe. IT…

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Everyday life

Fewer Coffee Shops in Amsterdam

The Amsterdam municipality has decided to close 43 of the city's 228 coffee shops by 2011 – establishments where soft drugs such as hashish and marijuana are legally sold. The punitive sanctions…

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Everyday life

Bush helps unemployed with new law

US President George Bush signed a law that increases the duration of unemployment benefit payments. Now, unemployed people who have already received and spent their benefits but still have not found…

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Immigration

EU Approves Introduction of 'Blue Card'

The European Union has approved the introduction of the so-called 'Blue Card', simplifying the employment procedure for qualified specialists from third countries.

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