cafebabel.com

Awkward Handshakes in Italy

Dave Keating — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:23:37 -0000

Given his squeaky-clean image, Barack Obama is probably not thrilled about the prospect of clasping hands with sex-scandal-plagued Silvio Berlusconi next week as the Italian prime minister hosts the G8 summit in Italy. Berlusconi, dogged by allegations of sex with minors, hiring prostitutes and organising lavish orgies at his Sardinian villa, will probably be uncomfortable company for all of the G8 leaders, especially for the lone female leader, Angela Merkel. After the stories that have been unveiled about the prime minister’s treatment of women, she’s probably going to feel pretty uncomfortable standing next to the 72-year-old Lothario.

Considering the huge blow this scandal has dealt to Italy’s image abroad (which Berlusconi has bizarrely blamed on foreign media rather than on his own behaviour), this is going to be an awkward few days. But add to that the hugely controversial “vigilante justice” law passed by the Italian parliament yesterday, which will allow citizen patrols to dole out punishments on the street, and you’ve got a hugely important meeting happening in a country that observers fear is edging closer and closer toward a return to fascism.

EU Takes a (Half-Hearted) Stand on Smoking Bans

Dave Keating — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:00:45 -0000

Throughout my travels around Europe one of my favourite things to do is observe the differences between countries – and if you’re someone who enjoys a drink or two, many of those observable differences can often be found at bars. From the availability of beer versus wine to the size of drinks to the closing times, bars can be a great place to see the particular cultural quirks of a society play out. In recent years one area of difference has become increasingly pronounced – who and who does not have a smoking ban. It's a blisteringly confusing patchwork of laws. Today, the EU announced a move to ban smoking in enclosed spaces across the EU. But as we say in the US, Brussels seems to have shown up a day late and a dollar short.

Amusingly, smoking bans have seemed to follow me as I’ve moved around the globe. I was in New York City in 2003 when one of the first bans in the US began (following California’s), which resulted a whole new party atmosphere in the streets that summer as everyone poured out of the bars to smoke (the police were too busy handing out noise violations to enforce the ban at first). Then just after I had gotten used to having my clothes no longer smell of smoke after a night on the town, I moved to Chicago where I could once again light up in a bar. It wasn’t long before that city implemented a ban too, but not matter, because I then moved to Washington DC, which at the time people thought was “too Southern” to ever have a smoking ban. But they thought wrong, because before long I found myself witnessing yet another smoking ban come into effect. I moved to London and could smoke inside again at first, but in the summer of 2007 that city too went smoke free. I moved to Paris shortly after France’s smoking ban went into effect, but then moved to Switzerland where I could again smoke inside. It was all very difficult to keep track of, and I don’t even smoke!

A competition has been launched called "Dazed Raw Blog Award"

Anna Sennö — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:05:16 -0000

Musrara Mix art festival: German artists, Europe and Jerusalem

Pablo Markin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:52:10 -0000

Young Spaniards escape crisis by moving around in Europe

Astrid vW — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:40:22 -0000

Three out of ten Spaniards under 25 are unemployed. This group is the hardest hit by the crisis and has the highest unemployment rate in the EU (35.4%). Unfair dismissals, businesses closing, poor wages and working conditions... Young Europeans and specifically the Spaniards, don’t have it easy, but they are facing up to it. Those that can, leave their country in search of a more promising future in Europe, seeing this adventure as a long-term investment

Berlin 04.07.2009: BlattSpezial

Marco Riciputi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:27:14 -0000

Heal The World - Michael Jackson

Marco Riciputi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:59:38 -0000

Temuri Iakobashvili: 'Russia loves Georgia; they just don’t love the Georgian state'

Nabeelah Shabbir — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:15:33 -0000

Obama in Russia, G8, ‘military exercises’ - the post-August war scene looks set to reach 100 political degrees celsius. The vice prime minister of Georgia, 42, on his young political generation, family and mutual love

Say Hello to the New EU Phone Charger

Dave Keating — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:19:45 -0000

The European Union has reached an agreement with mobile phone makers today to create a standardized phone charger that will work across all models and brands. The agreement was reached after the EU told the phone companies that it did not reach a voluntary accord it would force their hand with legislation. And as the phone companies learned from the roaming rate cap battle, Brussels is willing to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to telecommunications.

Starting next year, new mobile phones will come with the same electrical input socket, mini USB, and they will all come with the same charger (with different prongs for the British Isles and the continent of course). MEPs noted that the new system would make it easier to use someone else’s charger if you’ve forgotten your own, with consumers no longer having to hunt around for a charger that matches the make of their phone.

The Facebook Files

Babel Sofia — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:57:16 -0000

"Wish you got more phone calls? Just be late on your credit card payments", Woody Allen advised us years ago. In the 90's, phones got ousted by email as the latest cure to loneliness. Depressed, office-dwelling, Bridget Jones-like women buried their cell phones deep in their bags, and now started their working day by checking their e-mail. It was like a psychological tuning-fork, used on a daily basis. An empty mailbox was a road to depression. Lonely immigrants and their parents, job applicants, and students awaiting a positive reply from universities far away fell into deep melancholy as long as the uplifting parenthesised number didn't appear next to their mail inbox. At least one. And until then there was only depression arising in the soul of the martyr. Today, this has passed.

Sweden's Lykke Li: heartbreak leads to electro pop

Ed Saunders — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Lykke means 'happy' in Norwegian. Li's debut album has led to a European tour, and she’s hyped as one of 2008’s biggest new stars. But chart positions don’t make the 22-year-old singer happy

Ghostwriters in France: who’s writing your dissertation?

Aatish Pattni — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:00:00 -0000

They are paid to write dissertations and theses in the shadows for others. There is a punishment for this in France which is rarely applied. We meet 'Nicolas' in Paris

Iran - no Revolution but potential for Change anyway

Ari Rusila — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:54:47 -0000

Micheal Jackson: biography

Marco Riciputi — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:17:30 -0000

Albania: polit-tourism between coves and concrete beach bunkers

Andrew Christie — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0000

At the confluence of the Adriatic and Ionean Seas lies Albania, Europe’s last undiscovered paradise is now looking to tourism to stimulate its economy and is hoping for a better image in the west after having joined Nato and put in an EU bid. 20 years after the fall of the dictatorship, Albania is developing into a hidden gem for independent travellers

Michael Jackson dies aged 50: eastern EU grab their crotch in tribute

cafebabel.com — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:48:42 -0000

On 25 June, the king of pop died after a cardiac arrest in LA. He remains a firm musical reference for the 'eurogeneration’ growing up in the seventies and eighties. Ukrainian folk rock, Lithuania’s late MJ and Bulgaria’s Wacko Jacko wannabe – soundtrack tribute in videos

Export of evil from Scandinavia? (updated)

Daiva Repečkaitė — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:08:20 -0000

Energy in Lithuania: tick A, B or C for 'nuclear', 'renewable' or 'both'

Kate Stansfield — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:49:22 -0000

From 88% nuclear energy in 1993, the Baltic country used just 26% in 2007. The intervening 14 years saw its entry into EU and a dramatic increase in energy dependence on Russia. Lithuania is relying on Europe to guarantee its energy security but what is the answer? Nuclear, renewable or both?

Albania elections: neck-and-neck

darrenthomps — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:45:00 -0000

The European Union is watching. As Albanians chose their new parliament and their new (or old) representatives on 28 June, a look at a 'chauvinist society', the quota of women in electoral results and 'young' political parties

London Learns of Jackson's Death

Naomi Christie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:30:03 -0000

Belarus and EU - mercenary marriage?

Alena Orangell — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:15:20 -0000

Couple of years ago political scientists cautiously referred Belarus to the “undefined state in the middle of Europe” (Manaev 2006), explaining the external political “vacillation” by historical factors, idiosyncrasy of the leaders and problems of the Belarusians’ own identity.

In the article we shall attempt to answer the question: is Belarus’ movement towards the EU a rational, pragmatic choice or a normative approach, whose aim is to approximate Belarus to the European norms, values and legal traditions?

The Sound of Silvio: 'I never understood what the satisfaction is when you are missing the pleasure of conquest'

euro topics — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:14:48 -0000

Escort girl Patrizia D'Addario, 42, told investigators that she spent the night of Barack Obama's victory at the Italian PM's private residence in Rome. In an interview with Chi magazine on 24 June, Berlusconi talks of defamation: 'I have never paid a woman'. Quotes from the Greek, Finnish and Italian press

More powers for Brussels!

Mana Livardjani — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:09:21 -0000

Analysis of the European election results

Mana Livardjani — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:33:44 -0000

Soviet nostalgia: Russian drink, bunker parties and film in Vilnius

Ed Saunders — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:00:00 -0000

Twenty years after the Iron Curtain, the Baltic tiger is experiencing a bout of nostalgia. A young, trendy generation, fed up of hearing about the past, is looking back at a not-quite-so ‘carefree’ childhood under the soviet regime

15.5% unemployment, diaspora: Lithuanians try luck elsewhere

darrenthomps — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:13:39 -0000

Whilst Vilnius welcomes visitors from around the world because of its status as the European capital of culture 2009, countless are leaving the country in an attempt to escape widespread unemployment and salaries which are under the European average for the most part

Tories in EU: is David Cameron more conservative than your grandma?

cafebabel.com — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:06:21 -0000

After abandoning the ranks of the European popular party, the British conservatives threw themselves into a hunt for new allies who share their growing euroscepticism and rejection of the Lisbon treaty. In Spain, they support a minority party of catholics and ultra nationalists called the 'Alternativa Española', compiling a neat lonely list of ‘friends' in the whole of Europe. Their new 55-member party is called the 'group of conservatives and reformist Europeans'

Two Liberty Seminars at Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

Antoaneta Ivanova — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:50:00 -0000

“Conflict is everywhere, our real challenge is reporting it...”

Anna Sennö — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:22:21 -0000

The 8th edition of the Visegrad Summer School: 28 June-11 July 2009

Natalia Sosin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:32:15 -0000

The Inauguration of the 8th edition of the Visegrad Summer School will be held on 29th of June 2009 at the Villa Decius in Krakow. This year's School will be opened with a lecture entitled ‘Legacy of Freedom’ by Professor Maciej Koźmiński, Director of the Institute of Diplomacy Collegium Civitas.

Plagiarism

not_a_sheep — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:31:54 -0000

Answer me this... has the Internet made life easy for talentless individuals, is plagiarism rife as a result? Would many of these new _self-styled writers_ of today bother to leave the comfort of their office seats to spend a few hours down at the library for a spot of research in the absence of the World Wide Web – I doubt it very much as laziness is the root of their robbing ways. It would seem that some people have no shame, passing off other people’s ideas and words as if they are their own, selling them to the highest bidder or whomever they are working for at the time. How can literary thieves be brought to account for their disgraceful cheating ways? I work hard preparing articles, fresh with integrity, well researched and researched again, and spun together with my own style of words. Constantly thinking creatively how I can excite my readers, new titles, interesting features but just sometimes I despair at the ease to which others are happy to lift ideas. Ed. **www.zantemagazine.com**

Multilingualism is a Tricky Bitch.

piola — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:28:48 -0000

Tories Form "Anti-EU" EU Party

Dave Keating — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:56:06 -0000

Well he’s gone ahead and done it. David Cameron has made good on his leadership contest pledge four years ago to leave the mainstream centre-right party in the European Parliament and form a new anti-federalist minority party, the “European Conservatives and Reformists” group. Considering the big impact this will have on the UK’s influence in the EU, I’ve been shocked (and frankly a bit disgusted) by the barely perceptible amount of coverage yesterday’s announcement received in the British media.

The new block will be the fourth largest in the parliament, which sounds big until you realize that the parliament is made up of three main blocks (the conservatives, the socialists, and the liberals) and then a whole lot of side parties. Really, it’s a bit like bragging that the Democratic Unionist party is the fourth largest block in the British House of Commons, both in terms of size and influence. Ideologically it would be more like the 7th largest Commons party Sinn Fein actually, considering the Tory MEPs apparently don’t think their constituents should be part of the EU in the same way Sinn Fein doesn’t believe their constituents should be part of the UK.

Material Cultures 2010, Edinburgh

Antoaneta Ivanova — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:25:58 -0000

Iran – Twitter – Revolution

Ari Rusila — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:47:07 -0000

"Let it be night" - a sense of how real big cities feel like

Daiva Repečkaitė — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:09:47 -0000

EU's Community Initiatives would bring Europe closer to its people

Ari Rusila — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:33:20 -0000

Saving the Earth Dutch Style

Dave Keating — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:28:56 -0000

This week I was in Holland, being shuttled around the country on a press tour showing journalists various environmental projects. I know it’s almost cliché to say this at this point, but coming from the Anglo-Saxon world I couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed at how much further along countries like the Netherlands are in developing sustainable solutions to climate change. Many of these solutions have been being developed since long before climate change became a prominent issue, and people have largely gotten used to the adjustments they’ve had to make to their daily lives. One example was this houseboat, pictured right.

The other journalists on this tour were an interesting mix, coming within Europe from Brussels, Germany, Denmark, Spain and the Czech Republic as well as further afield from China, India, Brazil and South Africa. It was interesting to hear everyone’s comparisons with what’s going on in their home countries, particularly the developing BRIC countries.

Le Sketch: 10 free signed by Craig Atkinson: fast fast fast furious!

Marco Riciputi — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:14:50 -0000

...and what about the Marbles???

Giorgos Kokkolis — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:28:36 -0000

Andrew Duff Welcomes Irish guarantees on Lisbon

Mana Livardjani — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:09:35 -0000

Caviar: the most expensive food in the world

Helen Swain — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:44:47 -0000

When Louis XV spat those viscous fish eggs which Peter the Great had offered him back into the face of the Russian Tsar, the French king did not know that he was turning down a delicacy which was soon to become the most expensive and coveted food in the world. Plus, recipe

Music: South London's Speech Debelle and Revolver

Annie Rutherford — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:07:43 -0000

Two American musicians who play for a better world and are displaced in Scandinavia, the newest female London hip-hop sound, plus a trio of French heartbreakers named after a Beatles track. This month's music picks also feature Peter Broderick and Mark Johnson

Massimiano Bucchi: 'our system of electing people who decide for us on nuclear energy is not sufficient'

karina zabielska — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:37:13 -0000

Google 'nanotechnology' or 'stem cell', and you get academic reports, but no real feedback. Did you know that the taste for crispy potato is inscribed in your brain? Science can be entertaining too. Three questions to the Trento university professor on the dramatic challenges for Europe's scientific community, which is getting little mediatisation

Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism

Antoaneta Ivanova — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:32:52 -0000

EU-Japan history via Karl Marx, the manga

Helen Swain — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:15:00 -0000

On 14 March 1883, the father of socialism died. In these times of economic crisis, sales of Capital are on the increase in Europe, and Karl Marx is also going to become a comic strip. The Tokyo publisher East Press is launching a series of 28 manga versions of important European and Japanese literature. Dostoyevsky is among the bestsellers, along with Dante, Kafka and Hitler’s Mein Kampf

Loretta Napoleoni: 'UK risks decade-long recession'

Helen Swain — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:29:06 -0000

The London-based Italian economist, 55, is an expert in the financing of terrorism. We take a taxi to her book launch in Rome and discuss why the financial crisis was a missed opportunity for Europe to have a single voice

Winter sucks, but...

piola — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:15:02 -0000

God the mayor?

Daiva Repečkaitė — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:04:15 -0000

Backstage: story of a Senegalese street vendor in Rome

Alexandra Baxter — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:25:14 -0000

‘La petite vendeuse de soleil’ is a moving film first shown at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival in the 'director's fortnight' category. It tells the story of a young Senegalese girl who is a street vendor for the newspaper ‘Soleil’, a common job for immigrants living in European cities. Off the cinema screens, we meet Ndjogou Thiongane in Rome, who accompanies us on a visit to the great mosque, and tells us his own story