Stories from Quick Reads and Italian
Italian Footballer Giorgio Chiellini's Praiseworthy Words After Being Bitten
Italian centre back Giorgio Chiellini, bitten by Uruguayan forward Luis Suárez during the match between Italy and Uruguay national teams of the group phase of the World Cup in Brazil, sent Suárez a conciliatory message via his official website: Dentro di me ora non ci sono sentimenti di gioia, di...
Why Learning Italian Still Makes Sense
As Italian publishing company Alma Edizioni was busy organizing an event about the Italian language in Rome, they received an unexpected letter [it] from someone who defined himself as a “disappointed student”: Why? What's the point of studying Italian today? […] No one wants to study a language that no...
List of Deceased in Venezuela Protests Available in 5 Languages
In the blog Panfleto Negro [es], John Manuel Silva and Emiliana Duarte are keeping a list of confirmed deaths from the ongoing protests taking place in Venezuela. The list -originally in Spanish- has been translated into English, German, Italian and French.
“Catalan Independence” Explained in 16 Languages
The debut video of The Catalan Project (@Catalan_Project) features Fernando de Castro, “a Catalan from Galicia and Spanish”, presenting the project and explaining why some Catalans want independence from Spain using the 16 languages he is able to speak. Subtitles are available in English, French, German, Spanish and Catalan. The Catalan Project, an...
Italians Called to Film Their ‘Life in a Day’
Renowned Italian director Gabriele Salvatores is inviting Italians (and people living in Italy) to produce short videos about their daily life that will be edited together into a feature length film called “Italy in a Day” [it] to be released at the end of 2014. Videos can be submitted until...
Catalonia: Caution about Spain's Hostile Ways
A civic statement on Col·lectiu Emma (@CollectiuEmma)'s blog criticizes the way the Spanish government is dealing with the political situation in the region of Catalonia, where 55 % of the population favors independence [ca] from Spain, according to an official poll. The statement explains the “strategy of fear” and other...
Italy: Art Historians Rally in L'Aquila
Four years after the devastating earthquake that hit L’ Aquila, in Abruzzo, Italy, little or nothing has been rebuilt and the picturesque old town remains largely uninhabited, while many residents live in much debated [it] new towns. On May 5, 2013 almost a thousand art historians rallied together [it] in the historical center...
‘Tribewanted’ Creates, Connects Eco-Villages
Renewable energy, permaculture and green building, along with local traditions and eco-tourism: welcome to Tribewanted – an online community launched in 2006 based on the idea of “global citizenship” and harnessing the energy of social media to meaningfully connect and practice positive behavior change. Thanks to crowdfunding strategies, the project plans...
Spain: Catalonia's “Declaration of Sovereignty” Translated into 36 Languages
On January 23, 2013, amid rising tensions with the Spanish government, the regional parliament of Catalonia approved by majority vote a Declaration of Sovereignty [ca] — seen widely as a prelude to a referendum on independence, expected to be held by 2014. Thanks to a diverse team of collaborators, the online...
Italy: Governement and Immigration – plenty of words, less action
According to Stefano Femminis (popoli.info [it]), the current Monti government has shown more talk than actual action in regard to immigration, and the followings are emphasised [it]: The situation remains the same as an year ago: expensive and unnecessary “human dumps” that in fact function as prisons for people that...
Italy: Clandestines in prisons without dignity
Explaining why 35,6% out of the prison population is constituted of immigrants, according to “Without Dignity” : The Observatory report [it] of the Antigone association, the website cronachediordinariorazzismo.org writes [it]: The presence of foreigners in Italian prisons is mostly due to recent charges in immigration laws, that effected greater flows...
Libya: Bani Walid under violent siege
Almost one year after Muammar Gaddafi's death, his former stronghold and heart of the Warfalla tribe, the town of Bani Walid, seems about to fall under the attacks of the Lybian army. Some sources [it] define its two week bloody siege as a ‘small genocide’. The operation is lead by...
Russia: “The True Blasphemy” – Slavoj Žižek on Pussy Riot
Russian collective “Chto Delat? // What is to be done?” published an essay by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, who considers Pussy Riot “conceptual artists in the noblest sense of the word: artists who embody an Idea,” and fight against the cynicism of power-mongers who strive to return Russia to the...
Syria: Emergency Refugees
With large scale violence in Syria, the exodus towards neighboring countries is increasing continuously (Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey). As per Islamic Relief [it] non-profit organisation, at least 650 Syrian families (mostly from the high risk areas of Homs and Hama) are in urgent need of food, sanitation and other assistance. Currently different activities such as fundraising and other initiatives are taking place, details here....
Italy: African workers renew their call for open dialogue
Following the murder of two Senegalese men in Florence, Italy, migrant African workers released an open letter on the web [it] to renew their call for dialogue with citizens of Rosarno, where in January 2010 violent riots took place. ‘Those that in the past few days have spread fear when...
Italy: Huge celebrations for Berlusconi's resignation
Millions of Italians (worldwide) are celebrating an historic moment: the official resignation of PM Silvio Berlusconi, now on his way to the Presidential Palace. Huge celebrations are also being planned online, with live video streaming from downtown Rome, Facebook pages, YouTube videos, on-going tweets and so on.
Italy: “Wiretapping Bill” could drastically limit freedom of information
The Italian Parliament is about to vote on a very stringent “wiretapping Bill” [it] aimed at drastically limiting judicial investigations and journalism inquiries, thus blocking free speech about new scandals exposing top-level politicians, as many of such cases keep emerging. After a recent “strike” by Wikipedia Italy [it] and a...
Italy: Wikipedia Italia on strike
The homepage of Wikipedia Italia is on strike from the evening of October 4th. Its content is blocked in protest against an Italian bill on telephone interceptions that will mean that all sites and blogs must amend their contents within 48 hours of a request by any applicant who judges it...
Italy: How technology can help manage emergencies
In a crisis, how can Web 2.0 be of use to social movements and what practical help can it offer to facilitate collective action? In reality, there is no shortage of platforms which, established on a voluntary basis, using free software, harness the internet and mobile phones to gather and share information, sourced...
Italy: Initiative in Support of Ai Weiwei
While the event itself initially seemed to have passed without comment [it] by traditional media and bloggers in Italy, something is finally happening [it] to call for the release of the Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei [it], who has been presumed imprisoned by the Chinese authorities since April 3. The Pulitzer Association has issued an appeal [it]...
Unimondo's Facebook campaign: “1 fan 1 albero”
“1 fan 1 tree” is the campaign launched by UniMondo, which focuses on reforestation in Kenya to balance out the C02 that we produce on a daily basis. The project is overseen by Tree is Life, a group of agroforestry youths who have already received awards for their work. Spreading...
