Stories about Western Europe from April, 2007
France: Expelling Illegal Immigrants
Continuing the debate on expelling illegal immigrants living in France, SEMEtt ou l'étincelle noire (Fr) writes about a political asylee who was shipped back to Liberia, a group of long-term illegal immigrants who decided to form an organization to publicly demand naturalization, and how the mass explusions are eroding civil...
Albania: Ruminations on Elections
Our Man in Tirana attempts to place the French and British elections into Albanian context.
France: What You May Not Have Read About Voltaire
Racisme et Histoire: Le Tabou posts a collection of quotes from some of France's most famous philosophers, writers, and politicians (e.g., Voltaire, Ferry, De Gaulle) you might not read in history books. “I repeat, the super races have a right, because they have only one duty. They have the duty...
France: Rapper Imagines Life as a White Man
Regardailleurs blogs screenshots from an hilarious music video (Fr) called “J'suis blanc” (“I'm White”), the latest from French-Congolese hip hop artist Kamini. God comes to Kamini and makes him white for nine and a half weeks and suddenly dealing with “argent, logement, les flics, les gens” (money, housing, cops, people)...
Armenia: British Election Scandal
Onnik Krikorian discusses an Armenian election scandal involving the British embassy.
The French Presidential Election: A View From Outside the Metropole
This weekend, more than 60 million French cast their ballots in the first round of the French presidential election, narrowing the list of candidates to two: conservative UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal. Both face a run-off vote on May 6th. In the five years since...
Conference on France's Support of African Dictatorship
Le Pangolin has been posting video from a conference called “From ‘françafrique’ to ‘Mafiafrique'” which looks at France's post-colonial support of African dictators.
African Journalists on Franco-African Relations
African journalists working in France are calling on the two remaining French presidential candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal, to begin a new chapter in Franco-African relations (Fr), according to the blog of the Alliance for Democratic Progress. “We have to reconsider everything, make a fresh start, a sort of...
Israel: The Vatican and Terrorism
Israel-based blogger Aussie Dave discusses what he sees as The Vatican's double standards when it comes to terrorism.
Israel: The Vatican and Terrorism
Israel-based blogger Aussie Dave discusses what he sees as The Vatican's double standards when it comes to terrorism.
Egypt: On French Elections
Egyptian-based blogger Sandmonkey gives us his take on the French elections here.
Afghanistan: Taliban Electioneering in France
Safrang reports on the Taliban's efforts to influence the outcome of France's presidential election.
Algeria: To Exist or Not to Exist
A query on LINGUIST List the other day asked for examples of other languages which, like English, have a verb “exist” distinct from the general-purpose existential “there is”. In Algerian Arabic, such a verb has emerged in recent years through borrowing from French, explains Algerian linguist and blogger Lameen Souag.
Tunisphere and the French elections:
Tunisia's love-hate relation - more love than hate - comes to life with the extensive coverage Tunisian bloggers provided in the run up to the French elections. France's impact on Tunisia is both historic and present - it has colonised the latter for a good 75 years and is today its foremost economic partner.
France: New Law for Monitoring the Internet
How do you say Big Brother in French? Guadeloupe Attitude writes about a new law (Fr) requiring French telephone, mobile and internet service providers to save all usage records so that they can be turned over to the police “at will.”
Haiti: Delegation presents Haiti as a place to do business
Collectif-haiti-de-provence writes about a Haitian delegation's March visit to France and Belgium (Fr), which hoped to present Haiti as a place to do business and counteract negative images of the country. The delegation, which included the heads of various government ministries and members of the private sector, presented plans to...
French Election, Two Views on Segolene Royal
As France votes today in the first round of their presidential election, at Racontars, Akynou explains reasons for choosing for Segolene Royal. Meanwhile, Troup nul Guadeloupe says Royal is “dangerous for France”, arguing she has frequently altered her position in attempt to garner support (Fr).
Greece: The Roma
Romania International Media Watch links to a blog on discrimination of the Roma population of Greece – The Roma Series, by Devious Diva: “Unfortunately, there is seems to be very little tolerance in the Greek society for Roma people or/and especially for people like DD who have been writing about...
Israel: Anti-Semitism on the Rise
Anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, but France has seen a particularly significant jump in the number of violent attacks on Jews, writes Israeli blogger Smooth Stone.
Sarkozy on French Minorities
Patrick Lozès looks back at French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy's history of controversial public statements about Africans and Berbers (Fr). He wonders if, given unprecedented levels of voter registration among French minorities, Sarkozy's strategy of playing to the far right will backfire.
Lusosphere Reports The First Round of East Timor's Elections
Timor-Leste is holding its first national election as an independent nation, and the vote counting now indicates the need for a second round to decide the next President. The voting occurred on April 9 and the counting process has generated some perplexing news, which should be expected in a country with no previous electoral experience. Less expected was the fact that the spokesman for the National Electoral Commission (CNE), Father Martinho Gusmão, delivered his press conferences in four languages one after the other -- Tetum, Portuguese, Indonesian and English. After raising serious concerns by personally expressing doubts about 'illogical' outcomes from the ballot processing, Father Gusmão was removed and explanations were presented by other officials. See what Portuguese sources are reporting...
