Stories about Western Europe from May, 2010
Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia make Eurovision Top Ten
This year's Eurovision Song Contest drew to a close on a Saturday in a televised final which attracted around 125 million viewers worldwide. But while some media reported lagging interest in the 54-year-old competition and concerns about spiraling costs, countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to take it very seriously indeed.
France: Scholar Unpacks the Concept of National Identity
Reflets reposts (Fr) from newspaper Le Monde a review of “L'identité nationale, une énigme“, a book by a specialist in comparative anthology Marcel Detienne, denouncing the “mythideology” of an immanent France, whose brand of nationalism rules out interracial mixing. The author was interviewed in two videos, here and here (november...
Chez Gangoueus: A brilliant blog about African literature in French
A close runner-up for the Best of Blogs in French Award is Chez Guangoueus (fr). Réassi Ouabonzi blogs about African and diaspora literature in French from a reader's perspective since 2007. Here is an interview of him for Global Voices:
Angola: Similarities between Cabinda and East Timor
Orlando Castro discloses [pt] the similarities between the Angolan enclave of Cabinda and the recent history of East Timor, criticizing the positions of the Portuguese and Timorese leaders for failing to recognize the self determination of a province that produces 70% of domestic oil.
France: Questions and Controversy about ICC
EU-LOGOS blog explains why France was questioned by an Amnesty International report about its implementation in internal criminal law of the 1998 International Criminal Court status (fr). An impending bill seems to require a condition of the “usual country of residence” to be France for legal proceedings to take place.
France : A Legal Review of the Burqa Ban Bill
A lawyers blog Mieux connaître vos droits en Europe ponders the legal aspects of the French burqa ban bill (fr). Earlier, the blog also posted the main points of the bill and a survey of reactions from officials (fr).
Caucasus: Eurovision Semi-final roundup
Unzipped: Gay Armenia offers its opinion on last night's semi-final in this year's Eurovision Song Festival, and especially the entries from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The blog, which has become a mainstay for covering the competition in the Caucasus region, also regularly tweets on it at @unzippedblog.
Bahrain: On German Freedom
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif attended a 10-day programme organised by the German Federal Foreign Office. His conclusion: “Germany is not that free after all!”
Algeria ,France: Film “Of Gods and Men” Sparks Conversation about Spirituality, Terrorism
Cannes 2010 award-winning film "Of Gods and Men" discusses the killings of the French monks of Tibhirine monastery in 1996. The movie sparks various reactions, from praises to spiritual debates, from bloggers in Algeria, France and around the world.
Caucasus: Social media, cleavage, and rare unity in Eurovision
Although last night's second semi-final for this year's Eurovision Song Contest has been and gone, Twitter was alive with commentary and updates throughout. The annual international competition, noted more for its kitsch entries than for its music, is viewed by well over 100 million people worldwide. Its presence online is nowhere near as large, but is increasingly becoming an important consideration.
Secularism in France from a Foreigner's Perspective
Art Goldhammer, from French Politics blog, links to Eric Fassin‘s article in Le Monde (fr) and the NSAE's blog quotes in extenso from the article that describes French secularism in the style of the Persian Letters (fr).
Azerbaijan: Live tweeting Eurovision from Oslo, Norway
Complimenting the already relatively impressive of social media by Safura Alizadeh, Azerbaijan's entry into this year's Eurovision Song Contest, jazz singer Ulviyya Rahimova will be live-tweeting updates as part of the national delegation. Also blogging at the girl in jazz, she can be followed on Twitter at @UlviyyaRahimova.
France : At Cannes Film Festival, Hors-La-Loi Addresses Taboo, Raises Controversy
"Hors-La-Loi", a film directed by award-winning director Rachid Bouchareb, stirred up quite a controversy before and after its showing at the Cannes Film Festival. The film addresses the often dividing history of Algeria-France relations after the killings of Setif. Bloggers' reactions to the film are reviewed in this article.
Spain: Humorous Video Warning for TV Series LOST's last Episode
This fan made video (in Spanish with English subtitles) reflects the worry many fans of the TV Series LOST have: that after 6 seasons, the series finale airing tonight in many parts of the world, will disappoint.
USA: Recessions better for right than left?
American journalist Doug Henwood argues that the political right does better than the left in elections during recession periods in his blog Left Business Observer.
Denmark: Flashmob for a Bus Driver's Birthday
A video of a surprise flashmob to celebrate a bus driver's birthday forms part of a professional social media campaign to promote public bus transit in Denmark.
Bangladesh: Tulip Tweets
Maskwaith Ahsan at E-Bangladesh highlights Tulip Siddiq, who along with few others have pioneered the political presence of Bangladeshi women in the UK; and she tweets too!
Iran:Deal between Iran and France
Tahe Khand writes that France decided Monday to send home an Iranian agent it had jailed for murdering the Shah's last prime minister, two days after Tehran freed a young French academic accused of spying. The blogger with irony says [fa] why you do not want to believe french government...
Reactions to the Greek Financial Crisis and the IMF from the Africansphere
With the challenges facing the Greek economy and the ensuing intervention from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reactions from African bloggers range from cautionary tales from past experiences to lessons that ought to be learned for their own regions.
Netherlands: Twitter campaign against violation of privacy
Dutch internet users have started a campaign on Twitter (@telegraafboycot) to boycott the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf [nl] after it violated the privacy of the sole survivor of the plane crash in Tripoli by interviewing the little boy by phone. The hashtag is #telegraafboycot.
Macedonia: Bloggers Celebrate 1945 Victory Over Fascism
Several Macedonian bloggers joined the May 9 celebration of victory over fascism in World War II.
