· April, 2011

Stories about Western Europe from April, 2011

Greece: Protesting football fans rampage in Thessaloniki

In an unexpected flareup up of football violence, fans of two local football clubs, Iraklis and PAOK, clashed in the center of Thessaloniki, Greece on April 26, 2011. They attacked storefronts, apartments buildings and parked vehicles, while riot police flooded the downtown area with tear gas.

28 April 2011

Arab World: Royal Wedding Fever in the Air

The hype surrounding the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton tomorrow (April 29) has reached the Middle East, where some tweeps took a break from covering the ongoing Arab revolutions to remark on the ceremony and reception, which will follow at Buckingham Palace.

28 April 2011

Azerbaijan: Royal Wedding Frenzy

Scary Azeri offers her own acerbic take on tomorrow's Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Despite a reported close friendship with the groom's Uncle, Prince Andrew, the blog...

28 April 2011

Featured Author and Translator: Asteris Masouras

In this Global Voices contributor interview, author and translator Asteris Masouras talks about how he started writing for the site. Based in Thessaloniki, Greece, Asteris has been writing for Global Voices since 2008 about his country of Greece and other topics around the world. In addition, he has been one of the leading translators for the newly formed Global Voices in Greek

28 April 2011

Memories of Portuguese Decolonization

“In their dreams they still revisit Africa”, and they share their memories on the blog Retornados da África [pt]. Read the stories of those who returned to Portugal from the...

20 April 2011

Global: Bloggers Take Issue with Anti-Niqaab Punditry

On April 16, 2011, France's ban on the niqaab and burqa went into effect, re-stirring emotions on the subject and sparking protests in the European country and beyond. In cyberspace, bloggers are taking issue with popular pundits on the subject, focusing particular attention on Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy's pro-niqaab ban stance.

20 April 2011

Pakistan: In Support Of The Burqa Ban

Kalsoom at CHUP! Changing Up Pakistan highlights Nabiha Meher Sheikh, a freelance writer based in Lahore, who explains why she supports the burqa (full face veil) ban in France.

19 April 2011

South Asia: Reactions On The Burqa Ban In France

The recent ban imposed by France on burqa (niqab), the Islamic face veil, has created a lot of buzz across the different blogosphere of the world. Some South Asian bloggers are discussing this issue.

16 April 2011

France, Japan: Debating President Sarkozy's Visit to Japan

When French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Japan on March 31, 2011, less than three weeks after the earthquake and tsunami that caused a nuclear emergency, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is reported to have said: "When it rains, a friend who comes is a true friend". Bloggers ask if Nicolas Sarkozy really came to visit out of friendship alone.

16 April 2011

Palestine: Kidnapping of Italian Activist in Gaza

Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni was kidnapped on Thursday 14 April, 2011, in Gaza by a Salafi-Jihadi group, who said that they would kill him if Sheikh Abu Al Waleed Al Maqdisi, recently arrested by the Hamas government, was not released. It was reported on Friday 15 April by various international media outlets that Vittorio Arrigoni has been found dead.

14 April 2011

Gabon: Issues in the Oil industry Sector

On Monday, April 8, oil industry workers returned to work following an announcement made to AFP by Arnauld Engandji, spokes-person for ONEP (the National Organization for Petrol Industry Workers), stating "the demands have been met. We do not want to cause chaos". ONEP, an organisation of between 4000 and 5000 members, went out on strike (fr) to obtain new regulations relating to the employment of foreign workers within the sector, who "they accuse of taking the place of Gabonese workers".

14 April 2011

Portugal: Squatting an Empty School in Porto

A group of citizens called ES.COL.A (school) [an acronymn for self-managed collective space] has occupied a Portuguese public school that had been abandoned by the municipality of Porto 5 years ago....

13 April 2011