· January, 2012

Stories about Western Europe from January, 2012

Spanish-Speaking Twittersphere Fumes Over Announcement

Twitter's announcement that it will restrict certain user content according to the laws of individual countries immediately caused a negative reaction in the Spanish-speaking Twittersphere. Twitter users widely employed the hashtags #CensuramestaTwitter and #TwitterCensored to display their anger with the social networking site.

31 January 2012

UK: #TwitterKurds Organize First Social Media Gathering in London

A group of Kurdish Internet activists that have been organizing around the #TwitterKurds hashtag on Twitter have come together for the first Kurdish Social Media Gathering earlier this month in London. The event was live streamed and joined in via Skype and YouTube by those who could not be there physically, although there were participants who had traveled from as far as Australia to participate.

29 January 2012

Portugal: State Radio Silenced after Angola Opinion Piece

A week after the broadcast of an opinion piece by the journalist Pedro Rosa Mendes on public radio, the end of the program was announced. The piece criticized the coverage of an event with several politicians and business men from Portugal and Angola. Bloggers immediately reacted to the "axing of freedom of expression".

27 January 2012

Russia: Mafia State Review

Kelly Hignett of The View East reviews Luke Harding's Russia-critical book Mafia State on his dire experiences as a foreign correspondent in Russia.

20 January 2012

United Kingdom: You cannot evict an idea

Set in a multimillion pound complex, complete with a 500-seater lecture hall that had been abandoned by investment bank UBS, the Bank of Ideas provides room for community groups and other public services that have lost their space due to UK Government's spending cuts. The project is entering the third month and braces itself for an appeal case against their eviction, expected in Court next week.

20 January 2012

Russia: Oligarchs Day in Court

John Helmer of Dances With Bears accounts for the legal battle over business interests between Russian business tycoons Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich, which is about to be finalised by...

19 January 2012

Global: Pictures Not for Free

Edmond Terakopian, one of the UK's leading press photographers, comments on the tendency for some publications to expect photojournalists to supply images for free or for a token payment. The...

13 January 2012

Greece: Criticism of Politicians During Theophany Celebrations

In Greece, January 6 is the national holiday of Theophany. Every year, government and civic officials attend the celebrations and make official statements. However, due to the economic, political and social crisis in Greece, this year's celebrations were marked by strong expressions of disapproval and criticism of politicians.

12 January 2012