· April, 2013

Stories about Western Europe from April, 2013

Police Besiege Barcelona District in the Run Up to May 1st

  30 April 2013

The day before May Day, a hundred protesters peacefully went through the streets of a Barcelona district, followed throughout the entire route by hundreds of riot police heavily armed with anti-gas masks and shotguns. Social networks were abuzz with reactions.

Data Journalism Handbook Now in Spanish

  26 April 2013

The International Journalists’ Network, IJNET, recently announced the release of the Spanish translation [es] of The Data Journalism Handbook, “a free, open-source book that aims to help journalists use data...

Chronicles of the Unemployed in Greece

  22 April 2013

Journalist and author Christoforos Kasdaglis started The Diary of an Unemployed [el], a project to collect stories [el] and data [el] on Greek unemployment, consistently driven to record figures for years on end by the debt...

Detained and Desperate – Undocumented Migrants in Greece

  21 April 2013

Stories of despair were transmitted through Twitter, when politicians, journalists and anti-racism activists visited a detention facility within the Drapetsona police station in Piraeus city, where more than 100 unauthorized migrants are living in cramped, dark and deplorable conditions. GV author Maria Sidiropoulou was among the visiting delegation and reports.

Double Standard? Protesting Foreclosures and Abortion Clinics in Spain

  18 April 2013

Elena Valenciano, Deputy Secretary General of Spain's Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), has criticised the Popular Party for seeking to regulate "escrache" protests against foreclosures, citing that many abortion clinics have suffered for years without the government stepping in to limit groups' freedom of expression and right to protest.

Spain's “Move Your Money!” Campaign Advocates for Ethical Banking

  15 April 2013

Various organizations have joined together to launch the "Move your money!" initiative in Spain, to convince citizens to transition from traditional banks, which are in large part responsible for the current economic crisis, to emerging financial institutions commonly called "ethical banks."

You're Sponsoring Neonazis on Greek TV!

  12 April 2013

@northaura: #xa_advertising is about a twitter movement protest by email in #Greece to push advertisers off ever again supporting pro-neonazi TV shows. Blogger @ypopto_mousi started a campaign to inform the sponsors [el]...

Greek Government Shutters Athens Indymedia

  12 April 2013

A leading alternative news site in Greece, Athens Indymedia announced it was being suppressed by Greek judicial authorities, along with two radio stations, and provided a Tor link [el] for alternate access. Potmos asserted on the significance...

Djibouti: Arrests follow ‘Democratic’ Elections

  10 April 2013

Several opposition leaders were arrested in Djibouti after demonstrations which followed the February 22, 2013 general elections. The elections saw yet another victory for the party in power, the People's Rally for Progress. President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who has ruled since 1999, received 80% of votes cast, leading to allegations of fraud on a massive scale. Arrests were still continuing at the time of writing, April 2013.

Margaret Thatcher's Top Five China Moments

  10 April 2013

Pete DeMola from Beijing Cream reviews Margaret Thatcher's China policy by looking into her five most significant moments and positions in China, including 1. fell down the stairs at the...

Portugal's Constitutional Court Blocks Bailout Measures

  9 April 2013

Portugal's Constitutional Court has struck down austerity measures considered necessary by the government to meet the conditions of its 78-billion-euro (101 billion US dollars) bailout program, opening a billion-euro gap in the country's 2013 budget.