Stories about Western Europe from July, 2013
Germany: Security Above the Constitution
Comments from leading MPs in Germany on the surveillance scandals and security issues prove to be a cause for concern.
Asylum Seekers in Germany: Integration or Slavery?
Asylum seekers will carry luggage at a train station in Gmünder, Germany for €1.05 an hour if a proposed integration project is passed.
Germany: Demonstrations Against Surveillance
#stopwatchingus was the motto of demonstrations that took place last Saturday in Germany. The participants were protesting against surveillance by the secret services and government inaction.
Free Assisted Reproduction Could Be Denied to Lesbians and Single Women in Spain
The government is accused of legislating according to their ideology and being strongly influenced by the Catholic church.
Sifting Fact From Fiction on the French Speaking Web
"Some people, known for their political activism, knowingly share false information." In this post we look at fact-checking projects in Francophone online media.
Two Spanish Aid Workers Freed After 21 Months in Captivity
Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut were building a hospital in Dadaab, Kenya, within the largest refugee camp in the world, when they were abducted.
Fukushima: No Place Like Home
‘No Time for Anger [de]’, a visualization journal by a team of Swiss media reporter and designers, illustrates Fukushima two years after the triple catastrophe of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami followed by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011. Fearing radiation, some residents sought evacuation to other areas...
Poet Aimé Césaire's Battle Continues Stronger than Ever
The verdict in the Trayvon Martin case coincided with what would have been Césaire's 100th birthday. Our new author Amadou Lamine Badji from Senegal, examines the correlation.
Ireland to Cancer Patients: Not Dying? No Financial Aid.
The anonymous Irish blogger behind the blog “Pieces of me” sends an open letter to the Irish minister of Health after the ministry decided to cut off medical reimbursements for cancer treatments, “unless their diagnosis is terminal.” As a cancer survivor, the blogger writes a poignant pamphlet: My “not such a bad diagnosis at all”, brought me...
How Europe's Solution for Economic Crisis is Actually the Problem
Europe's current crisis is more than economic. Between the German government advocating a dangerous austerity policy and European authorities lacking any other suggestions, it is clear that the 2008 financial crisis is no longer solely responsible for the downward spiral of Europe.
VIDEO: Police Brutality Under the Acropolis
Blogger alepouda remixed footage from a 2007 Greek tourism campaign promoting the “true Greek experience” with a video of police aggression against protesters at a rally on 10 July, 2013 in Thisseio in support of anarchist Kostas Sakkas, accused of terrorism and detained without trial since December 2010, who is in the terminal stages of a...
France Sees Shades of its Revolutionary Past in Turkey's Revolt
The recent protests in Turkey seem to have generated questions about identity in France, with the French asking themselves variations of, "Do we share the same values?"
Anonymous Leaks the Accounts of Spain's Governing Party
Global hacktivist group Anonymous has leaked the 1990-2011 financial accounts of the governing Partido Popular to the Internet.
Why Can't Madagascar Settle on an Election Date?
Four years since a military takeover plunged the country into political crisis, Madagascar has pushed presidential elections back again and again. What's the hold up, and who's benefiting from the repeated delays?
‘E-Christians’ Reject New US Ambassador to Spain for Being Gay
James Costos, the new US ambassador to Spain, is openly gay. E-Christians, an ultra-catholic website of Catalan origin, has criticized the US for sending Costos to Spain, and they have even started a petition to urge the Spanish government to reject him.
Royal Abdications: Netherlands, Belgium, Will Spain be Next?
Abdications by two European kings within few months have unleashed in Spain speculations about a possible stepping down by king Juan Carlos in favour of his son Felipe. Meanwhile, Belgium is getting ready to receive a new king who is trutsted by few people.
“Tweet-debate” on the Benefits and Drawbacks of Citizen Journalism
The Press Association of Madrid organized a debate on Twitter about citizen journalism in its third "Tweet-debate" of the #Tuitsyperiodigno (#Tweetsanddignifiedjournalism) cycle put forth by the association with the goal of addressing various aspects of journalism.
Scholarships For Breast Enlargements in Spain?
An article written by Paloma Cervilla, in which she accuses female scholarship recipients in Spain of using their student scholarship money to pay for breast enlargements, has gotten social networkers up in arms, and they have expressed their indignation in blogs, comments, and countless tweets.
“#LaSegundaYaTal,” Another Significant Contribution to Twitter by the Spanish Government
On Friday, June 28, at an appearance following a meeting at the European Council in Brussels, Spanish President Mariano Rajoy coined a new expression that was trending on Twitter within an hour. "La segunda ya tal" ["the second already... such"] has become an Internet classic, working in almost any situation.
Eastern Europeans to Boost UK IT Industry
The UK labour movement restrictions placed several years ago to prevent migrants from Romania and Bulgaria from moving permanently and seeking employment in the UK will be lifted on January 1, 2014. Some predict large migrations of workers from these two countries, among the poorest in the European Union, while...
