Stories about Western Europe from May, 2015
‘FIFA Is Imploding': Surprise Arrests Hit FIFA Top Officials Ahead of Friday Election
The football organization votes for president on Friday. On Twitter, leading football figures and sports officials weighed in on the FIFA arrest scandal using the hashtag #FIFAArrests.
Migrant Tragedies: ‘Behind the Statistics Are Individual Life Stories and Grieving Families’
"If Africa's youth comes to believe that its future lies elsewhere, it will be impossible to solve the issue of migration," says Souleymane Bachir Diagne.
The Profitable Patriotism of Vladimir Putin's Biker Bromance
Putin’s biker bromance admittedly isn’t radically new, but the prominence—both in Russia and abroad—of the "Night Wolves" motorcycle gang is exploding like never before.
Along Morocco’s Border With a Spanish Enclave, Women Shoulder Twice Their Weight ‘to Earn a Morsel of Bread’
These women carry loads of 100-200 lbs for the chance to earn $5 per day across the border from Spain's Ceuta to Morocco.
‘I'm Not a Swindler': A Campaign Against Romani Discrimination Takes Aim at the Dictionary
On April 8, on the occasion of the International Romani People Day, the organizations that form the Romani People Council started a campaign using social networks to request the Royal Spanish Academy to change the definition of the word gitano (Spanish word for gypsy) in the dictionary. The purpose of...
Public Anger Only Grows After Guatemala Appoints Controversial Vice President
Guatemala has a new vice president, elected by the majority of government: Magistrate Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, who in 2013 declared all the genocide proceedings against former dictator Rios Montt invalid.
One Year of #LunesDeBlogsGV (Monday of Blogs on Global Voices)
The Global Voices in Spanish team reflects on the first year of #LunesDeBlogsGV along with some of the participants.
‘Stop Destroying Our Communities For Coal We Cannot Use’
We were united in our message to end coal reliance and accelerate the transition to renewable energy that should have begun yesterday.
Amaal Said’s Portraits of Belonging: An Interview
Zachary Rosen interviews photographer/poet Amaal Said. Amaal was born in Denmark to Somali parents and is currently based in London: AIAC: Your photographs are remarkable in how they challenge and evolve notions of beauty in mainstream Western media by featuring intimate portraits of melanin-rich young people – with piercings, in...
Who Says Desert Climates Can’t Rock Agriculture? Check Out the Gulf Nations at EXPO 2015
Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE participate in Milan's Expo 2015 with well designed pavilions to introduce the world to their agrarian and food culture.
Former French Defense Minister Finds Excuses for the Alleged Rape of Central African Children by French Soldiers
Afrique Info reports that JP Chevènement, a former defense minister of France, stated on public radio Europe 1 on May 3 that the challenging conditions that French soldiers face in the Central African Republic could explain “behavior of that kind” (see video above). Chevènement was referring to the allegation of child...
One French Journalist's Take on the ‘Slow Death’ of Foreign Correspondents
Anaïs Renevier is leaving Lebanon after a few years reporting there. Her blog post about the dismal conditions foreign correspondents must endure in today's media landscape has resonated with many.
Private Initiatives Take the Helm in Solving Europe's Shipwreck Crisis
"With this project, we want to draw attention to the fact that it shouldn't be our aim - but that of the EU."
Protests, Violence and Teargas as the Billion Euro Expo Kicks Off in Milan
Milan turned into a battleground as it kicked off the global fair EXPO2015. With students protesting, some masked groups turned violent clashing with police, vandalizing city property and shops.
