Stories about Western Europe from July, 2010
United Kingdom: Video Tagging to protest Nokia's Actions in Iran
Reverse the Wave is a blog by Ms.Deena DeNaro-Bickerstaffe, an artist who is “video tagging” public buildings with documentary footage from the Iranian election protests in 2009 to draw attention to Nokia's sale of technology used for surveillance by the Iranian government.
Europe, U.S.A.: Poll on Burqa Ban Shows Opposite Viewpoints
The blog EU-logos about European affairs reflects (fr) on a recent poll by the Pew Research Center that shows a widespread support in European countries for a burqa ban whereas such proposal would be rejected by 65% of voters in the U.S [Fr]. The blog suggests that such transatlantic polls...
Europe: Multilingualism Video Contest
If you live in Europe, are between 18 and 35 years of age and can speak more than one language, then send in a short on multilingualism to an online video contest to win a place aboard an itinerant film making event which will travel and take place in the archipelago of Turku, Finland.
Serbia: Fans Outraged by FIFA's Sanctions Against Serbia Coach Radomir Antic
The controversial decisions of several referees participating in the World Cup and their methods have been brought into question by fans, bloggers [ENG], journalists [ENG] and national football associations worldwide during this, the world’s largest international sporting event. Although FIFA President Blatter has made public apologies to Mexico and France...
African Soldiers on the Champs Elysees on Bastille Day
France's invitation to the armed forces of former colonies to join the parade on the Champs Elysees on July 14 is a subject of great controversy among African bloggers. Many wonder what is the point of having former colonies there and why are many north African nations not invited.
Global: Paul the German Octopus Calls Another Match
For the past few weeks, amidst global World Cup madness, a young German octopus named Paul has been accurately predicting the victors of each football match from inside his tank.
Spain: Greenpeace modify logo at BP Headquarters
Wikiciudadania points us towards this video where Greenpeace climbers get to the BP headquarters in Madrid, climb to the top and drop down a banner on top of the BP logo, replacing the green symbol with a drippy black one.
Peru: Government Expels Paul McAuley, Religious Environmental Activist
Paul McAuley, a British resident in the religious city of Iquitos and president of the "Red Ambiental de Loreto" (Loreto Environmental Network), received a resolution from the Ministry of Interior where he is informed of the cancellation of his residence in Peru. This means that in seven days he would have to leave the country. Bloggers responded by wondering about the reasons for the expulsion and whether this is the government intimidating those who defend the environment.
France: A Concert in Support of Illegal Immigrants
« Rock Sans Papiers » a concert in support of illegal immigrants in France will be held in Paris (Bercy) on September 18, 2010 [Fr]. Many household names in the French music scene such as Jacques Higelin and Abd Al Malick have committed to participating.
Côte d'Ivoire: Reporter Guy-André Kieffer Gone Missing for Six Years Now
French-Canadian reporter Guy-André Kieffer went missing in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire on April 16, 2004. Blogger Ménilmuche who knew him personally has written a complete dossier on the matter and provides updates on the story [Fr]. Updated informations on Kieffer are hard to find in the French mainstream media .
Macedonia, Belgium: Endangered Democracy
Macedonia in EU blog commented [MKD] on the article by Brussels-based journalist Tanja Milevska published in the Belgian [FRA] and Macedonian [MKD] press, advocating that with Belgian Presidency, the European Union must take active steps – primarily providing a date for the start of the EU membership negotiations – to...
Global Voices Announces Investment from Omidyar Network
I'm thrilled to announce that the Omidyar Network has made a $1.2 million investment in Global Voices's work. Omidyar is a philanthropic foundation created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam to improve people's lives through “harnessing the power of markets”. Omidyar has supported some of the organizations...
Brazil: Critic to Vatican's position on the death of Saramago
Leonardo Sakamoto criticizes [pt] Vatican's position on the death of portuguese Nobel Prize winner José Saramago. He says that “there are people celebrating the death of Saramago”, referring to an article which was published in Italy's main Roman Catholic newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano”.
Ukraine: UK Visa Application Process
Leigh Turner, the British Ambassador to Ukraine, writes that “in the busy summer months from May-September, you should if at all possible start the visa application process 5-10 weeks before you are due to travel.”
Ghana: Racist World Cup Ad
Sokari writes about a racist World Cup Ad by German car rental SIXT: “The above advert was sent to me by a friend from Germany which she explains as follows: It is playing various eurocentric, afro-pessimism clichés in relation to the coming Ghana/Germany soccer play.”
Russia: Gay Rights
A Good Treaty writes about “the sad state of gay rights in Russia” and highlights opposition activist Oleg Kozlovsky's reaction to a mention of the Solidarnost movement in a blog post about the “small, brief” gay pride march in Moscow: “He was angry that they claimed ‘representative(s) of Solidarnost’’ had...
