Lithuania's female bloggers: cooking, sex and the city
Somewhere between the 200, 000 Lithuanians in the UK and the 3 million at home, bloggers are making their own female-shaped dent in the internet universe Read article
Poland: Solidarnosc 30th anniversary through Hackers cinema keyhole
'I'm taking over the TV network'...When we Poles watch the cult movie Hackers (1995) featuring Angelina Jolie, one line from the movie's main character makes us feel good to remember that the real takeover of the Polish TV network took place ten years before
Emilie Turunen on unpaid interns: ‘we risk losing our generation’
In her soon-to-be-adopted youth unemployment rapport, the 26-year-old Dane has surely rewritten the tune of an infernal chorus. At 26, who better than the youngest member of the current European parliament to discuss a disenchanted population?
Nokia, suicide and murder: Finland world's top country?
A 27-year-old Finnish social sciences and economics postgraduate takes our challenge to skim the surface and paint a portrait of the country she was born in, and which US magazine Newsweek has voted the 'world's best country'. The pros outweigh the cons, she assures us
Corruption, crime and journalism in Europe
Political corruption in Europe is the drama of the season. Confronted by media revelations, the governments of Old Europe are criticising, even muzzling the media space whose influence they fear. Not all countries react in the same way: in Great Britain, Germany and Poland, media investigations pressure governments to fire people. In France and Italy, the news isn’t causing a stir at all
'Shooting galleries' in Europe: political jab or social cure-all?
Supervising the use of hard drugs or not is an issue that's cropping up across Europe, with some countries tackling it with a different intensity than others; the UK has three injecting clinics. While eight progressive governments have already established the centres, others wish to silence such crazy calls for change. All in the name of morality. Obviously...
Vilnius: 'Jerusalem of Lithuania'
Tired after a busy day and prepared for a casual chat, I meet a summer school student, with whom I've arranged to do Hebrew language tandem. 'Do you mind keeping me company to go to the synagogue?' Apparently, the person is a second year convert-in-progress to Judaism. 'Umm, my skirt is kind of short for that...' Anecdote from cafebabel.com blog ‘Wonderland'
Poland: 'Cold Lech' beer slogan controversy
Not a good idea to advertise a beer near the Polish Pantheon of Krakow. Especially if said beer has the same name as a Polish former president lying 'cold' in his grave in the Polish pantheon. It certainly gave the opposition party the jitters
Europe's politician loudmouths
British prime minister David Cameron was accused of 'going offscript' by former foreign secretary David Miliband after a series of press conferences where he accused Pakistan of 'exporting terror'. Do Europe's eurosceptic politicians have the biggest mouths when it comes to diplomatic rows? Expression of the week
Esma Redzepova: 'Roma are cosmopolitan'
A mother of 47, a career spanning 20 albums and 40 years and songs in Serbian, Macedonian and Romany. At the Sin Fronteras festival in France, the Macedonian 'gypsy music queen' brings a bit of Roma culture to a country which is planning to export large numbers of its gypsy population 'back' to Romania and Bulgaria by the end of the month
Brunch with…
Natalie Weiss: German fashion blogger 'Schnati in Paris'
'Schnati', 22, has been blogging on the biggest German fashion blog LesMad ('Les Mademoiselles') since 2008. In her own blog 'Schnati à Paris' she presents her own outfits, shares inspirations and reports from fashion events
culture event guide
Film dubbing is not only stupid and evil
It's also wrong and economically counterproductive, says a UK-based, Italian member of the gang behind the latest blog on cafebabel.com, from the European youth cinema network Nisi Masa
Tower of babel
Death of the Italian stallion?
An August survey reports that the myth is dying, with Italian men becoming 'too feminised'. Whilst we make up our minds, a quick filmic tribute to Italian action hero Sylvester Stallone, who has long claimed the nickname and is back on the big screen, where sexual stereotypes from Europe are prevalent. Term of the week
EU week
Berlin launch: Anti-islam book by German banker Thilo Sarrazin
The former politician launched his book 'Deutschland schafft sich ab' ('Germany abolishes itself' on 30 August in Berlin. Criticism of Germany's immigration policy is legitimate, writes the Italian, German and Austrian press, but don't attack muslims. Translated European press review selection
Yum Niam
Ramadan: from Bologna with love
We’re hungry, and in a hurry. The evening sun is still strong enough to melt the tar between the cobbles. I’m in Bologna, Italy, and Badr is bringing me as a guest to iftar, the daily feast that breaks the ramadan fast.
Best of
cafebabel.com has been covering Europe's tracks for nine years now - a selection of your top articles as voted for weekly by editorial HQ
Ban bullfighting in Catalonia
Polish elections: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, hamster
Glamping: Europe's happy campers
Velib: bicycle + freedom on city streets
EU data and phone roaming charges drop
Interview with Russian band Cheese People
EUexpansion
EUtradition
Chatroulette: Sodom and Gomorrah of web
The story behind suicides in Lithuania
Sarkozy affair: Brit media and co interested
Post-Belgium elections interview
Jon Gnarr's ‘Best party’ Iceland profile
Comedians Stéphane Guillon and Didier Porte fired
Spain beats Netherlands to win world cup 2010
