cafebabel.com

How an Italian boy became a ‘happiness coach’

('amare.ca',) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:16:45 -0000

Born in the land of ‘la dolce vita’, Bergamo-born Frank Ra, 32, travelled Europe before publishing a book on happiness. He offers his thoughts on spiritual scepticism, being a former erasmus student or ex-pat and how ‘no place is perfect unless we accept it with all its features’

Estonia: blowing hot and cold in the eurozone

('Carol Howard',) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:53:38 -0000

In the midst of the euro crisis Estonia is saying goodbye to its kroon and on 1st January 2011 it introduced the single currency. Given the problems in Ireland, Portugal and Spain, this is one of the few pieces of good news for monetary union this year

Europe 70 years after the outbreak of WWII

('euro topics',) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:55:02 -0000

The German invasion of Poland seventy years ago on September 1, 1939, marked the start of world war II. The repercussions of the war are still felt across Europe today. The Estonian, Austrian, British and Portuguese media comment

Estonians feel recession, but there's a euro at the end of the tunnel

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0000

‘We have been too optimistic’ - a gentle landing was predicted for Estonia’s 2011 entry into the Eurozone, but the economy is entering turbulent times following its exponential growth. Interview macro-economic expert in Tallinn

Photos: 111 000 Russians in Estonia

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Beyond the historic gates of the old town, around the commercial centres, behind the motorways - the Russian-speaking minority mill on with life in the district of Lasnamaï in Tallinn. Photo feature

Animated Dreams in Tallinn: film articulates art and the market

('Matthew Pagett',) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:00:00 -0000

While the older generation of illustrators, working from former soviet studios, export their art thanks to public financing, the younger ones attempt to reconcile artistic creation and getting paid. The local festival kicked off on 19 November

Youth in Estonia: no country for student activists

('Helen Swain',) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:00:00 -0000

Talking politics to Estonians is more likely to make the temperature drop than the Baltic chill, whilst Europe is remote from students' daily concerns

Estonian view on polluted Baltic Sea

('Mary Maistrello',) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:35:47 -0000

At the end of April Finnish president Tarja Kaarina Halonen sounded the alarm on the risk of the ecological collapse of the Baltic Sea, one of the most polluted in the world. Silver Vahtra, expert from the environment ministry in Tallinn, explains the guidelines of the 2007 Helcom action plan

Go out in April: Uppsala, nerds and witches

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Enjoy the year's first rays at Walpurgis night in Sweden, a vintage computer festival in Munich or the spring festival in Seville

Teen rock bands: the Tokio Hotel phenomenon

('Martyn Hawkins',) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Young, extremely successful - and extremely annoying for some. Why are teen bands like Estonia's 'The Bedwetters' and Denmark's 'Dúné' storming the charts across Europe?

Headscarfs from Europe's presidents on Mars

('Martyn Hawkins',) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Are you waiting for the snow in Tallinn? Bothered about a piece of cloth in Turkey? Or taking a politics lesson with McCain? The latest news from our babelblogs

Estonian, language of the future?

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

From September 2007, the Russian minority have to officially learn Estonian in secondary schools - Irene Kaosaar, the head of linguistic minorities, on a 'transition' not a 'reform'

Lithuania: a stranger in the south of the north

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Since achieving independence in 1990, it has strived to walk steadily on its own. On the eve of reaching adulthood as a self-governing country, Vilnius is like a little girl who has been picked on too many times by her bigger neighbours

Internet mad e-stonia

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:18:00 -0000

A toy airport, a medieval city centre with little wood houses and a maritime city which is completely internet savvy

Tallinn 2011: fairytales spin gold

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Estonia is determined to present Tallinn as a dynamic culture capital when it assumes the title in 2011 – even with a grouchy Europe

Estonian economy: between crash landing and Baltic summer

('Kate Martin',) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

11% growth, 4.5% unemployment and a lot of liberalism: how the Baltic Tiger catches investors. Inflation means the euro won't be in place before 2012

Citizenship: undefined

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

A modern, progressive EU member state divided by the linguistic, cultural and educational differences between the Estonians and the Russian minority

Risk factor 'boomtown'

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Liberal reforms over the past decade have catapulted Estonia into one of the fastest-growing market economies of the European Union. But can the Baltic tiger keep up on the social agenda?

There’s no place like Zverynas

('Natalia Sosin',) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:00:00 -0000

This week we look at parades, journalism, amputations and isolated communities living in the woods... Only on babelblogs

Energy - new Russian missile?

Tue, 29 May 2007 03:45:00 -0000

As it plays an increasingly larger role in the relationship between Russia and its neighbours, is energy supply a way of seeing who is in control of the region?

Estonia: not democratic or tolerant enough

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0000

After Estonia’s parliamentary elections on March 4, Culture Minister Raivo Palmaru casts a critical eye over the nation’s press and young democracy

Hasso Krull, voice of a new Estonia

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:06:00 -0000

As Estonia prepares to celebrate independence from the USSR, poet and intellectual Hasso Krull explains why Russian will never be an official language

Estonia: Europe’s little Las Vegas

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:10:00 -0000

Seventy gambling rooms in Tallinn and 3,800 active gambling machines for its 5,000 inhabitants. It's a big game of chance in the little Baltic republic

Continental blues

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

The French consume 65 million boxes of antidepressants every year. The Baltic states have the highest suicide rates, but Italians are among the least affected

Musical revolution in Estonia

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:18:00 -0000

Former Eurovision participant, singer Vaïko Eplik, 24, explains why he shuns the bright showbusiness lights of the mainstream music industry

Estonia goes west

('Francesca Reinhardt',) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 12:00:00 -0000

On November 27 - 28, George W. Bush made a flying visit to Estonia – a further step in the tightening of US-Baltic relations