cafebabel.com

Scotland: address to haggis and Europe

('Arno van der Zwet',) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0000

25 January 2012 marks the 253rd birthday of Robert Burns, the most famous Scottish bard. Supermarkets all over are going haggis-crazy. Haggis is delicious, but not for the faint hearted. Recipe

Scottish independence: Haud yer weesht, Cameron

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:43:13 -0000

On 9 January, British prime minister David Cameron offended pretty much everyone in British politics by telling the Scots to hurry up with their referendum on independence. Now the Scottish parliament has confirmed the vote will take place in autumn 2014. One Scot explains why Cameron should stay out of it

Dinner for one in 2012

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:32:23 -0000

The Brits have spent the end of year in a 'lull' whilst the Germans are going through 'new year's fatigue'. In their new year's addresses at least, Europe's Franco-German leaders warned us it won't be getting any better this new year

'What if?': students re-imagine 2011's big events

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:31:09 -0000

Protests, eurocrisis and elections: it's all too easy to assume the events we read about in the news are inevitable. Yet so often they are instead the result of chance encounters, spontaneous decisions and personal feelings. We asked four European students to re-imagine the big events of 2011

Britain-Europe: confessions of an angry Lib Dem

('dominicmaciver',) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:42:58 -0000

Type 'What Defines an English Person' into google right now and see the top result - this is how unpopular we are with the rest of the world, especially after the UK chose not to join a new EU treaty governing the finance system. Europe has divided a two-headed monster, 'Clammeron', in half: the government led by David Cameron and Nick Clegg since 2010 has been spliced together by iron threads of political contingency

Slovenian, British, Spanish and German media on UK’s EU veto

('euro topics',) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:14:45 -0000

British prime minister David Cameron defended his EU veto in the British house of commons on 12 December, while French president Nicolas Sarkozy lamented that he was ‘splitting Europe in two’. Britain is simply more eurosceptic, replies the rest of Europe, who stress the advantages that the British can offer Europe

Big city life: Europe’s pigeons

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:45:00 -0000

Doves and pigeons are one and the same except that the former got the 'symbol of peace' gig and the latter became the grey critters affectionately known as ‘rats with wings’. Whence the flight of fancy?

How to make Polish potato pancakes

('Paulina Dominik',) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:00:00 -0000

It’s cheap and available, warm and nourishing, omnipresent in most traditional European cuisines – but the starchy crop only hit the continent from South America as late as the 16th century

Bonfire night: Guy Fawkes, Europe's first 'indignant' citizen

('Lucy Russell',) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:04:15 -0000

The image of Guy Fawkes is everywhere at the moment, inspiring the worldwide anonymous and occupy movements. What would he have thought if he had known that over four hundred years after his death thousands of people in Europe and beyond would be wearing masks of his face while protesting against today’s all-encompassing global political system?

Question of the week: so what do you do with your rubbish?

('cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:19:21 -0000

What do you do with your rubbish? Do you care what happens once it leaves your house? Should this be an important issue for politicians? That’s this week’s theme on Europa plus. One young Brit tells us what she thinks

Tunisia’s Arab renaissance comes out of London exile

('dominicmaciver',) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:00:00 -0000

On 23 September the arab spring achieved its most significant achievement yet. It was a rebirth for the modern Arab world without spilt blood nor fiery rhetoric in the dust and the death; instead it used ink and consensus to rebuild a country. Moderate islamist party ennahda, coming out of exile in the UK, won 41% in the country's first democratic elections on 22 October

The rise of divorce parties in Europe

('Isabella',) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:15:00 -0000

Inspired by a trend from the United States, an increasing number of companies and services are being established in the UK, France and Germany. Amongst the European Union member states, divorce was not possible until 1970 in Italy, 1981 in Spain 1995 in Ireland and, most recently, 2011 in Malta

Riots: Britain's boring thugs and Europe's burning thread

('Metsa Rahimi',) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:23:02 -0000

Don't synonymise the London rioters with the protesting Greeks or Syrians; it is just plain offensive. Yes, Londoners mobilised for four days, but it can't compare to the months of social, political and economic agitation across Europe and the Arab world

Sherry, an English love story

('Akli Hadid',) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:00:00 -0000

One of the most typical European wines has to be 'vino de Jerez', a white wine fortified with brandy which is known as 'sherry' in the English-speaking world and 'Xérès' amongst French-speakers. The name comes from the vineyards near the town on the southern tip of Europe

French perspectives on London riots: 'so 2005'

('hkeet',) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:20:55 -0000

Rioters were brought before the courts, police failings were discussed. What were the causes of the unprecedented violence that the UK witnessed in August? The authorities, driven by traditional populism and reactionary politics, refused to analyse them in-depth in the moment. Perspective from across the channel

Libya after Gaddafi: Europe’s Iraq?

('Culturissima',) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:13:11 -0000

The post-Gaddafi era is taking shape around the national transition council, which is currently in control of Tripoli. Uncertainty about the future is already taking hold though, with fears that Libya could become a new Iraq. This time it falls to Europe to avoid repeating the post-Saddam disaster

Edinburgh fringe festival 2011: the problem with passing around the hat

('jellingworth',) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:54:44 -0000

At first glance, Edinburgh’s Royal Mile in August seems like an anarchic, free-spirited display of all that the world’s largest arts festival has to offer. But after a while you notice how rigidly the twirling street performers stick to their allocated spots, the hard-faced hard selling in the ‘bucket speeches’ after each act and the ever-present banners advertising Richard Branson’s latest venture - a credit card firm

Germans ban ‘I Like’ facebook button, Spanish want to ‘Dislike’

('Annie Rutherford',) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:04:43 -0000

The north German state Schleswig Holstein has announced that it is banning facebook’s famous ‘I like’ button, with websites which haven’t removed it before the end of September facing fines of up to 50, 000 euros (44,000 pounds). Whilst Germany and the UK have raised more general concerns, the Spanish were there first

Pass the buck, Murdoch and Brooks

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:13:10 -0000

During the British parliamentary hearing of the news tycoon Murdochs on 19 July, a friend analysed the 'father-and-son's game of patty-cake': 'I pass the buck to you, you pass it back. Pass pass pass pass, oh, and then pass it to competitor papers, because it's clearly their fault. And then pass it to News of the World because how can one or two men be responsible for a company that's just SO big?' Is it a phrase which translates well to other European idioms?

There was a media mogul, a police service and a prime minister

('euro topics',) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:54:54 -0000

The deputy chief of the London police service Scotland Yard John Yates resigned on 18 July in the wake of the resignation of his boss Paul Stephenson. The two officials stepped down in response to corruption charges emerging from the phone-hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper the News of the World. The Austrian, British and Swiss press see national security threatened and call for a reform of Scotland Yard

Lisbon, London: the problem with SlutWalks or Who's afraid of feminine sexuality?

('Madalina Pierseca',) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:49:55 -0000

Europe has been celebrating three months of the Canadian-exported 'SlutWalks', with the next protest against the equation 'sexy clothing does not mean slut' taking place in Lisbon on 25 June. 11 June saw the phenomenon hitting British shores

Identikit of a pure, indigenous European

('Aatish Pattni',) — Thu, 26 May 2011 12:30:00 -0000

The True Finns are the third largest political party in Finland. Are these nationalists and eurosceptics an exception to the rule in their Nordic region? Alongside the new leader of the National Front party in France, Marine Le Pen, the collection of ‘Indigenous Britons’ in the UK and Italy's Northern League, Europe has never been more inhabited by so-called ‘pure’ Europeans. There are fewer than they would have us believe; at the risk of scaring those who wish it to stay that way

Wedding fever: UK royals 2011 vs fin-de-siècle Austria-Hungary

('Nettah',) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:20:08 -0000

In case you haven’t heard, on 29 April Prince William is to marry Kate Middleton in a royal ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Once upon a time, on 1 July 1900, in Reichstadt, Bohemia, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, married his lover of five years

What are you doing on 29 April? European republicans on rise amid British royal wedding hysteria

('Lucy Russell',) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:01:08 -0000

As a Brit currently living in Germany, many people have recently been asking me excitedly about the up-coming British royal wedding. Mostly people are surprised, or even disappointed, when I explain that no, I won’t be watching the wedding, but rather probably inviting friends around for a 'this is not a royal wedding' party

Middle finger in Europe

('cbinns',) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:10:52 -0000

Despite the globalisation of the audiovisual world and the constant information overload, gestures appear to be just as effective as when they were first invented many centuries ago, so much so that using a simple gesture to order two coffees can almost end up sparking a row. A rudimentary guide to hands, chins and backsides to help you avoid problems in Europe

English, British or European? My grandparents on UK in the EU

('Richard Vale',) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:11:36 -0000

According to the Eurobarometer survey of autumn 2009, only 30% of UK citizens believe that our membership of the EU is 'a good thing'. Whilst this meagre piece of one of Eurobarometer’s many brightly-coloured and informative pies is up two points from the last survey, the fact remains that Joe Public fails to engage with the mysterious, supranational, sovereignty-gobbling entity that resides somewhere beyond the Channel

Monster-in-law

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:00:00 -0000

'Give up all hope of peace so long as your mother-in-law is alive!' So goes the first century AD jibe by Roman satirist Juvenal. In many respects, Europeans share a common opinion when it comes to the woman who gave birth to their other halves. Be she a Spanish suegra, Italian suocera or Portuguese and Catalan sogra, mother-in-law universally translates into all languages as ‘monster-in-law’!

Irish elections: expats can't vote on 25 February 2011

('Denis Fitzgerald',) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 10:07:23 -0000

The Dail is dissolved! Irish citizens will be electing a new government to oversee recovery from the worst economic crisis in the state's history. However, many of them forced to leave by the four-year-old fianna fáil-green government's malfeasance will be denied a ballot

Confused, Cameron? Don’t abandon multiculturalism just yet

('Daniel G. Ross',) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:23:39 -0000

There's nothing particularly new in the British prime minister's 5 February claims that multiculturalism has failed. But there is something worrisome about his speech, and not only because other English-speaking countries are looking to Britain as they debate the merits of their own multiculturalism policies. View from Canada

Football viewing rights: Europe 1, Premier League 0?

('Anj',) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:44:32 -0000

UK LANDLADY USED GREEK SATELLITE FOR GAMES! screamed the headline; a British woman convicted of using a cheap European channel to let her customers watch football. Now the European court of justice is 'on the ball'. Read the story in football expressions

Cameron vs. multiculturalism: British, Belgian, Spanish, Romanian press react

('euro topics',) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:25:53 -0000

In a call for ‘muscular liberalism’ at the Munich security conference, the British prime minister blames multiculturalism for exacerbating Britain's problems with radical islamists. While cautiously commending Cameron's objectives, Europe’s press criticises his methods on the grounds that they play into the hands of the extreme right

Testimony London protests: 'I don’t recognise my country'

("naomi o'leary",) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:25:14 -0000

As 2010 drew to an end, Britain saw a level of civil unrest that had not been seen in decades. Between media bias, police violence, and petrol bombs, here is an eyewitness report on how it happened. Another student protest is scheduled in London for 29 January

Alex Metric: the man with a studio tan

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:11:24 -0000

The 29-year-old British DJ and producer takes us on his own brief musical journey of electronic music as we await the remixes on his new disc Open Your Eyes. The eponymous first single, an intriguing collaboration with DJ Angello of Swedish House Mafia, is out this January

London paralysed by snow: a Frenchie breaks the ice

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:15:00 -0000

It was supposed to be for a few days holiday, it ended up being an extended ice break as one French babelian ended up stuck in the snow. Like plenty of others, the days passed and the prospects of christmas at home drifted further away

Aids: the HIV carrier criminals in Europe

('Hayley Worsley-Carter',) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 12:00:00 -0000

In Scotland and Guyana Mark Devereaux and Alain Prosper respectively get ten years imprisonment. In France another man gets a five-year sentence, spending at least eighteen months behind bars. What do these criminals have in common?

81 billion pounds later: Brits avoid bankruptcy

('euro topics',) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:02:44 -0000

The British government announced a barrage of drastic austerity measures on 20 October: major cuts in social welfare and almost half a million jobs in the public sector axed. British, Finnish, Danish and Dutch commentators find these public sector cuts, the biggest since world war two, harsh, unfair and extremely dangerous for the economy

Labour goes left(er): Ed Miliband new British opposition leader

('euro topics',) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:37:44 -0000

He has edged out his older brother and former foreign secretary David to become leader of the British labour party. The 40-year-old’s victory - on the party's left - means a change in direction for Labour, write the Danish, Dutch, Spanish and Irish press

‘Learning German is pointless’: British students abandon foreign languages

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 10:51:10 -0000

Could the British actually be getting worse at language learning? Apparently so. In a 21st century UK, more young people than ever are questioning why they should learn a second language at all

Micro-penis: men on verge of a nervous breakdown

('Marta Nathansohn',) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:10:00 -0000

At a 'New Men: Really?' conference at Dusseldorf University in February, the possibility of introducing a representative for male equal opportunities at the German government level was bandied about. It seems the modern man has no certainties left - not even between his legs

Aids, Alzheimers, abortion: Europe's most shocking adverts

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:31:20 -0000

From Spain and Italy's saucy adverts, via the UK and Germany's treatment of diseases, to Poland's nazi memories - a video tour of the banned adverts which most recently shocked modern European society

Citizenship exams: spotlight western Europe

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:21:13 -0000

There's no European-wide citizenship test - it's obligatory by law in national governments only. The Brits and French started in 2005, followed by the Netherlands in 2006 and Germany in 2008, though Italy and Spain don't command it by law. Overview

Young Europeans remember 9/11

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:38:28 -0000

It’s eight years since the attacks which killed 2, 752 people, destroyed the World Trade Centres and damaged the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. The cafebabel.com editorial team share their memories from across the waters on the event which shaped America and the world today

No job? There’s always God, says Pope to youth

('Ems_8674',) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:15:00 -0000

It’s not a good time to be the pope. From 16-19 September the pontiff will be visiting Britain, on his first trip to the country since John Paul II’s six-day tour in 1982. And the British don’t want it

Corruption, crime and journalism in Europe

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:27:06 -0000

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?

('ruth gray',) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:45:00 -0000

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...

Europe's politician loudmouths

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:54:31 -0000

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

Boobquake: best of European cleavage expressions

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:27:22 -0000

When the French refer to a curvy woman's best assets, they note that 'there are a lot of people on the balcony', whilst the Spanish remark that a woman has a 'great breast-onality'. Eyebrow-raising expression of the week

Becoming an atheist? Renounce your religion online

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:09:21 -0000

The internet transformed our relationship with organised religion; it could now become its downfall. In 2009, Irish website Countmeout.ie caused an international stir by offering a quick, simple way to leave the catholic church. Panorama on how Europe's muslims, christians and jews exchange faith for freedom of speech

Thick as thieves in Europe

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:15:00 -0000

It's better to proverbially be 'like ass and shirt' ('comme cul et chemise') in France than to be 'getting on like a house on fire', like they say in England and Germany - surely? Touring Europe's round of expressions to denote the most inseparable of friends

Not going on holiday? You're on 'staycation'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:00:00 -0000

It seems an eternity, but the financial crisis is only just celebrating its second birthday. The US has spawned a side effect phenomenon, a neat little neologism called the 'staycation'. The term contradicts the notion of going away on 'vacation'. People can't afford holidays and are 'staying' home. Is it clear enough?