cafebabel.com

University initiation rites debate hits France and Belgium

('Amy Hargreaves',) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:36:06 -0000

In the UK at least three people had died by 2008 because of initiation ceremonies for undergraduates, whilst recent incidents in France and Belgium featuring physical abuse and comas have helped raise awareness about a dangerous student ritual

'Our School' documentary: segregated Roma schools despite EU funds

('Linda Krajcso',) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:40:25 -0000

When directors and producers Mona Nicoară and Miruna Coca-Cozma followed three Roma children in a small Romanian village for four years, their film initially about a success story of integration became one about the realities of ethnic segregation. Interview

Street integration test: German Youtube hit Tedros Teclebrhan

('hkeet',) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:00:00 -0000

He hasn’t hit his wife for more than two months now, has never heard of the fall of a certain wall and thinks the chancellor before ‘Angelo Merte’ was Hitler... Within two weeks, the video of the man with the blond mustache became a German web hit. Over 5.5 million people have already clicked on it the promotional video, thinking the actor was a real migrant and thus not noticing the mirror being held up to German integration policy

Polish vs Lithuanian language: is your surname 'bitch' or 'vulva'?

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:50:56 -0000

Whilst the likes of The Economist alarmedly predict a major energy-security-everything conflict between Lithuania and Poland over spelling, many in both countries aren’t even aware that the issue has reached such diplomatic heights. In fact Poles in general might be unaware of it at all - language dispute of the week

Berlin launch: Anti-islam book by German bank exec Thilo Sarrazin

('eurotopics',) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:25:08 -0000

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

Magyd Cherfi: 'identity and national is a collusion that I don’t get'

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:10:00 -0000

Singing about these issues in concert is something of a déjà vu that the French singer and militant can do without, he says. Interview

European bloggers describe their Berlin walls

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:20:11 -0000

Monday is 9 November, the day when the Berlin wall was brought down. To reflect on this iconic modern historical event for the eurogeneration, citizen journalists from five cafebabel.com local teams - Sofia, Budapest, Turin, Strasbourg and Istanbul - simultaneously blogged one day about the walls they see in their cities

Zanko: the 'White Arab' Italian rapper who would perform for the Lega Nord

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:30:38 -0000

In English slang, the word 'Zanko' is someone who is a social and cultural pioneer. Like this 28-year-old Syrian Italian, who gigs in unique political hotspots such as Zingonia and Lampedusa, has 'fought' for hip hop and would happily show the far-right Italian party what he's made of

Portuguese Barroso: this is your man for Europe, again!

('euro topics',) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:17:12 -0000

On 16 September, the European parliament voted José Manuel Barroso in for a second term as European commission president, with 382 votes for, 219 against and 117 abstentions. Barroso promised to advocate social policies, but the Portuguese, Belgian, French and Polish press was sceptical

Fake Oddity: ‘relations will change after July’s Turkish cultural season in France’

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:21:25 -0000

The Lyon-based group talk about their participation in an event introducing 'Turkish culture' in France from 1 July 2009 til March 2010. But on 11 June, the Turkish PM warned it could be postponed because of opposition to the Turkish EU membership bid, according to the Hurriyet daily

London and Berlin reviews of Mark Ravenhill's 'Over There' play

('sara mojtehedzadeh',) — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:30:46 -0000

Mark Ravenhill’s unconventional play about identical twins who are reunited after growing up in east and west Germany travelled from London to Berlin this spring. Our London reviewer calls it a timely commentary on the EU’s current political troubles. Our Berlin reviewer wonders if the British director reproaches the Germans with the repression of history. Cross-reviews from the Royal Court and Schaubühne theatres

Where are the Italians at the Romanian shopping centre in Rome?

('Annika Thornton',) — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:30:00 -0000

The first Romanian-owned shopping centre, La Strada, has opened in Tiburtina, a district of Rome. Visitors are few and far between, and the Italians are even scarcer. Feature

Migrants keep coming to Seville, Spain and the rest of Europe

('Thomas Gam Nielsen',) — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:00:04 -0000

But their rights as workers and humans are at stake, while the status of illegal or legal are being sorted out

Luiza Sosna, the Polish woman who will integrate you in Luxembourg

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:15:00 -0000

The 30-year-old has only recently moved to the grand duchy herself and advocates a quite particular theory: no one can escape the culture shock

Germany, Italy vs. Döner Kebab

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0000

At the end of January 2009, the Turkish daily newspaper Hürriyet reported that the German town of Viersen had ruled that its retailers must replace the Turkish word 'döner' (which means “rotisserie”) with its German equivalent 'Drehspieß'. In Italy, the city council of Lucca banned 'ethnic fastfood' in the city centre. Is the döner kebab the target of an anti-Turkish conspiracy?

Roma in the Ponticelli district, Naples, speak after the fire

('Mary Maistrello',) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:41:18 -0000

The intolerance of the population towards the nomads, who had been living for years on the periphery of the city, has become ever violent, supported by the popular and racist propaganda of the Lega Nord (northern league) political party. We try to understand what is left after the lynchings, the fires, the vigilantes and forced evictions

Kids with weapons in Istanbul's Kurdish district

('Michelle Williams',) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:00:00 -0000

It is the refusal of the government in Ankara to make the inhabitants get on with each other which ends up in their refusal to integrate in Balat, the Kurdish-Armenian district of Istanbul

Euthanasia: Noel Martin wants to die

('Andrew Burgess',) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:38:00 -0000

The British citizen of Jamaican origin, has been a paraplegic ever since he was attacked by a band of neo-Nazis. In 2007, he made headline news in Germany and is still fighting to be able to decide the date of his death

Hunger strike for illegal immigrants in Belgium

('Sarah Gray',) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:29:00 -0000

162 protestors have came to a provisional deal with the government - but they haven't eaten for 50 days

Women's Day, a European clause

('Andrew Burgess',) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Uniforming the laws concerning the rights of women in the EU from the top down is an exciting idea and a necessity that is gaining support from militants all across the EU

Spain: elections under terrorist alert

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Although arrests of suspected ETA and Jihad terrorists have increased in Spain, the terrorist threat overshadows the campaign of the Spanish legislative elections on 9 March

Australia: ‘Sorry’ for the Indigenous

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

13 February. Big screens, daytrips to Canberra, and a historical ‘apology’ by the new Labor government, to the 13, 000 Indigenous children taken from their Aboriginal parents after British colonisation

British and the EU: Je t’aime moi non plus

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:00:00 -0000

On 19th September 1946, British Wartime leader Winston Churchill called for a ‘United States of Europe’ during a speech in Zurich. Sixty years later, the British still do not want to join a federalist project – time for reflection?

From China and the Middle East with love in Bucharest

('Luciana Grosu',) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Shopping around the city’s northern Europa complex, where two migrant businessmen from the Romanian capital’s integrated communities discuss leaping and boundng with the EU's eight-month old member state

Living behind the cirque du soleil

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Some 4,000 people live in poor conditions in shanty towns on the outskirts of Paris. But an integration programme plans to lift 30 Roma families out of misery

Simon Wheatley – ‘Photography helps me be a simpler person’

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Life through the lens: the Magnum photographer, 37, on snapping European youngsters, the decline of local communities and fearing Islam

What it means to be European

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

French PM Dominique de Villepin and Spanish author Jorge Semprún have teamed up with a new offering: a book about Europe

Mission: Possible – Germany and Poland before the summit

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

The current crisis between Berlin and Warsaw cannot last – Germany and Poland have too many common interests to make a prolonged dispute worthwhile

The Franco-German alliance: for better and for worse

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

The Weimar Triangle summit, taking place on December 5 in Mettlach, Germany, risks spinning the Franco-German axis into the eye

of the storm

Franco-Polish relations: 'the incoming tide of European subventions mutes old hurtful words’

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

Three questions were put to to Dominique Prusak, a French journalist who is currently residing in Poland

The Queen’s servants

('Francesca Reinhardt',) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

Since EU enlargement, more and more young Poles are trying their luck in Great Britain. They work as labourers, wait tables, and hope for a better career

Log jam in Banglatown

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

Youth Unemployment in Tower Hamlets, home of the London Bangladeshi community, reaches 20%. Local government address the problem with mixed results, and reactions

Rocky ride from Jerusalem to Mecca

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

Interfaith forums uniting Muslims and Jews have mushroomed in the United Kingdom following escalation of international conflicts. Are these more than a kneejerk reaction to the pressure put on faith communities?

Neither vision, nor courage...nor leadership

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:00:00 -0000

In the Dutch parliamentary elections the EU clearly plays a secondary role

Who is Right?

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:00:00 -0000

Newcomers are lining up on the right, while voters steer to the left

Breaking barriers: Making EuroMed mobility work

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:00:00 -0000

From 22 to 23 November, the Libyan capital Tripoli hosts the EU-Africa Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development. On the agenda: formal measures in favour of EuroMed mobility

Marius Ivaskevicius: no straight answers

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:35:00 -0000

33 year-old Marius Ivaskevicius is a poet, playwright and director who explores the complexity and melancholy of the Slavic soul. His works are at once tender and humourous

Education and Islam: keeping the faith

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 14:00:00 -0000

Are state faith schools a viable solution to integration problems in Europe?

Free schooling for expat children

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 14:00:00 -0000

Firms in Poland increasingly fund the bilingual education of expats’ children. But financial problems and contract negotiations impede access to exclusive international schools

One country, one language

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 02:00:00 -0000

The European Commission wants to improve young Europeans’ grasp of foreign languages. However, EU member states find it difficult to implement concrete measures

Disappearing in the crowd: Vietnamese immigrants in Poland

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:44:00 -0000

Thousands of Vietnamese are repressed in their home country and are forced to leave Asia and try their luck abroad. For those who choose Poland, the transition is sometimes tough

Spain: Between bombs and calls for freedom

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 16:25:00 -0000

192 deaths and thousands of injuries was a harsh wake up call for Spain. On March 11, the country started their fight against Jihadist terrorism

Squabbles and wrangles in the Muslim world

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 07:29:00 -0000

Despite a population of 15 million Muslims in Europe, stereotypes are still strong: Islam = terrorism. Muslim organisations fail to tackle the identity crises that destabilise their communities

Europe’s anti-terror alert systems are out of tune with each other

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:24:00 -0000

The planned terror attacks uncovered in London are putting the alert systems of every European country to the test. Find out how these work and which alert levels are currently in place.

Escalating threats and anti-terrorist measures

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:00:00 -0000

In response to escalating violence and fear, Europe has equipped itself with a real arsenal to counter threats

Europe - USA: back to french fries

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:00:00 -0000

Though support for Europe’s soft power grows in American liberal bastions, the military EU institutions still lack credibility in the US

Hitchhiking against poverty

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:00:00 -0000

70 young Europeans take part in Eurizons, a unique hitchhike campaign to promote the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Walking naked into a mosque: nationalism in Kosovo

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:00:00 -0000

What is kosovar national identity? Migjen Kelmendi, editor of the weekly Java, opens the debate with a recently published book Who is Kosovar?

From siege to silver screen

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:22:00 -0000

The 12th Sarajevo Film Festival, which ended on August 26, featured a packed programme of challenging films, revealing the remarkable

renaissance of filmmaking in the Balkans.

Translating threats: Chinese immigrants fight to stay in France

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:00:00 -0000

Nicolas Sarkozy vowed to step up deportations of illegal immigrants to 25,000. A network of teachers fights to defend pupils and their families