cafebabel.com

Book review: the strange case of Ryszard Kapuscinski

('Paulina Dominik',) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:55:06 -0000

The moment I heard that the biography of the late Polish 'journalist of the century' was being written, I knew there'd be some debate. I was right. Because if in Poland someone is 'great', he is also an untouchable saint

Facebooking Afghani refugee children in Italy

('Alexandra Baxter',) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:15:00 -0000

‘In December 2008 I met four young Afghani children on a bus. I was struck by their smiles, the commotion they caused and the racism of other passengers on the bus. They had arrived that very evening, on foot, the night that the Tiber flooded. I took them with me that evening, but things didn’t turn out as expected...'

Fiat at Melfi plant, Italy: ‘basically there’s a recession every five years'

('Helen Swain',) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:00:00 -0000

Following plans to restructure Termini Imerese facility, Fiat has got everyone talking again: on 15 July, production of the Punto model was stopped at San Nicola di Melfi, one of the largest Fiat factories. In Italy, the company’s future divides trade unions and confuses workers. Report

What the fridge is EU debate on the ground?

('Neil Saddington',) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:00:00 -0000

For a year from October 2008, the monthly initiative brings together one cafebabel.com editor with three reporters and one photojournalist from across the network to spend four days reporting in a European city

Biofuels: how green is the green gold rush in Senegal?

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:00:00 -0000

Europe’s Sustainable Energy Week takes place in Brussels from 9 to 13 February, with biofuel at the centre of the debates. Is it possible for Europe to go green without causing famine in western Africa? Feature

Greek islands: a new Eldorado for clandestine immigrants

('Helen Swain',) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:00:00 -0000

The influx of clandestine immigrants to Italy and Spain has drastically reduced; the eastern Aegean Sea has become the new destination for illegal migrants

German nudists off Poland's Baltic beaches!

('Sarah Pybus',) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The nudists have always been there, but until Poland entered into the Schengen agreement on 1 January 2008, Usedom beach, which lies between the German and Polish towns of Ahlbeck and Swinoujscie, was divided by a wire-mesh fence

Hating on Hungarian Tescos

('Kate Hollinshead',) — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:00:00 -0000

Whilst shopping malls spring up like mushrooms, more and more shops in the city centre stand empty. Where does the course lie between tradition and modernity in Budapest?

‘Buda-sex’ and the Hungarian porn industry

('Akli Hadid',) — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:00:00 -0000

Budapest is famous for being one of the world’s sex capitals. Pornography, sex toursim and prostitution converge in the Hungarian capital, to the delight of some and the frowns of others

As drugs and violence rise, Mexico's democratic hopes fall

('John Smith',) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Mexicans are losing confidence in their institutions, justice is absent, women are murdered and narcotics traffickers keep the pressure on an increasingly violent society

Spot the Italian (or German) in South Tyrol

('Ed Saunders',) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The fortunate can discover the possibilities of European linguistic diversity at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. Multilingualism shows its true colours here – both good and bad

Fresh new faces at the Berlinale Talent Campus

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Between 9 and 14 February, the German capital played host to 350 up-and-coming film enthusiasts from all over the world

Günther von Hagens: dead bodies 'Plastinator'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0000

The German anatomist has created quite a furore with his ‘Body Worlds’ exhibition throughout Europe. Since November 2006, visitors to the Plastinarium workshop in Guben have observed how corpses are plasticised

Hamburg: European metropolis?

('Ed Saunders',) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Built in lavish style in 2006, the Europa arcade in the centre of Hamburg is the city’s new landmark shopping centre. 'Europe' can at best be imagined here

Finland: Europe's newest nuclear plant

('Angela Steen',) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:00:00 -0000

'I never get an answer when I ask Iran what they plan to do with the enriched uranium they produce,' EU foreign chief Javier Solana said on 30 January. While the Iranian president waits for the west, we take a Nordic diversion

Minsk: the tidy road to regime perfection

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Neat, elegant, so clean that you want to go barefoot – that is how the Lukashenko regime likes to present the capital of Belarus - the one visible to tourists, that is

Built on Benzene

('Ed Saunders',) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The city of Budapest wants to build a science park on the site of the former Óbuda gasworks

Digging deeper on line M4 in Budapest's metro

('Nils Elzenga',) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0000

In 1896, Budapest welcomed the first metro line on the European mainland. Well over a century later, and the Hungarian capital’s public transport network desperately needs upgrading.

Partying the Erasmus way - over 34 hectares

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Endless parties, sprawling sports fields, a huge park and diverse roommates from the four corners of the globe - a room in the Cité University is extremely sought after amongst Erasmus students in Paris

Luxemburg: three languages, one nation

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 14:00:00 -0000

It is not easy to establish a national identity when foreigners make up 38% of a country’s population, especially when it is a country that has to sit between France and Germany. However, sometimes a small country can teach the European Union a wonderful lesson on integration.