Stories about Western Europe from October, 2006
IGF in Athens: searching globally for the Internet's common ground
The first meeting of the Internet Governance Forum – IGF, which aims to be a a place for a “multi-stakeholder policy dialogue”, starts tomorrow, going from 30 October to 2 November in Athens, Greece. The idea of the forum emerged during last year's meetings of the World Summit on the...
Jamaica, UK: Bob lived here
JT at the Caribbean Beat weblog notes the addition of a plaque honouring reggae superstar Bob Marley to London's list of blue plaques designating landmarks associated with well-known figures: “It's been an interesting week for reggae in London, as officialdom takes a sudden new interest in the music. On Wednesday,...
Dominica, UK: Jean Rhys
Jeremy Taylor's dislike of the new BBC dramatisation of Dominican novelist Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea leads him to consider, among other things, Rhys's struggle to reconcile “her creole and European selves” and the British reception of her work.
Greece: Blog censorship in Greece ahead of the IGF forum in Athens
Currybetdotnet reports about the administrator of a Greek RSS aggregating service (blogme.gr) who was sued, arrested and jailed for hosting a link to a blog with allegedly offending content. This censorship case occurs days ahead of UN's IGF forum in Athens, which among other issues will be focusing on ‘Freedom...
DRC, Belgium: Anti-Kabila Demonstration
Congolese demonstrating in Brussels last weekend. Photo by Etienne Ngandu. In anticipation of the presidential runoff taking place this Sunday, October 29 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, opposing Jean-Pierre Bemba to incumbent Joseph Kabila, a demonstration took place in Brussels, Belgium last weekend in qualified support of Bemba but...
Trinidad, UK: Between two worlds
Trinidad blogger Jeremy Taylor returns to the “quiet corner of the mudder country” (England) where he grew up: “There ought to be a name for this state of mind. (Perhaps there is.) When your head is split between two worlds.“
Albania, Italy, Turkey: “My First Hijacking”
Our Man In Tirana links to the story of a man who was a passenger on the hijacked Tirana-Istanbul flight – over at The Chronicles of Chris: Travel Recollections, written by a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, who served in Pakistan, and is now based in Israel, and was...
France, Togo: Koffi Yamagne's 12 Years in French Public Office
Togolese-origined politician Kofi Yamgnane posts a pamphlet about his 12 years in elected public office in Finistere, France. Says the pamphlet (Fr): “All the work accomplished was done with incessant dialogue with your mayors and your elected officials. but also with you through your citizen groups.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Anti-smelter movement gains momentum
The movement protesting the establishment of an aluminium smelter in a community in south-western Trinidad gains momentum with the setting up of a protest camp in the north of the island, reports the Rights Action T&T blog. The camp will be launched on Friday to coincide with a demonstration in...
Trinidad & Tobago, UK: Review of “Londonistan”
Trinidad blogger Jeremy Taylor reviews the book Londonistan by British journalist Melanie Phillips: “What causes intelligent people to slither across the political spectrum from left to right (and sometimes the other way) as they get older? When she was a young journalist, Melanie Phillips used to write outstandingly sensible and...
Martinique, France: Stereotypes of the French
Pondering stereotypes of the French, Martiniquan Le Blog de Moi writes (Fr): “When I arrived in the States with a group of people from all over France, … our recruiter explained to us very seriously that because of complaints by American students, he encouraged us to bathe and to change...
Celebrating the Birth of the Guadeloupean Nation
On October 21, Convention Pour Une Guadeloupe Nouvelle commemorated a historical moment (October 21, 1801) it identifies as the birth of the Guadeloupean nation and added: “Nation without state, Guadeloupe is eternal and no one can destroy it. Our national rights must be respected by the French authorities that govern...
Togo, Congo, France: Failed Diaspora or Simply Depression?
France-based Togolese blogger Kangni Alem reposts (Fr) an email allegedly authored by Kabiona-Kaseke, a Congolese lamenting the failures of the African diaspora. Says the email: “Diaspora, we have failed in our dreams. Dreams of succeeding in our native countries after studying in the West. … Diaspora, we've failed in our...
The Week That Was in Bahrain
It has been yet another busy week on the Bahraini blogsophere, with some bloggers rallying behind an anti-sectarianism campaign, Just Bahraini; others just back home from a long holiday; and one celebrating his/her (?) birthday! In local politics, Mahmood Al Yousif is keeping us abreast with all that's happening on...
Vojaĝo tra Esperantujo / A trip through Esperanto-land
Only two months until Esperanto Day! In this, our second roundup of the Esperanto Blogosphere (missed the first?), I will lead you on a tour of some of the different kinds of blogs you find in the Esperanto community. Nur du monatoj ĝis la Esperanto-Tago! En tiu ĉi, nia dua...
Slovenia: Mistaken for Sweden
NHL player Anze Kopitar is Slovenian, not Swedish, writes The Glory of Carniola, correcting the media's unfortunate mistake: “Another opportunity for Slovenia to get some press, down the drain.”
China: Where my Nobels at?
When one of the best writers in the country flees, is asked not to come back and then wins a Nobel prize in literature while in exile, would it be a bit disingenuous to accuse the Swedish Academy of bias against awarding Nobel prizes to mainland Chinese? Perhaps not, judging...
France, Togo: What's the Use of African Book Fairs?
France-based Togolese writer Kangni Alem writes (Fr): ” African literature book fairs in France are, by and large, rarely satisfying. They don't always actually sell your books, they don't feed you right, and worse you have to follow the law of star writers who bore you too death when they...
France, Togo: No Smoking
France-based Togolese blogger Kangni Alem writes (Fr): “France is going to progressively completely forbid tobacco smoking in public places. Thank God. To say I had no problem with public smoking would be a lie.” Tony, a commentator to the blog responds (Fr): ” In Africa smokers will continue to have...
Armenia: Genocide Bill Fallout
Blogrel outlines some of the impacts and consequences of the passage of France's law against denying the Armenian genocide. While the author is happy the bill passed, he hopes that it ultimately fails in the interests of free speech.
DRC: AMP Conference in Belgium
UDPS Liege warns (Fr) that an AMP conference entitled “Elections: Second Round in the Congo” that took place in Belgium today was really a “conference to buy the conscience of diaspora activists”. The blog asked that UDPS sympathizers protest it.
