Global Voices » Italy

Germany: #Blockupy Protests Against Pan-European Austerity

Sara Moreira — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:16:32 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis

‘Blockupy‘ protests against “the widespread impoverishment and denial of democratic rights occurring in the Eurozone as part of a global systemic crisis” shook the financial epicenter of Europe - Frankfurt - last week.

Following the global action days on 12 and 15 May, 2012, (12M and 15M), activists from across Europe were called to converge in Frankfurt in an international solidarity demonstration. The ultimate goal was to blockade the European Central Bank (ECB) and other crucial global capitalism institutions. On May 4, however, the Frankfurt Municipal Department for Public Order announced that all actions planned were deemed illegal, except for a rally on Saturday, May 19.

Occupy Frankfurt in front of ECB. Photo shared by Roarmag.org (copyleft).

Still, thousands of activists decided to take a stand against the ban and claim the constitutional right “of unarmed assembly, without either prior registration or permission”.

While international mainstream media didn't give much attention to the events, online social networks buzzed with citizen reports on the mobilizations that occurred under massive police presence and repression.

On Twitter many videos and photos were shared under the hashtag #Blockupy. Netizens and collectives from different countries, such as Occupy Brussels and Belgium, livestreamed the protests, marches and assemblies, as well as the cultural program and diverse debates on labor, ecology, economy among others.

“Demonstrate for the right to demonstrate”

Blockupy started on the same day that newly elected French President Hollande met Chancellor Merkel [fr] in Berlin, May 16. Meanwhile in Frankfurt, the police complied with the order of eviction of the seven month long Occupy Frankfurt settlement around the Euro sign near the ECB headquarters. The blog Critical Legal Thinking, which had a comprehensive coverage of the four days of protest, described the city as “effectively in [undeclared] State of Exception“.

Police intercept three Berlin buses on the way to #Frankfurt. Photo by @Blockupy on Twitter.

On May 17, a bank holiday, as mainstream media directed the spotlight to the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble - who was awarded the Charlemagne Prize for his major role in the definition of the austerity policies mostly imposed on the periphery European countries - buses filled with activists from different cities heading to the anti-austerity demonstration in the center of Frankfurt, were stopped from entering the city and escorted back by the police.

Despite the attempts of intimidation, around 2,000 activists managed, at least for a few hours, to occupy the historic Roemerberg square where the city hall is based, and which represents the birth of democracy in Germany.

Blockupy protesters take action against banking and finance system. Photo by Patrick Gerhard Stoesser, copyright Demotix (May 17, 2012).

The square was soon surrounded by the riot police:

Protesters sit down and lock arms in opposition to police presence. Photo by Patrick Gerhard Soesser, copyright Demotix (May 17, 2012).

At the end of the day riot police evicted the square with violence, as different photo reporters [de] illustrated:

A protester is detained by police. Photo by Patrick Gerhard Stoesser, copyright Demotix (May 17, 2012).

The detention of at least 400 protesters of different nationalities triggered solidarity protests in different cities across Europe:

Embassy of Germany in Rome - Protest against repression and arrests in Frankfurt during the protests against the crisis. Signs against the Rome-Berlin axis, the ECB and Merkel. Photo by Simona Granati, copyright Demotix (May 18, 2012).

A video report by Finnish user of YouTube sydansalama1, with interviews subtitled in English, sums up the events of the day:

The staff of banks were told by their employees to take the day off or work from home to avoid having to come into the city on Friday, May 18 - the day when the blockade to the financial district was expected to take place. However, as Jerome Ross from Roar Magazine wrote the night before, “Frankfurt [is] on lock-down as over 5,000 police [are] deployed in an unprecedented operation to keep protesters out of the city and away from the banks”:

as the activists here prepare to physically block the headquarters of the European Central Bank, the police already seems to have done the job for them.

"I block! You too?" Photo by ateneinrivolta on Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0).

That day, international mainstream media reported on Goldman Sachs being hired by the Spanish government to evaluate banking conglomerate Bankia, taken over by the state earlier in May, and also about rumors of a referendum in Greece to ballot the membership in the Eurozone. In Frankfurt, while banners read messages of support to the European southern countries (such as “We are all Greeks“), the city remained “affected by massive police presence, identity checks and road blocks“.

When the legal day for protesting finally arrived, May 19, around 20,000 protesters (according to the police, or more than 25,000 according to the organization) rallied the city center.

Blockupy Demonstration in Frankfurt. A large banner held up by protesters reads: 'International resistance against the Austerity Imposed by the Troika and Governments.'. Photo by Michele Lapini copyright Demotix (May 19, 2012).

Blockupy Frankfurt: More than 20,000 against financial crisis politics. International participants in the demonstration. Photo by Patrick Gerhard Stoesser copyright Demotix (May 19, 2012).

Blockupy demo (May 19, 2012). Photo by strassenstriche.net on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

John Halloway, writing for the Guardian, described Blockupy as “a glimmer of hope in times of austerity“, and argued that it would bring momentum to “explosions of creative anger that will follow”. International policy analyst Vinay Gupta, finalizes:

Those people in the streets rioting, the protesting classes, are fighting not for internal political change within their own countries, but (whether they know it or not) for a re-arrangement of the political balance of an entire continent.

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

Robert F. Kennedy Award Will Recognize Social Media Journalism

Bernardo Parrella — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:01:03 +0000

One of the foremost international human rights organizations, the Robert F. Kennedy Center, is calling for nominations to a new Journalism Award on International Photography and International Social Media hosted by their European Office in Florence, Italy. The award will recognize the achievements of professionals and students who investigate human rights issues and advocate for change.

The journalism award is a first step of a long-term Smart Dissident Project by the RFK Center, aiming at providing digital activists from countries in the Middle East and North Africa with a physical working space (the former prison complex Le Murate in Florence, now beautifully restored) and an opportunity to stand up for freedom of expression and for the defense of human rights. The winners in the professional categories will win two weeks stay at Le Murate complex.

Previous award winners have been given a bust of Robert F. Kennedy, a civil rights activist and U.S. politician who was shot dead in 1968, only five years after the death of his brother President John F. Kennedy.

As part of the same project the Center will offer a course on “Social Media and Human Rights: Can Smart Dissidents Create Change?” planned for 18-19 June, 2012 (with participation from Global Voices), followed by the Journalism Award ceremony.

Nomination entries should describe the causes, conditions and remedies of injustice and critical analysis of relevant public policies, programs, attitudes, and private endeavors.

Submission deadline is May 15, 2012 (click here to download an entry form).

Updates from the RFK European Office are on Twitter:

@RFKennedyEurope: RFKennedy Journalism award 2012 on SM and human rights is open to blogs: http://bit.ly/AwardEntryForm - http://bit.ly/JournalismAward #egypt #syria

The Robert F. Kennedy Center present awards every year for both Human Rights and Journalism. In September 2011, the winner of the Human Rights Award was Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, an umbrella organisation that protects LGBTI people in the country.

Italy: Future of News at Perugia International Journalism Festival

Kasia Odrozek — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:05:31 +0000

From April 25-29, 2012, Perugia, a charming city in the Italian region of Umbria became a vibrant meeting point for media enthusiasts and journalists from all over the world, at International Journalism Festival. Speakers included Wadah Khanfar (former director of Al Jazeera), Andy Carvin (NPR), Paul Lewis and Amelia Hill (Guardian), Marco Travaglio (Il Fatto Quotidiano), Evgeny Morozov and many others whose names ring a bell for anyone interested in media (full list of speakers).

Global Voices wouldn't miss the opportunity to be present as well, especially as this year's focus was participation and citizen journalism - arguably, the future of the news.

#ijf12 became a trending topic on Twitter. Picture: official logo.

With panel discussions, keynote speeches, workshops, networking and interviews taking place everywhere, the fast-paced atmosphere of the festival could sweep you away, especially in the heat of Italian weather. People bearing the Festival's red badges saying ‘volunteer‘, 'speaker' or 'staff' took over this beautiful city and turned it into a melting pot of visionary ideas.

But enough about the pleasant circumstances. What were they talking about and why was it so important?

Open journalism is the future

Participation and collaboration in journalism stole the show; the most attended sessions touched on sourcing citizen reporters, working with readers to fact-check and even bringing them into the heart of the editorial process. Here are some examples of the discussions:

The panels about the future of news focused on community participation and ways to engage the public in journalistic processes. Mark Johnson, community editor at The Economist, stressed the importance that reaching out to social media and engaging journalists in dialogue with readers.

A young Costa Rican journalist interviews her Ugandan colleague Kevin Doris Ejon - the first journalist to interview Joseph Kony. Photo: Kasia Odrozek

Wadah Khanfar of Al Jazeera proposed a vision for integral media in his keynote, which was livetweeted on his Twitter account, according to which journalists will actually no longer be producing the news. According to Khanfar, the news will be made through social networks and by smart bloggers, and the role of journalists will be to filter and sort out the relevant ones in order to steer the public discussion.

In addition, he stressed on Twitter:

@khanfarw: Corporations that owned the story are now challenged by those on the ground that are producing quality and accurate reports. #IJF12

In his keynote, Andy Carvin, who as he claimed, could be rather described as an information DJ [Disc Jockey] than a reporter, talked about the importance of experimenting to find new ways of doing journalism and presented his approach of reporting the Arab Spring via Twitter.

Andy Carvin's talk about tweeting the Arab Spring. Picture: Kasia Odrozek

On another panel Paul Lewis talked about the innovative culture of the Guardian and its move towards “open news”, which is more than collaboration. It is bringing readers into the newsroom and involving them in the future direction of the newspaper.

Bringing technology and data journalism into the newsroom were also key themes at the Festival, with a series of workshops on data journalism hosted by the Open Knowledge Foundation.

(Rising Voices grantee Friends of Januária from Brazil was recently featured in the new Data Journalism Handbook by the Open Knowledge Foundation and the European Journalism Centre.)

Stefano Rodotà, Emeritus Professor of law, while talking about the intersection of media, democracy, power and knowledge in his keynote speech, stated that denying someone Internet access because of downloading copyrighted material should be considered a violation of human rights.

Global Voices takes the stage

Besides a strong presence of Global Voices members, mainly from Global Voices in Italian, the Italian Editor, Bernardo Parrella, and Co-Founder of Voci Globali, Antonella Sinopoli, hosted and participated in several panel discussions. (Here is a self-produced Flickr photostream).

While debating the importance of digital and social publishing and “aggregating the news aggregation” the guests mentioned several books published by independent publishing house Quinta di Copertina in collaboration with Global Voices in Italian, ‘70 chilometri dall'Italia: la rivolta del gelsomino‘, as well as Sinopoli's book ‘White Arrogance‘.

GV at IJF12: Bernardo Parrella and Antonella Sinopoli in the panel about open journalism. Photo: Kasia Odrozek

At the panel on news reporting and social media curation, representatives of BBC, France24 and NPR debated with Bernardo Parrella about the role of citizens in the making of the news and the verification problem. The BBC insisted that traditional media, obliged by the trust put on them, provide verified news and a “whole truth” to the audience that citizen media aren't really able to. Parrella drew attention to the importance of experimenting and opening up of the mainstream media to the public.

There were many other highly interesting conversations taking place and you can find videos, press releases and articles covering almost all the events at the Festival's website.

Furthermore, consider passing by next year, as it seems the festival gets better with every edition according to Evgeny Morozov who tweeted:

@evgenymorozov: Had a very good time @journalismfest in Perugia this week - it gets better every year (and I thought last year it was impossible!)

Paul Lewis seemed to sum it all up in his tweet:

@PaulLewis: Is Perugia's #ijf12 the most enjoyable conference for journalists in the world? #ijf2012

Definitely!

This post was written in collaboration with Janet Gunter.

Italy: Rome Celebrates its 2,765th Anniversary

Abdoulaye Bah — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:45:33 +0000

Rome, the Eternal City, where myth becomes reality. Rome, where there is always something new to discover.

Before becoming site of the Holy See, Rome was first a city, then a republic and eventually an empire. Rome “was the most politically important, richest, and largest city in the Western world” over a period of almost seven hundred years. At the height of its power, the Roman Empire spanned from Britain to the Arabic Peninsula, North Africa and Eastern Europe.

On April 21, 2012, Romans celebrated the 2,765th anniversary of their city. Legend says that the Rome was founded by Romulus, a demigod nurtured by a wolf.

Coliseum on April 21, 2012 (author's photo)

Website, Why Rome?, explained the legend of the so-called Eternal City:

This Saturday, April 21st, Rome will celebrate its 2,765th birthday. (Can you imagine being around that many years?!) This is based on the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus in 753 BC. In case you're not familiar with the legend, here is a brief overview. Romulus and Remus were twins. Their mother, Rhea, was a Vestal Virgin, and their father was a god (Mars, the god of war). Before they were born, male descendants in the family were killed by their Grandfather's brother. When the twins were born, they were left to die. However, a she-wolf came along and nursed them. The boys grew up to become natural leaders. They decided to found a new city, but couldn't agree on the exact location. The two quarrelled, and Remus was killed in the end. Romulus then founded the new city on the Palatine Hill, and named it after himself … Rome.

Celebrating Rome, senator-style (author's photo)

Maria Merola of Satyrnet highlighted [it] the programme of activities:

Punto nodale del compleanno della Capitale saranno i Fori Imperiali che faranno da sfondo a rappresentazioni in grado di cogliere tutti gli aspetti storici, artistici e culturali che hanno reso Roma quello che è oggi. Roma difatti, tocca tutte le forme d'arte da quelle più antiche a quelle più contemporanee.

The focal point of the birthday celebrations will be the Fori Imperiali which will serve as the backdrop to performances that capture all of the historical, artistic and cultural aspects that have made Rome what it is today. In fact, Rome touches all forms of art from the most ancient to the most contemporary.

Soldiers of Ancient Rome (author's photo)

Website Cool Toura gave [it] a more detailed programme of events, inviting readers not to miss the concert:

Da non perdere, la serata di Sabato 21 Aprile 2012 in via dei Fori Imperiali (altezza Mercati di Traiano), dove alle 20.30 avrà inizio lo spettacolo “Le stelle di Roma” con attori, cantanti e musicisti che si esibiranno dal vivo. … Dalle 23 a mezzanotte, i Mercati di Traiano diventeranno il palcoscenico di uno spettacolo di proiezioni di luci e colori.

Do not miss the evening of Saturday, April 21, 2012 in Via dei Fori Imperiali (Trajan's Market), the show “The stars of Rome” will begin at 8.30pm with actors, singers and musicians who will perform live…. From 11pm to midnight, Trajan's Market will become the stage for a spectacle of color and light projections.

Despite its age, Buzz in Rome found the city to be still in reasonable condition:

Yes, Rome is very old but still in pretty good shape, notwithstanding the damages done by its unruly citizens, politicians and visitors! On April 21 according to the legend/tradition, it turns 2765. But, of course, there is no scientific evidence that it was founded in 753BC, let alone on April 21. Anyway, before the Liberation Day (April 25)/Labour Day(May 1) very long weekend there is one more big occasion to celebrate and have fun in Rome. The City council has organized a lot of events. Let’s see those that might be more enjoyable for non-Italian speakers.

Website 06Blog highlighted [it] the role historical places like the Capitol, Circus Maximus and Fori Imperiali would play in these events:

La Lupa, Romolo e Remo, Giulio Cesare, Nerone, i centurioni, con la storia e le leggende della città antica tornano in pompa magna, con le rivisitazioni storiche al Circo Massimo, il corteo in costume lungo via dei Fori Imperiali, le cerimonie solenni in Campidoglio, il Roma Caput Mundi - The Eternal Musical all’Auditorium Conciliazione, dal 18 al 22 aprile 2012.

There will be the she-wolf, Romulus and Remus, Julius Caesar, Nero, the centurions, with the history and legends of the ancient city. All of them will be back in full regalia from 18 to 22 April 2012 with historical revivals in the Circus Maximus, along Via dei Fori Imperiali and the ceremonies at the Capitol, Roma Caput Mundi - The Eternal Musical Auditorium Conciliazione.

Celebration of Rome's anniversary (author's photo)

These places are a testimony to the glory of Ancient Rome. The Circus Maximus, still accessible despite ongoing restructuring works, was a theatre for all kinds of entertainments over 2,500 years ago, with a capacity of 150 000 spectators. To this day, it is one of the largest stadiums built by mankind.

Architect Tom Rankin of the Sustainable Rome blog linked the anniversary of Rome with Earth Day on April 22. He asked:

While it’s easy to associate cultural heritage with Rome and environmental sustainability with the Earth, I am interested in building bridges between these two fields both locally and globally since I see the city not as the source of our global environmental problems but as the solution…. Can Rome leverage its richly layered history to sustain itself economically and ecologically? Can it re-use the resources accrued over time to avoid excess consumption? I believe it can and teach a course called Ecological Urbanism which uses Rome as a Laboratory to address themes such as waste, energy, water, transportation and land use.

Italy: Tragic Death of Piermario Morosini Shocks the Soccer World

Sara Gold — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:30:11 +0000

Since April 14, 2012, the Italian radio stations, Twitter, Facebook, as well as blogs from across the world have all been discussing the sudden, on-field death of Piermario Morosini, a 25-year-old soccer player, while playing for Livorno, a Serie B team of the Italian football league system.

The site seneweb.com explains [fr] how this tragic event unfolded:

Piermario Morosini, joueur de Livourne, est mort samedi [14 avril]. Durant la rencontre de Serie B entre Pescara et Livourne, le milieu de terrain s'est écroulé sur le terrain à la 31e minute de jeu, victime d'un arrêt cardiaque. Les secours se sont pressés autour de lui et ont tenté de le ranimer en lui prodiguant de nombreux massages cardiaques avec un défibrillateur. Mais rien n'y a fait, le footballeur âgé de 25 ans a succombé. Il est arrivé mort à l'hôpital.

Piermario Morosini, a player for Livorno, died on Saturday, April 14. During the Serie B match between Pescara and Livorno, in the 31st minute of the game, Morosini collapsed on the pitch, the victim of cardiac arrest. Medics rushed onto the field and attempted to resuscitate him. Despite their best efforts, the 25-year-old footballer succumbed. He was dead on arrival at the hospital.

"Rest in peace, Piermario Morosini " by @RealEsparta on Twitter

Over the course of his brief life, Piermario Morosini suffered many hardships. The site meltybuzz.fr remembers [fr]:

avait évolué dans plusieurs clubs de Série B (Bologne, Vicenza, Reggina, Padoue et Livourne). Mais il avait surtout vécu plusieurs drames personnels. Il avait ainsi perdu sa mère à l’âge de 15 ans. Son père est décédé deux ans plus tard tandis que son frère mourrait également quelques temps après.

He played for many Serie B teams (Bologna, Vicenza, Reggina, Padova, and Livorno). However, during this period he also experienced several personal tragedies. He had lost his mother at the age of 15. Two years later, his father passed away. Shortly thereafter, his brother also died.

Cameroun24.net compares [fr] this tragedy to that of the soccer player from Cameroon's national team, Marc–Vivien Foé, who died in 2003 during an official match of the FIFA Confederations Cup:

Cet après-midi du Samedi 14 Avril 2012, les Italiens ont vécu le remake du drame Camerounais du 23 Juin 2003 à Gerland où Marc –vivien Foé s’écroulait en plein match et décédait des instants après de suite d’arrêt cardiaque.

This Saturday afternoon, April 14, 2012, the Italians lived through a reenactment of the Cameroonian tragedy of June 23, 2003 at Stade de Gerland (a stadium in Lyon, France, home to the Ligue 1 club, Olympique Lyonnais) where Marc-Vivien Foé collapsed in the middle of a match, went into cardiac arrest, and instantly died.

The website maroc.senego.com recalls [fr] other sudden deaths of high-profile athletes in recent years:

Les images du joueur italien nous rappellent, tristement, celles du joueur du WAC Youssef Belkhouja, décédé lors d’un match de son équipe. D’autres joueurs ont subi le même sort sur le terrain, comme l’Espagnol Antonio Puerta (FC Séville, 2008), le Hongrois Mikos Feher (Benfica Lisbonne, en 2004) ou Marc-Vivien Foé lors d’un match avec le Cameroun (2003).

The images of the Italian footballer remind us, sadly, of the Wydad Casablanca athlete, Youssef Belkhouja, who also died during a match. Other players too have suffered the same fate on the field, such as the Spanish footballer Antonio Puerta (FC Seville, 2008), the Hungarian striker Mikos Feher (S.L. Benfica, 2004), and Marc-Vivien Foé, who died during a match being played by Cameroon (2003) (editor's note: the correct name of Hungarian athlete is Miklos Feher and Antonio Puerta died in 2007).

Although all of Italy is saddened by the tragedy, compounded by Morosini's youth and personal struggles, several controversies persist. Valentin Pauluzzi writes [fr] on the site calciomio.fr:

Deux enquêtes ont été ouvertes à Pescara pour savoir si les secours se sont déroulés normalement. Première polémique, le non usage du défibrillateur malgré sa présence. … Autre trame judiciaire, le timing de l’ambulance, on sait que 6 minutes et 24 secondes sont passées entre le malaise de Morosini et le départ de l’ambulance….

Two investigations were opened in Pescara to discover whether aid was administered in the proper manner. The first question is why the medics brought the defibrillator onto the field, but did not appear to use it. …Another inquiry is focused on the timing of the ambulance, which left for the hospital six minutes and 24 seconds after Morosini's heart attack.

Matthias Bertoncelli explains this delay [fr] by pointing out that a car was blocking the ambulance's way onto the field:

La voiture en question serait un véhicule de police stationné devant l’entrée où transitent en cas de besoins les véhicules de secours et ceux des pompiers.

The car in question was a police vehicle. It was parked outside the entrance which is supposed to remain clear for the use of emergency vehicles or firemen.

While insisting that this delay did not have any impact on Morosini's death, the mayor of Pescara acknowledged [fr] that the vehicle belonged to the local police and that the officer who was driving had been suspended pending an investigation. Further fueling the controversy was the fact that Piermario Morosini's fiancee was made to identify [it] the body in the morgue. The sight of a tear-stricken Anna Vavassori, a volleyball player barely 20 years old, touched all of Italy. The autopsy has not yet revealed the cause of death. On this subject, alex54.blogspot.it writes [fr]:

L'autopsie pratiquée sur le corps de Piermario Morosini, le joueur de Livourne foudroyé samedi en plein match, n'a pas révélé la cause exacte de son décès. “Il n'y a aucun signe évident qui nous permette de déterminer les raisons de la mort de ce garçon”, a déclaré Christian D'Ovidio, un responsable des services de santé. Des examens toxicologiques devraient être menés dans les jours à venir.

The autopsy performed on the body of Piermario Morosini, the Livorno footballer struck down during a match on Saturday, did not reveal the exact cause of his death. “There were no obvious signs that would enable us to determine the cause of the boy's death,” declared Christian D'Ovidio, a medical services official. Further toxicological exams would be conducted in the days to come.

The funeral, by Sol Acik on Twitter

As a mark of respect for this tragedy, sporting events around the world observed one minute of silence. The soccer clubs that had shared the services of the unfortunate athlete also took more concrete steps. The site sport-maroc.com revealed [fr]:

Le club de Livourne a annoncé que le maillot N.25, porté par Morosini, sera retiré. Udinese, qui a prêté en janvier le joueur au club toscan, a de son côté assuré qu’il s’occupera à l’avenir de la sœur du défunt.

The Livorno club announced that jersey #25, worn by Morosini, would be retired. The Serie A Udinese club, which had loaned Morosini to the Tuscan club [Livorno], stated that they would look after Morosini's sister, Carla Maria Morosini. (Carla is severely disabled and relied on her brother for financial support).

Remi Lestang writes [fr] on the blog lestontonsdusport.fr:

Une situation qui a ému le club de l’Udinese, et plus particulièrement Antonio Di Natale. Ils ont promis de prendre soin d’elle. « Nous connaissons la situation de sa sœur et l’équipe, le club et Udinese for Life [l’association caritative du club] avons décidé de l’aider car elle est vraiment dans le besoin. …. Elle a déjà tout perdu, c’est essentiel de rester au côté de la sœur de Piermario pour le reste de sa vie. Elle a besoin de nous et nous voulons l’aider. Pour elle et pour Mario. », a déclaré le joueur.

This is a situation that moved the Udinese club, and in particular Antonio Di Natale ( captain of the Udinese team). They promised to take care of her. “We know the situation of his sister and the team, the club, and Udinese for Life [the club's charitable organization] decided to help because she is truly in need. …She has already lost so much, it is essential to stand alongside Piermario's sister for the rest of her life. She needs us, and we want to help her. For her and for Mario,” declared Di Natale.

For his part, the president of the Atalanta club, Antonio Percassi told [it] the press that he considered it his duty to take care of Carla Maria Morosini forever, as would have happened if Piermario's life had not been tragically cut short. This incident is prompting people to raise their voices and ask whether the pace to which these players are subjected, contributes to these sudden deaths. Cesare Prandelli, the manager of the Italian national soccer team, stated [it] during Piermario Morosini's funeral in Bergamo:

Di fronte a questa tragedia il calcio deve porsi degli interrogativi. Medicina sportiva e prevenzione in Italia sono all’avanguardia, ma si può migliorare’.

Faced with this tragedy, the football community must ask itself hard questions. Italy has state-of-the-art preventive sports medicine, but we must improve.

Alas, it was not the end of Morosini's ordeal. The athlete's body was transported through many cities: to Pescara, where his team was playing when he lost his life; to Chieti, where the autopsy took place; to Livorno, the city of Morosini's team in which it is estimated that more than 8000 [fr] fans paid tribute to the athlete; and finally to Bergamo, where Piermario Morosini was laid to rest.

The wake [it] took place at Livorno's Armando Picchi Stadium in the presence of a great many supporters, while the April 19 funeral in the Church of San Gregorio Barbarigo [it] was broadcast on five local and national television channels [it]: Bergamotv.it, Sky tg 24, Tgcom24, Rai Sport Eco di Bergamo. Several thousand people, from sympathizers to representatives of the governing bodies of Italian sports, gathered in the church and along the road for several hundred meters.

According to a report on the program “La vita in diretta” [it] (Live from Life) telecast on the primary Italian television station, RAI UNO, the funeral ceremony recognized the personality of “Moro,” as Morosini was affectionately known. During the homily, the priest, one of Morosini's friends, recalled a touching phrase that the athlete had liked to repeat,”Me, I have more reasons to be grateful than I do to complain”, despite all of the trials and tribulations that life had in store for him.

It has been decided by the local council that from now on, the bleachers in the south bend of the stadium in Bergamo (Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia) will bear the name [it] of Piermario Morosini.

Remembering Murdered Activist, Vittorio Arrigoni

Ciara Nugent — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:00:25 +0000

[All external links in Italian unless otherwise indicated]

On April 15, 2011, news came of the kidnapping and then murder in Gaza of Vittorio Arrigoni, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, an event which sent shock waves through the world of international activism, its ripples felt far beyond the online world.

Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza, from his Facebook profile.

Vittorio, better known as Vik, provided a first person account of Gaza and Palestine on his blog Guerrilla Radio, concluding each post with the message Restiamo umani (Stay Human). The blog is still active today, thanks to the efforts of friends and collaborators, who keep his memory and engagement alive by documenting and describing the everyday lives, difficulties and violence suffered by Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Facebook pages [ar] in several different languages have been created and dedicated to his memory.

A year after his death, many initiatives have been organised to commemorate his courageous defense of human rights and support of the Palestinian cause. Events and demonstrations are planned for various cities in Italy (for a complete list see this Facebook page), but there will also be events in several European cities, including Paris [fr] , Madrid [es], Cologne and Palma de Mallorca [es], as well as in Gaza, Ramallah and in Cairo [all en].

Demonstration in Gaza in memory of Arrigoni - April 15 , 2012, from Facebook

The independent news network Globalist.it is running a retrospective of Arrigoni's work and writings (some of it previously unpublished) and has allowed friends, writers and journalists ample space to share their memories and stories of Arrigoni.

Another initiative, established with the support of Arrigoni's family, has taken the form of a reading movie, produced thanks to a crowdfunding initiative which ended on March 31, 2012. Nineteen international figures (including Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky, Brian Eno, Stéphane Hessel, Luisa Morgantini, Moni Ovadia, Ilan Pappé and Roger Waters) who have, in the past, shown interest and engagement, from a cultural or humanitarian perspective, with the tragic consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, have agreed to “lend their voices” to the reading of 19 chapters of the book Gaza - Restiamo Umani (Gaza - Stay Human), a collection of Arrigoni's articles written during his months in Palestine as part of the “Piombo Fuso” [”Melted Lead”] operation.

The trailer for the film “Gaza - Stay Human” [en]:

In addition to the commemorative events there is also an important and significant initiative being organised by the international Freedom Flotilla network. On Sunday, April 15, an international mission of 1,500 Italian and international activists will set out to “break the isolation and the siege of Palestine”.

On the initiative's site they declared:

Questa nuova missione ha per obiettivo, quello di rivendicare il diritto di entrare in Palestina e la libera circolazione per i palestinesi e per chiunque voglia andare a trovarli, rompendo l’assedio “di fatto” che Israele pratica anche in Cisgiordania. […] Il nostro progetto è trasparente: noi andiamo direttamente in Cisgiordania per contribuire alla costruzione di una scuola. Il terreno è già stato acquistato, i lavori sono iniziati e quello che vedete qui sopra è il progetto degli edifici. All’uscita dell’aeroporto di Tel Aviv, il 15 aprile, ci aspetteranno delle auto per portarci direttamente a Betlemme, dove le famiglie e le associazioni palestinesi ci riceveranno.

This new mission's objective is to assert the right to enter Palestine and to free circulation for Palestinians and for anyone who wants to go and find them, breaking the de facto siege that Israel is also practicing in the West Bank. […] Our project is straightforward. We're going directly to the West Bank to contribute to the construction of a school. The land has already been purchased, the construction has already started and what you can see above is the plan for the buildings. On leaving Tel Aviv airport on the 15 April we will be met by cars which will bring us directly to Bethlehem, where Palestinian families and associations will host us.

For news and live updates on the initiative you can follow the @freedomflotita account and the hashtags #flytilla and #airflotilla2 on Twitter.

Currently Vittorio's Facebook page is the main location for sharing and announcing events and memories. Messages of support and memories have been circulating for days on Twitter as well, even if there are plenty of critics as well.

For example, @dscanferla writes:

I paci-finti non si smentiscono mai, #Arrigoni è morto da un anno, il processo a #Gaza è una farsa e per loro la colpa è d'#Israele ???

The false pacifists are always the same, #Arrigoni has been dead for more than a year, the trial in #Gaza is a farce and according to them it's all #Israel's fault ???

Rosa Schiano, an activist and photo-reporter who knew Vik personally, describes a demonstration organised by children from Beit Lahia:

@infoxresist I bambini di Beit Lahia, a nord della Striscia di Gaza, ricordano vik con musica e e rappresentazioni.

@infoxresist The children of Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, remember vik with music and plays.

A year after his tragic death however, the events leading to his death remain uncertain. A motive for the killing has yet to emerge from the 14 court hearings held so far and many suspect the Israeli police of mishandling information.

Michele Giorgio addressed that view on the Near East News Agency site:

Ritrattando in buona parte le confessioni che avevano reso negli interrogatori seguiti all’arresto da parte della polizia di Hamas, i tre – Mahmud Salfiti, Tamer Hasasnah e Khader Jram – hanno recitato, davanti ai giudici della corte militare di Gaza city, la parte dei giovani difensori delle tradizioni sociali «minacciate» da un presunto stile di vita troppo «liberal» di Vittorio. Più di tutto hanno negato di essere stati a conoscenza di un piano per uccidere l’attivista italiano. È evidente il tentativo degli avvocati della difesa di far ricadere tutte le responsabilità su Breizat e Omari che non possono raccontare la loro versione dei fatti. La prossima udienza è fissata per il 14 maggio e secondo alcune voci potrebbe essere l’ultima prima della sentenza.

Retracting, for the main part, the confessions that they made to interrogators after their arrest by Hamas's police force, in front of a military court in Gaza City, the three men - Mahmud Salfiti, Tamer Hasasnah and Khader Jram - played the parts of young defenders of social traditions “threatened” by Vittorio's lifestyle which they considered too “liberal”. Above all else they denied knowing about a plan to kill the Italian activist. The lawyers' attempts to place all the blame on Breizat and Omari, who cannot defend themselves, are obvious. The next hearing is set for the 14 May and according to several sources it may well be the last hearing before sentencing.

Two Partito Democratico (Democratic Party) MPs - Vincenzo Vita and Lucia Codurelli - tabled a question in the Italian parliament in order to seek clarification from the government of the motives behind the kidnapping and killing of the activist.

Please stay human.

Italy: Netizens Ponder the April 2009 L'Aquila Earthquake

Superjules — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:09:05 +0000

[All links lead to Italian language pages, except when otherwise noted]

As still marked by many church clocks and bell towers at the center of L'Aquila [en], at 3:32 am of April 6, 2009, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake broke the silence of the sleeping town and destroyed the lives of many of its inhabitants. To remember the third anniversary of the tragic event, citizens came together in support and remembrance, created numerous web pages for retelling and commenting upon the earthquake and its far-reaching effects.

Church clock stuck at 3:32 am of April 6, 2009 in L'Aquila. Photo by StazioneMIR, under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 License

There was no dearth of official visits and commemorations — significant to many was the presence of Fabrizio Barca, the minister of “Coesione territoriale” [the Italian office created in 2011 to coordinate the actions of local governments and support political infrastructure in central-southern Italy], who has shown particular concern for Aquila's situation and to creating transparency in the reconstruction process — amidst great sorrow and grief, demands for justice and for guarantees of reconstruction.

In the last two days, many have shared, above all via Twitter, (#laquila, #terremoto, #laquilapernoi, #6aprile) their memories and reflections, and expressed solidarity with the people of Aquila. Highly referenced in these tweets is a telephone conversation intercepted the day after the earthquake, in which two businessmen joke about the event, looking forward hungrily to the money to be made in rebuilding. In this short video you can hear a excerpt from the conversation.

‏ @ermeneleutico dedicates a few verses to the town:

Buonanotte l'Aquila / riempita di promesse / usata e abbandonata / per meschino interesse

Goodnight L'Aquila / full of promise / used and abandoned / for petty self-interest

While Marta Torres shows her solidarity with the people of the city of L'Aquila and the region of Abruzzo:

Non dimentico mai #laquila, città distrutta il #6aprile. VERGOGNA k sia ancora una città fantasma. Tutti il mio affetto al popolo abruzzese ♥

I will never forget #laquila, destroyed city the #6aprile. SHAME that it is still a ghost town. All of my affection to the people of Abruzzo ♥

@Bebo1936 recounts his experience three years ago:

Tre anni fa ero a scappare per la violenta scossa di #Earthquake all'#aquila #Abruzzo

Three years ago I was trying to escape the violent shaking of the #Earthquake in #aquila #Abruzzo

And @DaniDBJ adds:

L'Italia che quella notte non rideva, oggi non dimentica.. #6april #laquila

Italy did not laugh that night, today it does not forget.. #6april #laquila

Finally, @liv_77 demonstrates how there has not yet been a return to normalcy for the people of L'Aquila:

Da 3 anni, ahimè, guardo il sito di INGV -@INGVterremoti #laquila

For 3 years, alas, I look at the INGV website -@INGVterremoti #laquila

Many initiatives have been launched to safeguard the memory of the event. A video made by Shoot4Change and Anpas collected voices, images and live stories, creating a space for collective sharing and remembering.

Move Productions and Al Jazeera English produced a documentary titled “Ritorno a L'Aquila” (Return to L'Aquila), that was transmitted today by hundreds of web tv channels, coordinated by the Altratv.tv network together with Internet provider Tiscali.

Furthermore, on April 15, the online magazine Wired.it has launched a campaign with the goal of maintaining a high level of attention on L'Aquila emergency in order to discuss publicly the reconstruction projects and the rebirth of the city. To this end, there's also been a barcamp organized in the central Duomo Square. For information and updates on the organization of these events, you can follow the hashtag #occupylaquila on Twitter.

The collective 3:32, put together in the weeks following the earthquake, published on its blog a long reflection on the most relevant events to characterize the past three years in L'Aquila:

Il terremoto del 2009 è stato senza dubbio una catastrofe; e quindi, come qualsiasi catastrofe nella storia dell’evoluzione del mondo, ha distrutto delle cose, delle forme di vita, ma ne ha fatte sorgere delle altre. Anzi, la sfida della ricostruzione è riuscita ad attivare dei processi di incontro e comunicazione tra le persone che prima sembravano impossibili. […] Più che restaurata, o semplicemente ricostruita, la nostra città deve essere rifondata. Battersi per L’Aquila oggi significa in primo luogo opporsi alle speculazioni edilizie e all’ulteriore consumo di suolo e territorio. […] La nostra è certamente una lotta territoriale, con la sua identità e le sue specificità, ma è anche una lotta per un modello complessivo fatto di politica trasparente, di decisioni realmente democratiche e partecipate, di rispetto del patrimonio ambientale e culturale e sviluppo eco-sostenibile.

The 2009 earthquake was without a doubt catastrophic; as with any catastrophe there's ever been, it destroyed many things, it destroyed many living things, but it gave way to new creations. The challenge of reconstruction has activated certain channels of communication that before would have seemed impossible. […] More than restored, or simply reconstructed, our city has to be founded again. To fight for L'Aquila today means, in the first place, to oppose building speculation and the further buying up of land and territory. […] Ours is specifically a territorial dispute, but it is also a fight for a totally transperant political model. A truly participatory model in which real democratic decisions are made, in which our environmental and cultural patrimony is respected and sustained.

L'Aquila still resisting. Photo by Abruzzo Indymedia under a Creative Commons BY-SA 2.5 License

There has been no lack of official voices either, like that of Stefania Pezzopane, councilwoman for culture in L'Aquila, who on the news website Articolo21.org wrote:

Il 6 aprile resta una data diversa dalle altre perché sono passati più di mille giorni e sentiamo sulle nostre vite il peso di una precarietà e di un disorientamento che persistono. La nostra città è ancora deserta, ferita, priva di quella vita pulsante che era, poi, la quotidianità di ciascuno di noi. […] Questo non è un giorno normale proprio perché, a fianco al lutto che è impresso come una ferita nei nostri cuori, ci stupiamo della nostra forza e della speranza che ancora riusciamo a donare allo sguardo con cui cerchiamo di abbracciare il futuro.

April 6 remains a date that is different from all others. Today, more than 1,000 days after that date, we yet feel the weight of persisting unpredictability and disorientation. Our city is still a wasteland, wounded, deprived of its pulse, which beat beneath the daily experience of every one of us. […] This is no normal day precisely because, next to the mourning that is cut like a wound into our hearts, we continually surprise ourselves at our strength and we still manage to look to the future with hope.

Walking about the streets of the city and its surrounding neighborhoods, one realizes that in L'Aquila the trauma is still present and visible, but stronger yet is the resentment of those families who will never see their homes again, of those who feel abandoned and who believe that not enough has been done, that in three years nothing (or almost nothing) has changed: debris and rubble piled on the streets downtown, houses propped-up in makeshift fashion, windowless buildings make up the cityscape awaiting tourists in the medieval jewel of Abruzzo.

Thousands were wounded and 309 people died, many of whom were students from all over Italy who had moved to L'Aquila to attend its university.

The L'Aquila tragedy, as it persisted after the earthquake, did not concern solely the loss of human life during the catastrophic event: there were many judicial inquiries (some still under way) regarding the handling of the emergency, the responsibilty of those companies that chose building materials and designs that were unfit for an earthquake zone (in particular, the construction of public buildings, like student housing, has come under questioning), and regarding lobbyists and other groups interested in receiving a portion of the funds allocated to reconstruction of the city and the entire seismic crater.

After the triple catastrophe (tsunami, earthquake, near nuclear meltdown) that a year ago battered Japan [en], there are many comparisons to be made between Fukushima and L'Aquila, comparisons that underline the differences in ‘approach' between Italian and Japanese scientists when it comes to making previsions for earthquakes based on seismology.

A couple of months after the event, when the media frenzy that brought L'Aquila such (sad) international notoriety had left, the floodlights suddenly turned off. Now, three years after the tragedy, there is still much work to be done before the city and community can return to the actual stability they once knew.

Italy: Protests Blaze Over High-Speed Rail to France

Ciara Nugent — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:54:32 +0000

[all links in Italian unless otherwise indicated]

The debate surrounding the construction of a new railway line linking Turin to Lyon [en], which faces fierce opposition from the “No to Tav” movement, has turned increasingly bitter and an upsurge in protests has brought the affair into the political and media spotlight.

Since 1991, this protest movement, made up mainly of inhabitants of Valle di Susa in Piemonte, has opposed the construction of a high speed (treno altà velocità, or TAV, in Italian) railway line between Turin and Lyon. According to its opponents, the TAV project is not only pointless and costly but will also prove environmentally, socially and economically damaging to the area and its inhabitants, given that construction of the railway line will destroy a wide swathe of the countryside, leaving several villages changed beyond all recognition and resulting in the closure of small local businesses.

The Italian government and the European Union are determined to press ahead with what they consider a strategic project, as it will eventually link Northern Italy with Eastern Europe. The mayors and inhabitants of the communities affected insist that the construction of a new railway line is completely unjustifiable, given that goods traffic on the existent line is minimal. The project is due to cost the Italian state 30 million euro at a time when its citizens are tightening their belts in response to the current crisis.

Suppression of the opposition movement by the forces of order has been particularly severe over the last few months. Following clashes last summer, work on the railway line was restarted on February 27 with the eviction of protesters from their camp and the fencing off of private land without due legal process.

A "No TAV" march, 25/02/2012, from Bussoleno to Susa. Photo reproduced under Creative Commons License BY-SA

During a recent demonstration against the dismantlement of the movement's camp, one of the best known members of the movement, Luca Abbà, was badly injured when he fell off a pylon, from a height of around ten metres. As a result, a halt to construction was requested. In the video which follows, which is also available on the YouReporter.it website, police officers burst into a bar after demonstrators blocked off a motorway, and proceeded to ID everyone present.

Police action of this kind and attempts in the national media to characterise opponents of the TAV as “violent”, have been interpreted by many netizens as a excuse to delegitimise the movement as a whole. On his blog Le Parole e le Cose (Words and Things), for example, Mauro Piras writes:

Il problema non è più prendere posizione. Pro o contro la TAV (o il TAV? la divisione passa anche per le parole, i No TAV della valle usano il maschile). E non è neanche quello dei “gruppetti di violenti” contrapposti alla “maggioranza dei manifestanti pacifici”. Questa rappresentazione è ingenua, o costruita. C’è qualcosa di più profondo, qualcosa che sfugge a noi quarantenni della classe media di, diciamo, centrosinistra

It's no longer a question of picking sides. Whether you're pro or anti TAV […] And it's not even a question of “small radical groups” versus a “peaceful majority”. This characterisation is ingenuous or false. It's something deeper, something that escapes those of us who are middle-aged, middle-class and, dare I say it, centre-left.

The debate has, by now, spread throughout the country, moving from centri sociali (non-profit community spaces, used for a variety of local activities and often centres of political and social dissent) [en] to schools. Students have also decided to demonstrate, as explained on the website Rete della conoscenza (Web of Knowledge):

Crediamo che quest'operazione della polizia avesse come unico obiettivo quello di criminalizzare e screditare un movimento che aveva organizzato una grande manifestazione pacifica (…).
La battaglia No Tav, non è solo una lotta di un popolo in difesa di una valle ma è una lotta di tutti coloro che credono che il territorio sia un bene comune da difendere e non da sfruttare per interessi economici, per questo torneremo in Val Susa e saremo sempre al fianco di chi lotta contro le opere inutili.

We believe that the sole aim of the police operation has been to discredit and criminalise a movement which had organised a large, peaceful demonstration(…).
The battle against the TAV isn't just for people fighting to defend their valley but for everyone who believes that the countryside is communal heritage to be defended and not to be milked for economic gain, it's for this reason that we will go back to the Val Susa and we will always stand alongside those who fight unnecessary development.

The Twitter debate has also been very heated. One of the critics of the the “No TAV” movement, @Axell, writes:

Gli studenti NO TAV dei licei che oggi hanno bloccato Porta Nuova e zone limitrofe sanno dove è la Val di Susa? #SiTav #aveterottoleballe

Do the NO TAV secondary students who blocked Porta Nuova station and surrounding areas today even know where the Val di Susa is? #SiTav #aveterottoleballe (you're complete pains in the arse)

Among its supporters, however, were @fulviomassa:

“inizia ora la passeggiata verso la Baita Clarea” [where TAV construction work was due to start] forza!

“The road towards Baita Clarea starts here” come on!

Antonio Ballestrazzi ‏ @pesce2802:

#sitav #notav spiegatemi bene,per migliorare il trasporto delle merci prosciughiamo i fiumi che servono a irrigare i campi che le producoono

#sitav #notav Let me get this straight, in order to improve the transportation of goods, we're going to drain the rivers that irrigate the fields where they're produced?

@uomoinpolvere:

ma com'è possibile che pure a un sondaggio mediaset il 70% sono #notav e in parlamento e sui giornali sono tutti #sitav? fatevi due domande

When even a Mediaset survey finds that 70% of people say #notav, how is it possible that the newspapers and the parliament are all #sitav? Ask yourself two questions

Reasons for expressing solidarity with the demonstrators varied. The No Tav movement was placed in the context of the current crisis in Europe [en] on the blog Uninomade:

Il No Tav è un movimento dentro la crisi e contro l’austerity, i suoi temi centrali sono dichiaratamente la lotta ai tagli, al debito e sul welfare. Non contro lo sviluppo e la modernità, ma per lo sviluppo dell’autonomia della cooperazione sociale contro lo sviluppo capitalistico che tenta di imbrigliarla o distruggerla.

The No Tav movement is born of the crisis and opposed to austerity, its central messages are the fight against cuts, against debt and in favour of the welfare state. Not against development and modernity but in favour of the development of autonomous social cooporation rather than capitalistic development that tries to hold back or destroy cooperation.

Antonio Negri, issued the following invitation to dialogue, which compares the movement to the global Occupy [en] movement:

Qualsiasi persona calma e tranquilla che non viva nel ricordo ossessivo degli anni ’70 come certi nostri dirigenti sembrano vivere, sa che trattare è possibile ed evitare radicalizzazioni inopportune e pericolose è utile. Ma per farlo bisogna che la politica in Italia rinasca e non può rinascere che dalla presa di parola di coloro che, resistendo, aprono a tutti la speranza di una nuova partecipazione democratica.

Any calm and reasonable person who, unlike certain of our leaders, is not stuck in the 70s knows that negotiation is possible and that avoiding inopportune and dangerous radicalisation is useful. But in order for this to succeed, politics in Italy must change and can only be reborn when people speak out and resist and thus gives everyone hope for a new democratic participation.

Throughout the country, solidarity with, and and actions in support of the Valle di Susa, have emerged, including the “Blocchiamo tutto” (Blockade Everything) initiative on the 1st of March when the main stations in Rome and Bologna and other key railway intersections were blockaded. Meanwhile demonstrations in support of the movement have spread across Europe, including to the French end of the proposed Turin-Lyon line.

Anonymous Italia, a hacker collective, has also swung into action, first blocking access to the Carabinieri's website and then to the official sites of the government, the Vatican, Trenitalia [National railway company] and Equitalia [National fine collector agency]. Below are some reactions to their actions:

Baruda:
#Anonymous e #Trenitalia: niente da fare, io li amo! TANGO DOWN #OpItaly wp.me/pfk0G-2dj #notav

Baruda:
#Anonymous and #Trenitalia: no bones about it, I love them TANGO DOWN #OpItaly wp.me/pfk0G-2dj #notav

andrea_nicolini:

@Skytg24: #Anonymous attacca #Trenitalia.it: tra il tilt e la normale fruibilita' del sito nessuna differenza…

@Skytg24: #Anonymous attacks #Trenitalia.it: the blocked site is no different to the normal one…

Info Free Flow:

Oggi paga #equitalia. #Anonymous riscuote. Ma i conti non sono ancora saldati. pastebin.com/BSX9gNs7

Today #equitalia pays. #Anonymous in action. But accounts still haven't been settled. pastebin.com/BSX9gNs7

While the judiciary is investigating several demonstrators, charged after the most recent protests, the affair remains uncertain and controversial. The hashtag #notav is more popular on Twitter, while I Fratelli di TAV (Brothers of the TAV) are uploading a series of videos on Vimeo about the movement's history, events and dynamics, including the following video of the blockade, on the 29th of February this year, of the Turin to Bardonecchia motorway:

Ylenia Gostoli and Bernado Parrella contributed to the writing of this post.

Macedonia: Fuel Prices Continue to Rise

Filip Stojanovski — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:18:43 +0000

Continuous increase of fuel prices is a cause of much concern for citizens of Macedonia, and some vent the tension through humor. The prices are set by a regulatory body, and more and more social media users object to the fact that the lion's share of the revenue in fact goes to the government, stymieing the growth of the business sector.

On his blog, Zoriv published comparisons of the prices of oil derivatives in Macedonia, the USA and the EU [mk], and also calculated how much fuel one can buy on an average salary in various countries [mk]. (Both posts are in Macedonian, but the tables with country comparisons are in English and easily comprehensible.)

So, according to Zoriv, Latvia has the lowest price of gasoline in Europe (EUR 1.20), while Norway has the highest (EUR 1.94). Consumers in Macedonia have to pay EUR 1.4. While the official explanation for rising fuel prices is always the change of price of crude oil, Zoriv points out that a major factor in forming the end price are the excise taxes that go directly to the state budgets in countries with the highest prices (Norway, Holland, Italy, the UK, and Greece). He adds:

In Macedonia, for instance, the total taxation together with the profit margin for the merchants form around 70% of the price (Official Gazette of Republic of Macedonia, no. 138/09 and 52/11). The difference between Macedonia and the EU countries, alongside the salary levels which are incomparable, is the tragic fact that even the slightest increase of oil derivative prices affects the personal material existence of every citizen of Macedonia. The latest data show that fuel consumption has decreased by 30% [mk]. The increase of fuel prices leads to a spiral of the increase of all other living expenses, while family budgets drastically decrease.

The Macedonian government temporarily abolished the excise before the June 2011 elections, but returned it later, raising the prices [mk] in August.

By calculating how much fuel a citizen can buy with an average salary, Zoriv tried to shed light on income disparities: in the United States, one can buy 4,296 liters of gasoline on an average monthly salary. In Europe, the top spots go to Switzerland (3,441 l), Luxemburg (3,439 l), and Germany (3.075 l). The lowest on the list are Macedonia (243 l) and Albania (194 l), with a “disastrous ratio of 1:14″ compared to the leading “rich” countries.

According to the 2010 edition of the annual publication 200 Largest Companies in Macedonia, prepared and published by the Euro Business Center – Skopje, the two largest companies in the country are: the sole oil refinery OKTA (owned by the Greek interests, privatized while the current PM Gruevski served as the Minister of Finance) and the biggest oil derivatives distributor Makpetrol, with the total revenues of EUR 512 million and EUR 350 million, respectively.

The prospects for the future seem bleak. According to the UNDP report “Assessing the Economic Impact of Climate Change,” Macedonia also faces numerous other challenges in the energy sector.

Social media users shared various kinds of data related to the fuel price increase, such as the table [mk] showing the elements that form the prices of fuel, originally from an Radio Free Europe article [mk] by Srgjan Stojanchov:

Elements of fuel prices in Macedonian Denars.

They also posted various reactions to ongoing developments with the fuel prices, and the most shared were the humorous responses, such as this joke: “Would you like to take your girlfriend someplace expensive? - Take her to a gas station!” The latest chuckle is a demotivation-style meme featuring the late Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and a supposed laconic quote in Croatian:

Photo of Tito and a supposed quote: You say the gasoline got more expensive? Well, why don't you make a deal with the Non-Aligned countries?

During the Cold War, Tito was famous for striking a balance between Eastern and Western blocs, with Yugoslavia serving as a kind of a buffer, to the commercial benefit of its people. In 1961, he co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement, which included many oil-producing nations, resulting in favorable trade relations. A famous political-economic quote attributed to him (in the Lexicon of Yugoslav Mythology) is this: “The grain that we received from the Americans is much superior in quality to the grain the Soviets did not deliver.”

Europe: Will ACTA Treaty Pass After Protests?

Danielle Martineau — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:09:08 +0000

[All links forward to French articles unless stated otherwise.]

As of the end of the month of February 2012, the mobilization efforts of Internet users against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) [en] were still going strong. In fact, they may have begun to bear fruit.

By including infringements against the author's rights in its scope, this international treaty, which addresses intellectual property rights, also affects Internet content.

The ratification debates which were placed on the European Parliament's agenda on February 29, were put on hold in expectation of the opinion of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The issue of the treaty's conformity with European Community law was brought before the court on 22 February by the European Commission.

No ACTA - Strasbourg. Photo by Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY

Taurillon, the “magazine of young Europeans -France” describes “Europe's about-face on ACTA“:

Si l’avis est négatif, l’ACTA n’a plus aucune chance en Europe. Mais en cas d’avis positif, le recours à la CJUE représente le double avantage de redonner au traité une certaine crédibilité, et de repousser son adoption à une époque suffisamment lointaine pour que la polémique se soit tassée et que l’opinion publique regarde ailleurs.

If the opinion is negative, ACTA no longer stands a chance in Europe. However, if there is a positive opinion, appealing to the ECJ would mean a double advantage by giving the treaty a certain credibility, and also pushing back implementation to a time that is far enough away when public debate has settled down and the public's attention is focused elsewhere.

Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson for la Quadrature du Net urges on the European deputies:

Les eurodéputés doivent résister à la stratégie de la Commission européenne, qui cherche à gagner du temps et à transformer le débat en une simple discussion juridique, et pour cela continuer à travailler au rejet d’ACTA. ACTA vise à imposer une tendance pour une politique globale du droit d’auteur qui est toxique pour l’Internet libre et pour les libertés. Le Parlement européen est le dernier rempart : il doit agir et adopter une position claire et forte, faute de quoi il laissera le champ libre à la Commission pour imposer une répression inacceptable.

The Eurodeputies must resist the European Commission's strategy of attempting to gain time and turning the debate into a simple legal discussion, thereby continuing to work towards ACTA's rejection. ACTA aims to impose a tendency for a global policy of author's rights that is toxic for the free Internet and for freedom. The European Parliament is the last line of defense: it must act and adopt a firm and clear position, otherwise it will leave the field wide open for the commission to impose an unacceptable repression.

For trucbuntu, there is no question of remaining passive while waiting for the Court to adjudicate:

Les citoyens de toute l’Europe peuvent contacter leurs représentants dans les commissions Commerce International (INTA) et Industrie (ITRE), qui se réunissent cette semaine pour discuter d’ACTA, et leur demander de continuer à travailler au sein de leur commission pour le rejet d’ACTA.

Citizens of all of Europe were able to contact their representatives in the International Trade (INTA) and Industry (ITRE) Committees, who met on February 29 to discuss ACTA. Many citizens requested their representatives to reject the proposal.

The website of the European Parliament explains the procedure and the issues of the treaty [en] that are under scrutiny, and has published ‘What you should know about ACTA‘ [en], a page of questions and answers. The ACTA workshop of the European Parliament has been the object of a storify [en] made by the Parliamentary services (link via Global Voices contributor Asteris Masouras [en]).

The organization AVAAZ submitted a petition to the European Parliament on 29 February with 2.4 million signatures against ACTA. The petition is still open:

Nous sommes vraiment proches de la victoire — notre pétition forte de 2,4 millions de signatures a ébranlé les responsables politiques partout en Europe et stoppé les censeurs. La Commission européenne est à présent en position de faiblesse et espère que la Cour de justice donnera son feu vert au traité ACTA en lui soumettant une question juridique très limitée qui recevra certainement une réponse positive.Mais si nous faisons résonner nos voix aujourd'hui, nous pouvons faire en sorte que la Cour examine tous les impacts légaux du traité ACTA et publie un avis qui fera toute la lumière sur cette attaque contre nos droits qu'est ACTA.

We are really close to victory — our petition, with 2.4 million signatures has shaken up those politicians in charge throughout Europe and stopped their censors. The European Commission is currently in a position of weakness and is hoping the Court of justice will green light the ACTA treaty by bringing before the court a very limited legal question, that will without doubt receive a positive response. But if we make our voices heard today, we will be able to get the court to examine all the legal implications of ACTA and publish an opinion that will bring to light the real attack against our rights that is ACTA.

No ACTA - Strasbourg. Photo Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY

Anti-ACTA parties continue to strengthen their resources. New protests were set for 10 March, and torrentnews gives a list, with this appeal:

La liste n’est pas exhaustive, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter pour la compléter ;)

si certains se sentent l’âme d’un reporter- photographe en herbe, nous recherchons également des personnes pour faire un petit article photo du déroulement de la manif, rien de bien compliqué, comme fait ici pour Nice, Marseille,Bordeaux et Strasbourg.

The list is not exhaustive, do not hesitate to contact us to complete it ;)

If any individuals see themselves as budding photojournalists we are also looking for people to do a small photo story on how the protest unfolds, nothing too complicated, as it happens in Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg.

For details on the elements of the debate, see also these linked articles from the Tribune on February 29, and Myeurop, on March 3. On Global Voices, see the laws SOPA/PIPA that set a precedent in the USA, here [en] and here [en]. Since the beginning of the protests, ACTA seems to have lost a lot of political momentum.

The title of this post is inspired by the end of the article “La liberté sur Internet : le filtrage de la discorde” which was published by the Institute of Research and Legal and Information studies and Communication (I.R.E.D.I.C.). It puts into perspective Internet blocking and debates the adoption of ACTA.

The original article in French was published on March 4. For background on the ACTA proposal, more articles can be found here [en].

Italy Condemned for Violations of African Refugee Rights

Greg Ahlswede — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:43:17 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

On February 23, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has come to a historic judgment, that Italy violated the European Convention on Human Rights by intercepting and sending back Eritrean and Somali migrants to Libya.

African Refugees by Vito Manzari on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Unione Diritti Umani Blog explains [it] the events:

Il caso Hirsi e altri contro Italia riguarda la prima operazione di respingimento effettuata il 6 maggio 2009, a 35 miglia a sud di Lampedusa, in acque internazionali. Le autorità italiane hanno intercettato una barca con a bordo circa 200 somali ed eritrei, tra cui bambini e donne in stato di gravidanza. Questi migranti sono stati presi a bordo da una imbarcazione italiana, respinti a Tripoli e riconsegnati, contro la loro volontà, alle autorità libiche. Senza essere identificati, ascoltati né preventivamente informati sulla loro reale destinazione. I migranti erano, infatti, convinti di essere diretti verso le coste italiane. 11 cittadini somali e 13 cittadini eritrei, rintracciati e assistiti in Libia dal Consiglio italiano per i rifugiati dopo il loro respingimento, hanno presentato un ricorso contro l’Italia alla Corte Europea, attraverso gli avvocati Anton Giulio Lana e Andrea Saccucci, dell’Unione forense per la tutela dei diritti umani.

The Hirsi case and others versus Italy pertains to the first push back operation carried out on May 6, 2009, in international waters, 35 miles south of Lampedusa. Italian authorities intercepted a boat carrying some 200 Somalis and Eritreans, including children and pregnant women. The migrants were then taken on board an Italian ship, sent back to Tripoli, and handed over against their will to Libyan authorities. They were not identified, no one listened to them or informed beforehand of their actual destination. In fact, the migrants were convinced that were heading toward the Italian coast. After this operation, 11 Somali citizens and 13 Eritrean citizens, who were found and helped in Libya by the Italian Council for Refugees, brought action against Italy before the European Court of Justice. Assistance was provided by Anton Giulio Lana and Andrea Saccucci, from the Union of Lawyers for Protection of Human Rights.

GiulioL [it] described the operation upon their arrival in Tripoli [it] on the blog ilmalpaese:

Sul molo di Tripoli li aspettava la polizia libica, con i camion container pronti a caricarli, come carri bestiame, per poi smistarli nelle varie prigioni del paese. A bordo di quelle motovedette c’era un fotogiornalista, Enrico Dagnino, che ha raccontato la violenza di quell’operazione. Poi fu censura.

The Libyan police were awaiting them on the dock with container trucks ready to pick them up, like livestock onto cattle cars, and then send them to various prisons around the country. A photojournalist, Enrico Dagnino, who was on board the patrol boat, described in detail the violence in this operation. After that, the proceedings were censored.

This action led to the non-implementation of the principles governing the treatment of people fleeing from danger, Henry Oliver explains on the UK Human Rights blog:

The return involved a violation of Article 3 (anti-torture and inhumane treatment), Article 4 of Protocol 4 (collective expulsion of aliens), and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy). The patrols that returned migrants to Libya were in breach of the non-refoulement principle.

An immigrant's t-shirt saying "I am an immigrant using soap and water" to avoid abuse. By Cristiano Corsini on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

The old Italian government, formed by Silvio Berlusconi's party, Popolo della libertà (People of Freedom), and Umberto Bossi's extreme right party, the Northern League, created a legal arsenal and took steps against immigration in Italy, which have been denounced on several occasions by civil society and the Catholic Church. Italy has also been condemned on various instances for its anti-immigration [it] policy, which is inconsistent with European treaties.

Gabriele Del Grande's blog fortresseurope.blogspot.com [it] publishes information about Fortess Europe's activities for the defense of immigrant rights. The association has produced a great number of reports, first hand accounts and films on refugee treatment in Italy as well as in other European countries.

Here he describes prison life [it] in Libya during the rule of the old regime:

Siamo a Misratah, 210 km a est di Tripoli, in Libia. E i detenuti sono tutti richiedenti asilo politico eritrei, arrestati al largo di Lampedusa o nei quartieri degli immigrati a Tripoli. Vittime collaterali della cooperazione italo libica contro l’immigrazione. Sono più di 600 persone, tra cui 58 donne e diversi bambini e neonati. Sono in carcere da più di due anni, ma nessuno di loro è stato processato. Dormono in camere senza finestre di 4 metri per 5, fino a 20 persone, buttati per terra su stuoini e materassini di gommapiuma. Di giorno si riuniscono nel cortile di 20 metri per 20 su cui si affacciano le camere, sotto lo sguardo vigile della polizia. Sono ragazzi tra i 20 e i 30 anni. La loro colpa? Aver tentato di raggiungere l’Europa per chiedere asilo.

We are in Misratah, 210 km east of Tripoli, in Libya. All the prisoners here are Eritrean asylum seekers, arrested offshore of Lampedusa or in immigrant neighborhoods in Tripoli. Collateral victims of Italy's and Libya's cooperation against immigration. More than 600 people, of whom 58 are women, there are also several children and babies in the group. They have been in prison for over two years, but none of them has been tried. Up to 20 people sleep laid out on mats or foam mattresses in windowless rooms measuring 4 meters by 5. During the day, they are placed under the police's vigilant eye into a courtyard, measuring 20 meters by 20, onto which the rooms open. They are all between 20 and 30 years old. And what did they do wrong? Attempt to reach Europe in search of asylum.

The blog observatoirecitoyen.over-blog.org discloses [fr] that:

Le principe de non refoulement, inscrit dans la Convention des Nations unies sur le statut des réfugiés de 1951, interdit de renvoyer une personne vers un pays où sa vie ou sa liberté peut être menacée. …

Quelque 602 migrants ont été interceptés en mer et immédiatement refoulés de mai à juillet 2009, principalement vers la Libye, un pays où “toute personne détenue risque d'être soumise à des mauvais traitements sérieux” ou d'être renvoyée vers un pays où existent de tels risques, note le CPT (Comité de prévention de la torture).

Certes, reconnaît-il, “les Etats ont le droit souverain de protéger leurs frontières et de contrôler l'immigration”, mais l'Italie doit revoir ses procédures pour s'assurer que tous les migrants interceptés reçoivent d'abord des soins et puissent déposer une demande d'asile.

The principle of non-refoulement, enshrined in the 1951 in the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, prohibits sending a person back to a country where his life or freedom may be threatened. …

From May to July 2009, some 602 migrants were intercepted at sea and immediately turned away. They were chiefly sent back to Libya, a country where “every person arrested risks being subjected to serious mistreatment,” or of being sent back to a country where such risks do exist, the CPT remarked (Committee for the Prevention of Torture).

Of course, the CPT admits, “States have the sovereign right to protect their borders and control immigration,” but Italy should review its procedures to ensure that all intercepted migrants first receive care and can apply for asylum.

Unfortunately in Europe, Italy is not the only country to carry out forced mass repatriations. This association reports [it] that:

Dal 1988 sono morte lungo le frontiere dell'Europa almeno 18.058 persone. Di cui 2.251 soltanto dall'inizio del 2011. Il dato è aggiornato al 7 dicembre 2011 e si basa sulle notizie censite negli archivi della stampa internazionale degli ultimi 23 anni. Il dato reale potrebbe essere molto più grande. Nessuno sa quanti siano i naufragi di cui non abbiamo mai avuto notizia. Lo sanno soltanto le famiglie dei dispersi, che dal Marocco allo Sri Lanka, si chiedono da anni che fine abbiano fatto i loro figli partiti un bel giorno per l'Europa e mai più tornati.

Since 1988, at least 18,058 [it] people have died along Europe's borders. Of this only 2,251 have died since the beginning of 2011. This data was updated on December 7, 2011, and was based on the census data from the international press archives over the past 23 years. The real figure could be much higher. No one knows how many ships have wrecked since we have never heard. Only the families of the missing persons know. These families, from Morocco to Sri Lanka, have been questioning for years what has happened to their children who left one day for Europe and never came back.

Paolo Lambruschi, for his part, wrote [it] on website of the Italian Episcopal Conference's newspaper:

E, cosa che interessa tutta l’Ue, andranno riviste le operazioni Frontex di pattugliamento del Mediterraneo perché per la prima volta viene equiparato il respingimento di gruppi alla frontiera e in alto mare allé espulsioni collettive. A 22 ricorrenti su 24, 11 somali e 13 eritrei, l’Italia dovrà versare un risarcimento di 15 mila euro più le spese processuali. Gli altri due sono morti.

And, something which concerns all EU countries, the operations of Frontex patrols in the Mediterranean will be revised, because for the first time the pushing back of groups at borders and on the high seas is tantamount to mass deportations. Italy will have to pay 15,000 euros plus legal costs to 22 of 24 plaintiffs, 11 Somalis and 13 Eritreans. The other two are dead.

Gabriele Del Grande's blog fortresseurope.blogspot.com concludes [it]:

Un giorno a Lampedusa e a Zuwarah, a Evros e a Samos, a Las Palmas e a Motril saranno eretti dei sacrari con i nomi delle vittime di questi anni di repressione della libertà di movimento. E ai nostri nipoti non potremo neanche dire che non lo sapevamo. Di seguito la rassegna completa e aggiornata delle notizie, dal 1988 a oggi. Per un'analisi delle statistiche, frontiera per frontiera, leggete la scheda Fortezza Europa.

One day, at Lampedusa and at Zouara, at Samos at Evros, at Las Palmas and at Motril, shrines will be erected with the victims' names from these years of repression of freedom of movement. And we won't be able to tell our grandchildren that we didn't know. Here you can find a comprehensive presentation and updates of information, from 1988 until today. For an analysis of the statistics, border by border, read the map Fortezza Europa (Fortress Europe).

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Italy: Historic ‘Guilty' Verdict in the Eternit Asbestos Trial

Jenny Sin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 23:47:34 +0000

A historic verdict has been delivered in Italy in the Eternit trial on the deadly consequences of asbestos. The bosses of multinational Eternit had put the lives of their workers in danger and committed environmental crimes.

However, many people doubted that they would be convicted for their crimes. Yet this is what happened on February 13, 2012 in Turin, northern Italy. The two top senior executives of Eternit were sentenced to 16 years in prison; legal proceedings began in 2009.

The judges indicted [fr] Stephan Schmidheiny, former owner of Eternit, and Louis de Cartier de Marchienne, former director of the Italian branch, as responsible for around 3,000 asbestos-related deaths, particularly in Casale Monferrato and its surrounding areas. They are also granted compensation to the victims, their families and civil society associations, and tens of millions of euros to some 6,000 plaintiffs.

The sentence was welcomed by hundreds of relatives and victims of asbestos poisoning, as well as by the representatives of the victims’ foreign associations.

Tribute to those who died from asbestos, in front of the Fibronit establishment in Casal Monferrato - Photo by Ro-buk: 'I' m not there on Flickr', reproduced under a Creative Commons CC-BY license

The website Swissinfo gives some additional details on the verdict [fr]:

Ils devront notamment verser 25 millions d'euros à la commune de Casale Monferrato, 20 millions à la région Piémont et 15 millions à l'Inail, la caisse nationale italienne d'assurance en cas d'accidents. M. de Cartier devra également verser 4 millions d'euros à la commune de Cavagnolo.

Messieurs Schmidheiny et de Cartier devront en outre verser entre 70.000 et 100.000 euros à huit associations, dont des syndicats et l’association écologiste, WWF. Les victimes de l'amiante et leurs familles recevront quant à elles des indemnités s'élevant pour la plupart entre 30.000 et 35.000 euros, selon la liste lue par le président du tribunal.

This will include paying 25 million euros to the town of Casale Monferrato, 20 million euros to the region of Piedmont and 15 million euros to INAIL, the Italian national fund for insurance against accidents. Mr. de Cartier will also have to pay 4 million euros to the municipality of Cavagnolo.

Mr. Schmidheiny and Mr. de Cartier will also have to pay between 70,000 and 100,000 euros to eight associations, including trade unions and the environmental organization, WWF. The victims of asbestos and their families will receive compensation ranging, for most people, between 30,000 and 35,000 euros, according to the list read by the President of the Tribunal.

The website Sanità in Cifre explains [it] why this trial was considered the “trial of the century”:

La sentenza di Torino su Eternit interviene su quello che qualcuno ha definito “il processo del secolo”, per l’impressionante quantità di vittime coinvolte: oltre 2.200 decessi dovuti all’amianto, 700 malati di asbestosi, oltre 6.000 costituzioni di parte civile e una platea di legali composta da 150 avvocati.

The Turin verdict against the Eternit company is truly what some have called “the trial of the century,” because of the appalling number of victims involved: more than 2,200 asbestos-related deaths, 700 patients with asbestosis, more than 6,000 plaintiffs and a legal plateau of 150 lawyers.

The families of the victims of asbestos have started a blog, Asbestos in the Dock and a Facebook page. They believe that the importance and the international implications of this trial go far beyond Italian borders:

Also, public prosecutors in other countries may study the Turin trial as a precedent for bringing their own criminal trials against directors of national Eternit subsidiaries.

According to experts, the product will continue to kill for a long time to come. The website Sanita in Cifre shows the extent of this risk [it] in Europe and also in the rest of the world:

La triste contabilità delle vittime in Italia raggiungerà un picco tra il 2015 e il 2018, mentre in Europa occidentale le proiezioni si attestano su 500.000 morti nei primi 30 anni del 2000. E, secondo l’Organizzazione mondiale della Sanità, nel mondo muiono ogni anno 107.000 persone per cancro al polmone, mesotelioma o asbetosi dovuti a esposizione ad amianto, mentre sono oltre 125 milioni gli esposti ai rischi sui luoghi di lavoro.

The sad count of victims in Italy will reach its peak between 2015 and 2018, while in Western Europe, the projected death rate will reach 500,000 in the first 30 years of 2000. And, according to World Health Organization, 107,000 people worldwide die each year of lung cancer, mesothelioma or asbestosis due to exposure to asbestos, while more than 125 million other people are at risk in their workplace.

In an interview with Christian Elia [it], Niccolò Bruna and Andrea Prandstraller, co-authors of the documentary “Polvere – Il grande processo all’amianto“ (Dust: The Great Asbestos Trial) for the monthly online magazine of the NGO Emergency, founded by the Italian war surgeon Gino Strada, describe the extent of the issue with asbestos and the anger and pain of the residents of Casale Monferrato [it]:

L’amianto, bandito in Europa, è estratto e lavorato in molti grandissimi paesi del mondo: Russia, Cina, Brasile, India, Thailandia….Mentre i Paesi Europei sono alle prese con costosissimi e quasi impossibili sforzi di decontaminazione il 75 percento della popolazione mondiale usa l’amianto-cemento ed è esposta ai suoi rischi. Perciò il problema amianto è oggi più attuale che mai.

Banned throughout Europe, asbestos is extracted and processed in many large countries: Russia, China, Brazil, India, Thailand …. While the European countries are dealing with expensive and nearly impossible decontamination efforts, 75 percent of the world’s population still uses asbestos-cement and is exposed to its risks. Therefore, the problem of asbestos is now more topical than ever.

This is what explains the presence of numerous delegations from associations of victims from abroad to attend the verdict reading in Turin. In a statement [fr] released on the same day, ANDEVA [fr] (a national association to protect victims of asbestos) reported that:

Ce jugement était très attendu. Par les victimes italiennes d’abord qui n’ont pu toutes pénétrer dans la salle d’audience dont beaucoup ont suivi la lecture intégrale du jugement à la télévision et à la radio. Mais aussi pour les victimes et les veuves venues apporter leur solidarité du Brésil, des Etats Unis, de Belgique, d’Angleterre, de Suisse, de France, qui ont pu l’entendre en direct en traduction simultanée. Avec l’Andeva, une délégation de 160 victimes et veuves était venue à Turin de toutes les régions de France (Bourgogne, Rhône Alpes, Martigues, Dunkerque, Paris). Parmi eux des anciens d’usines françaises d’Eternit.

This verdict was eagerly anticipated. First, by the Italian victims who could not all be in the courtroom, many of whom have followed the full verdict reading on television and radio. And also by the victims and the widows who came to express their solidarity from Brazil, USA, Belgium, England, Switzerland, and France, who were able to hear it directly in simultaneous translation. The ANDEVA delegation included 160 victims and widows, travelling to Turin from all regions of France (Burgundy, Rhône-Alpes, Martigues, Dunkirk, Paris). Also attending were some former French Eternit workers.

Unfortunately, even in the most serious tragedies, the victims’ fate can vary widely. In this case of the killer powders, the victims residing [it] in the towns of Rubiera [it, Reggio Emilia) and Bagnoli (Naples) will not receive any compensation because the crimes were prescribed. Yet living victims will need to support themselves, to feed their family members, and to preserve the environment for future generations.

To get an idea of how many people find themselves overlooked, on the blog Suite 101, Valerie Wilson wrote:

The President of Naples Province, Luigi Cesaro, listed the death bulletin from the Bagnoli factory:

134 deaths from lung cancer

9 deaths from larynx cancer

258 deaths from asbestosis

65 deaths from mesothelioma

as well as 100 workers still ill from the above illnesses.

Antonio Iaccarino, son of two patients contaminated in the town of Bagnoli wrote on the Facebook page Sentenza Processo Eternit [it]:

I miei genitori sono entrambi malati, sono stati lavoratori di Bagnoli e hanno lavorato dal 1960 al 1984…i loro amici del lavoro con i quali condividevano 3 turni si contano sulle dita di una solo mano, io forse sono un pò più fortunato di altri che hanno avuto i propri cari all'Eternit ma la vita dei miei genitori di sicuro non è stata, per motivi di salute, tutta rosa e fiori….

My parents are both ill, they worked in Bagnoli from 1960 to 1984 … the co-workers with whom they shared working shifts can be counted on one hand, perhaps I was luckier than others, who had loved ones working at Eternit, but the lives of my parents certainly were not, for health reasons, just roses and flowers ….

China: A Portrayal of Portrayals of Cultural And Ethnic Stereotypes

John Kennedy — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:44:24 +0000

Zhang Xu (”Nick in the House”), a comedic vlogger from northeast China, recently put together a video to showcase different cultural and ethnic stereotypes from a distinctly Chinese perspective.

Mostly in English with Chinese subtitles, Zhang's video blends different accents, pop culture references, and dramatic background music as he portrays a caricature, respectively, of a person from Japan, Korea, India, Britain, France, Italy, America, Russia and China, each trying to introduce their own culture or country to a foreigner.

Offended yet? In just four days, Nick's video has received more than 17,000 comments and 500,000 views.

Italy: New Volunia Search Engine Intrigues Blogosphere

Jane Ellis — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:29:39 +0000

Volunia is a brand new search engine which encourages interaction between people searching for the same topics in different languages. Although news of its creation was made public just a few days ago, on Monday 6 February, 2012, Volunia has already caused a stir in the blogosphere, ranging from enthusiasm to disappointment in many languages. The new search engine tool was created by an Italian professor of Computer Science.

Jean-Marie [fr] of website presse-citron.net seemed amazed not only that the project [fr] had seen the light of day, but also that it had originated within a university:

Créer un moteur de recherche ! En 2012 ? Dans un marché planétaire phagocyté par des monopolistes géants qu’on peut compter sur les doigts de la main. L’imaginer, au plan conceptuel, en développer toute la technique, extrêmement sophistiquée, pour le plus dans un contexte académique, en impliquant des étudiants dans ce beau projet, ambitieux, trouver des fonds, puis tenter de le déployer au niveau mondial, d’emblée en 12 langues (allemand, anglais, espagnol, français, italien, portugais, polonais, arabe, russe, japonais, chinois, coréen), tel est le défi accompli par Massimo Marchiori, professeur à l’Université de Padoue.

Why on earth would you create a search engine in 2012, in a global market divided up by just a few giant monopolies? To devise it conceptually, to develop the extremely sophisticated techniques, usually within an academic environment, as well as involving students in this ambitious project. To source funding, then to try to roll out worldwide in 12 languages (German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean), right from the start. These were the challenges overcome by Massimo Marchiori, professor of Computer Science at the University of Padua.

Smriti Jha, writer on the blog crazyengineers.com explains the origins of the name:

Deriving from the Italian words volo (flying) and luna (moon), Volunia is the fruitful result of three years of hard work put in by Marchiori.

On the blog abondance.com Olivier Andrieu [fr] gave his opinion [fr] following a performance review of this new search engine:

- Que nos premiers pas semblent prometteurs : le site est rapide (encore heureux en version bêta, ceci dit…), les résultats de recherche sont plutôt pertinents à première vue, bref, l'outil semble bien né…

- Volunia transformera-t-il l'essai ? Sans parler de véritable révolution, ce nouveau moteur de recherche est agréable sans réellement changer nos habitudes. Il a en tout cas l'avantage de proposer une alternative à Google. Quant à dire s'il va le concurrencer dans les mois qui viennent, c'est une autre question. C'est en tout cas ce que l'avenir dira lorsqu'il s'ouvrira de façon plus large à ses utilisateurs. Ce sont eux qui jugeront. Mais nos premiers tests semblent plutôt positifs…

- First impressions seem promising - the site is rapid (that said, it is still in beta mode), search results seem pretty accurate so far. This search engine seems to have been well thought out….

- Will Volunia transform the Internet search? Although not exactly a revolution, this new search engine is pleasant to use, while not dramatically changing how we do do things. At least it has the advantage of offering an alternative to Google. Whether it will be able to compete with it in the months to come is another question. The future will reveal all, as, when Volunia is more widely available, users will judge its potential. I would say our first trials have been fairly positive…

This article unleashed a wave of commentary, including the following [fr] from a user named Kershin [fr]:

Personnellement, je suis aussi un power user et, bien que l'idée soit sympa, je trouve l'interface ultra lourde. Il y a trop de barres partout, trop de fonctions. Quand on vient de Google et son style épuré, on est vite surchargé par l'interface. A mon avis, ils gagneraient à laisser l'utilisateur activer ou désactiver certaines fonctionnalités..

I too am a power user, and, although the idea is great, I found the interface ultra slow. There are too many toolbars and too many functions. When you come from Google and its pared down style, you quickly become overwhelmed by the interface. In my opinion they should let the user activate or deactivate certain functionalities..

A French tech website [fr] gave the following opinion:

L'index de Volunia ne souffre pas (encore) la comparaison avec de plus gros moteurs, et les SERPS n'affichent pour l'instant que des sites ayant une certaine autorité. Les discussions entre power users sur le chat font état d'un certain manque de pertinence sur les recherches de personnes (ahhhhh… les premières requêtes d'ego surfing pour s'admirer dans le miroir virtuel ;-)

The search index of Volunia cannot yet meet that of the biggest search engines, and the SERPS currently only latch onto sites which have some authority. Chat-based discussions between power users reveal a certain lack of accuracy while searching for individuals. (Ah, those first searches for your own name, admiring yourself in the virtual mirror ;)

A user named Andy said [fr]:

Je disais qu'on déloge un grand concurrent, non pas en l'attaquant de face, mais en introduisant des petites améliorations “pas menaçantes”. Sur ce plan Volunia a aussi des points positifs : l'idée de créer une sorte de “réseau social” entre personnes qui se sont intéressées au même sujet, et de les inviter à communiquer entre elles (et sans doute à donner aussi des informations à Volunia, de manière nettement plus intelligente que Knowl), est une bonne idée. Elle a ces caractéristiques : amélioration, sans attaque de front. En ce qui concerne les résultats des requêtes, pour l'instant c'est ridicule. Il vaut mieux que Volunia signe tant que c'est possible un accord avec “un des grands moteurs”. (Si je veux inventer un nouveau moyen de transport avec des roues, je ne vais pas mettre une équipe d'ingénieurs sur la réinvention de la roue…)

You get rid of a major competitor, not by a full frontal assault, but by introducing small, ‘non-threatening' improvements. Volunia has some positive points in this regard: the idea of creating a kind of 'social network' between people interested in the same subject, and inviting them to communicate with each other (and doubtless to also pass information to Volunia, in a vastly more intelligent way than Knowl), is good, and an example of an improvement with no head-on confrontation. However, the search results are ridiculous. It would be better if Volunia showed as much agreement as possible with the major search engines. (If I wanted to invent a new method of wheeled transport, I wouldn't set a team of engineers to work redesigning the wheel.)

Bobbie Johnson wrote the following in an article entitled “Is Volunia Italy’s answer to Google — or just hot air?” published on the blog gigaom.com:

To me, everything from Volunia so far seems to suggest it’s trying to solve a problem that nobody needs to solve right now. I can’t wait to see it open up and find out whether I’m right or wrong.

This opinion was also shared by Jian who posted this comment after the article:

I am a power user too and tried it.

You said well, it does look like it is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist yet.

But anyway, I hope it could make an impact, since we don’t want to have just a Google to take over the whole market…

Another reader of this article, Nebil Kriedi, not sharing this opinion, responded:

A problem which doesn’t exists? [sic]

Do you really think that searching for something on the web ends up on showing a dozen of links like most search engine does?
I personally think that your search ends when you find the CONTENT you’re looking for, not just a stupid and chaotic html.

For what I saw, volunia seems to be be designed for that kind of search, a search which brings you straight on the content by following your navigation inside the website.

The idea behind its design (awful) it’s brilliant to me and I hope the execution would be fine too.

A user named Liz left the following comment:

I like the idea of a way to interact with other visitors on a page. Question is how would it be monitored for security and safety reasons?

I’m always curious who will rival G[oogle]. The bigger you are the harder you fall… eventually…

After analysing the various aspects of this new search engine, online services specialist Paola Bonomo highlighted the new features which set it apart from other search engines. She did not seem terribly impressed in her review [it] on her blog pandemia.info:

Ha veramente senso commentare una pagina con gli altri utenti che la visitano? Se cerco informazioni, sono più interessato ai contenuti della pagina o ai commenti lasciati da altri pochi utenti? Forse più i primi che i secondi. Non necessariamente deve essere social ogni momento passato in rete, soprattutto se siamo già abituati a commentare con un tweet su Twitter o con una segnalazione su Facebook o usando uno dei plugin social di Facebook. Perché cambiare? Qui l’integrazione con Facebook e Twitter dovrà essere spinta per far cambiare comportamento agli utenti.

Is there really any point commenting on a page with other users who are visiting it? If I was searching for information, would I be more interested in the contents or the page, or the comments left by other users? Perhaps I would be more interested in the former than the latter. Not all time spent on social networks is necessarily spent being sociable, especially if we are already used to commenting via tweets or Facebook, or via Facebook social plug-ins. Why change? Facebook and Twitter integration must be actively pushed in order to change the behaviour of users.

A Spanish-based tech website, danilodellaquila.com, recorded its verdict:

Volunia adds new concepts and ideas about the web, also it adds the “Social” concept to the search engine. Also Google is doing it, with its +1 and G+ but I prefer the Volunia way, it feels closest to real life.

A Russian social media blog smm-promo.ru warned [ru]:

Итак начинается тестирование новой поисковой системы Volunia, представленной на 12 языках. Mail.ru и Яндекс берегитесь.

And so begins the trial of the new 12 language search engine Volunia. Mail.ru and Yandex had better watch out.

Italy: Volunia, a Serendipity-based Search Engine

Abdoulaye Bah — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:06:24 +0000

On the blog Presse-citron, Jean-Marie Le Ray wites about”Volunia” [fr], the new search engine in 12 languages invented by Professor Massimo Marchiori of the University of Padua (Italy) : “this is a new concept of navigation of our times I think a test, a laboratory of ideas , also with a prospective vision of the Semantic Web, which relies heavily on “voluntary and spontaneous” interaction with the user. In a sense, it is a participatory search engine trying to put the future in perspective in order to adapt the current search process better [fr]. “