Cafébabel

21/07/2023

Mario Paciolla was a former Cafébabel contributor and founder of our local branch in Naples, Italy, he also was a UN cooperator. He was found murdered in Colombia for reasons that are still unclear.
RaiPlay Sound made a podcast series about him and his sad disappearance.
Listen to it here ⤵️

https://www.raiplaysound.it/audio/2023/07/Mario-Paciolla---Tre-anni-senza-verita-Ep01-Mario-nostro-figlio-12e8d0c5-6e13-4804-b065-c1433d75b78a.html

14/06/2023

One week ago, we announced the launch of ereb's newsletter, In Vivo. We wanted to say a big thank you to you all for joining us on this new adventure, your support is very important to us. 🥰

For those who have taken the plunge and subscribed, we hope you got as much enjoyment out of reading our newsletter as we did producing it.

And if you haven't already done so, sign up to In Vivo! Next week, we will be taking you to Sainte-Soline, in the centre-west of France, where environmental activists are trying to stop a "mega-basin" project, because water is also a cross-border issue.

Sign-up to In Vivo here ➡️http://eepurl.com/hyxApH

ereb Email Forms

07/06/2023

It’s D-Day! Today ereb is launching its new newsletter, In Vivo. 💌🎉

Our first In Vivo profile is Silvana from Italy. She is a gynaecologist alongside colleagues who, for the most part, refuse to perform abortions. What impact does this have on patients and their care? Silvana takes us into the sometimes brutal world of Italian hospitals.

In Vivo is issued every fortnight, in French, English and Italian, and is completely free. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇮🇹

➡️ Not yet subscribed? Don't miss a single issue by signing up today.
➡️http://eepurl.com/hyxApH

06/06/2023

It’s finally time for In Vivo’s launch, ereb’s newsletter! 🚀

Every two weeks, receive personal stories from Europeans along with cultural recommendations to dig deeper into the topic. 🔍
Be ready to travel to Italy to read about Silvana, a gynaecologist who accepts to carry abortions in a country where the majority of her fellow doctors refuse to do it.

In Vivo is available in English, French and Italian. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇮🇹
➡️http://eepurl.com/hyxApH

01/06/2023

Are you passionate about personal stories which transcend borders? 🌏📝
We believe that ereb’s newsletter, In Vivo, is made for you!

With In Vivo, you will delve into the personal stories and experiences of people from all over Europe 🇪🇺 understand what’s happening on our continent through a social and human lens 🤩 and cultivate your opinions on major issues. 🤓

🌟 But there is more: receive cultural recommendations picked out by our team and links to the best stories published by European independent media.

👉 Subscribe to our newsletter and know all about our continent. 🗺

➡️ http://eepurl.com/hyxApH

23/05/2023

🥰 Thank you so much for your messages !

If you liked Cafébabel, we are rather sure that you will love ereb, the media crossing borders to reconnect our lives.

To discover our universe, values and editorial missions, we worked in the lost month on our manifesto. In case you want to have a look, just click ⬇️

https://ereb.eu/our-manifesto/

PS: We have new surprises very soon!

16/05/2023

Hi everyone!

Some news on the Cafébabel side!

🚨After 22 years of participative journalism, Cafébabel will now sail to new horizons to reshape the narrative if our continent ⛵️

👇More details on our blogpost below 😉

🫶One thing remains the same: we want to do it with you. Stay tuned ! Read our blogpost to discover why !

🌈 PS: Feel free to share either by commenting below or in a private message to share our best Cafébabel memories! 😉

After 22 years of participative journalism, Cafébabel will be stopping its production. This doesn't mean we're going to stop reporting on Europe and Europeans. Au contraire! We are sailing to new horizons to reshape the narrative of our continent.

28/02/2023

For the first time ever, a French bank is facing legal action over its climate investments.

A coalition of French environmental NGOs announced on Thursday 23rd of February that they will take legal action against BNP Paribas, one of the biggest European banks, as it supposedly "fails to comply with the French duty of [the] vigilance law and still refuses to stop financing the expansion of fossil fuels."

"BNP Paribas, Europe's largest funder of fossil fuel expansion, is ignoring scientific truths and is reluctant to address this glaring issue” Lorette Philippot, a campaigner for Friends of the Earth France, said in a statement.

For months NGOs have been warning BNP Paribas that they will take legal action. In recent weeks, they have collected around 50,000 signatures in support of the lawsuit.

📸 Lorette Philippot, credit Friends of the Earth France

🤝 Sphera

23/02/2023

2022 saw an increase in reported acts of violence against LGBTQ+ people across Europe and Central Asia, according to the advocacy group ILGA-Europe.

In its "Annual Review", the Brussels-based LGBTQ+ Human Rights NGO argues that 2022 was "the most violent year for LGBTI people across the region in the past decade, both through planned, ferocious attacks and through suicides in the wake of rising and widespread hate speech from politicians, religious leaders, right-wing organisations and media pundits."

According to Evelyne Paradis, ILGA's Executive Director for Europe and Central Asia, “while we are getting better at dealing with outcomes, the focus has to be on stopping hate speech in all its forms. Across Europe, many politicians have reacted with horror to the killings of LGBTI people this year, and while clear expressions of solidarity are always needed, it does not address the foundation of the problem, which is the proliferation of using hatred against LGBTI people for political gain.”

Sources: ILGA

🤝 Sphera

21/02/2023

After a decade of talks, French LGBT and single women are now eligible for official medically assisted reproduction procedures, as of August 2021.

However, according to reports and health statistics, French authorities are not able to cope with demand, which was overwhelmingly underestimated. According to Joëlle Belaisch Allart, a doctor mentoring LGBT couples and women on the procedure, around 17,000 people are waiting for s***m donors for assisted reproduction purposes.

Sources: French government, La r***e du practicien

🤝 Sphera

18/02/2023

In 2021, the number of female scientists and engineers in the EU increased by 369,000 from the previous year, making a total of 6.9 million workers.

However, EUROSTAT data shows that women are still under-represented in the sector. Women account for 41% of the scientific and engineering workforce and are a minority in all the sub-sectors covered by the study. Although a more equal balance can be seen in the services sector, where 46% of S&E professionals are women, the figures drop in the motor vehicle sector (13%), in the manufacture of transport equipment (12%), and in the water transport sector (8%).

Even in terms of geography there are clear differences. While female scientists and engineers outnumber men in Lithuania (52%), Bulgaria, Latvia and Portugal (all 51%), they account for only 34% in countries such as Germany and Italy, and 33% in Hungary. Finland is at the bottom of the list with 31%.

Sources: Eurostat

🤝 Sphera

15/02/2023

In March 2022, only a few days after the invasion of Ukraine, Russian journalist, Marina Ovsyannikova, burst onto the news report of the Russian channel Pervy Canal, showing an anti-war placard to the cameras. She was arrested several times for this act, and fined for criticising the government.

During a press conference in Paris on the 10th February 2023, Ovsyannikova said that after her act of protest she saw an expression of total compassion in the eyes of her co-workers: They were looking at me with wild eyes, they were saying goodbye. They thought they would never see me again. My lawyer said "flee, flee - they're going to put you in prison".

In September 2022, thanks to a four-month operation carried out by Reporters Without Borders, she managed to escape from house arrest. After removing her electronic bracelet with a wire cutter, Ovsyannikova said she took 7 cars and walked several hours through the woods at night to cross the border and meet up with an intermediary who was waiting for her. In October 2022, she finally took refuge in France. Now she lives in Paris with her daughter.

During the press conference, Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of RSF, emphasised the importance of the rescue, especially in a context such as Putin's Russia: 37 journalists have been killed since Putin came to power, 20 are in prison, and 200 local media are considered 'foreign agents', i.e. traitors.

Sources: Reporters Sans Frontières, Mediapart.

Sphera

14/02/2023

After the great success of Germany's €9 monthly ticket for unlimited travel on public transport and local trains in summer 2022, the same initiative will be repeated in 2023 at a higher price: 49 €.

For three months, from June to August 2022, the pilot fare was bought by 30 million people, including many foreign tourists in Germany for their summer holidays.

The initiative was launched as an attempt to tackle the energy crisis and was hailed as a great success by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. However, Finance Minister Christian Linder said that maintaining the tariff would have cost the public coffers €14 billion a year.

From the 1st May 2023, the €49 ticket and will be valid on all public transport except long-distance trains and buses. The federal government will provide the states with €1.5 billion annually until 2025, to introduce the offer, and an equivalent contribution will be made by the states.

Federal minister for transport, Dr Volker Wissing, described the €49 ticket as “the biggest reform of the public transport system in the history of our country.”

Sources: Reuters, International Railway Journal

🤝 Sphera

11/02/2023

On the 12th January 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a landmark judgment recognizing the right of self-employed workers not to suffer from discrimination due to their sexual orientation.

The ruling relates to a 2017 case in which a freelancer had his shifts unilaterally cancelled after he published a video promoting tolerance towards same-sex couples. He had previously been working for seven years producing audio-visual content for the Polish public television channel TP.

In June 2021, the case was referred to the CJEU by the District Court of Warsaw. Before the judgment, Poland argued that the termination of such a contract with a self-employed person, even if based on that person’s sexual orientation, did not violate EU law.

However the recent CJEU statement states clearly that, “sexual orientation cannot be a reason to conclude a contract with a self-employed worker”. The directive on protection against sexual orientation discrimination applies to all workers, regardless of the legal form in which the work is performed.

Arpi Avetisyan, Head of Litigation with ILGA-Europe, said, “it is another important step forward in strengthening the protection against discrimination in the workplace. The judgment is especially crucial for LGBTIQ+ people in those municipalities in Poland which still have anti-LGBTIQ+ resolutions or family charters in place. We hope that Polish authorities will take the necessary steps to implement this judgment swiftly and make it a reality.”

Sources: The Court of Justice of the European Union

🤝 Sphera

07/02/2023

On Monday 30th January, Danish refugee officials promised to approve asylum requests for Afghans girls and women due to their persecution by the Taliban.

The decision, made by the Danish Refugee Appeals Board, Flygtningenævnet, is the first of its kind in Europe and a direct consequence of human rights abuses suffered by Afghan women since the Taliban took over in summer 2021. According to the European Union's Asylum Agency “the accumulation of various measures introduced by the Taliban, which affect the rights and freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan, amounts to persecution.”

In recent months, Taliban authorities have banned women from most professions and careers. They have also denied women and girls access to high-school and university education.

In 2022, Afghan was the predominant nationality of asylum-seekers in the European Union, the majority of whom were men. Illegal migration routes are considered too dangerous for women, especially single women.

Source: Flygtningenævnet

📸 Fatima (right), a former local official in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, pictured on International Women's Day, 10 March 2012. Credit: DFID

🤝 Sphera

03/02/2023

A new study has hinted that gas cookers in Europe are breaching air pollution limits and could become a health hazard to children and adults.

The study, released in late January by the NGOs, CLAPS and the European Public Health Alliance, benefited from the technical expertise of the Dutch organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).

The report focused on several European countries including Hungary, Italy, Romania, Spain and Slovakia.

"Over 100 million EU citizens cook on gas, including more than half of all homes in Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia. Health groups fear that the situation could get especially bad due to the energy crisis this winter, as people reduce ventilation to save heat and money" said the coalition of NGOs in a statement.

"The impact of gas cooking on the burden of childhood asthma to be comparable to that of second-hand smoke" the NGOs added, whilst advocating for the use of electric cookers which are deemed better health and climate-friendly alternatives.

Source: European Public Health Alliance, CLAPS

📸 Close-up of flames on a gas stove, photo of Ivan Radic
🤝 Sphera

02/02/2023

Members of the European Parliament voted on the 2nd February to lift the parliamentary immunity of two lawmakers who were embroiled in the 'Qatargate' scandal in recent weeks.

'Qatargate' is the nickname of a vast corruption investigation led by Belgian authorities on whether several European lawmakers were bribed by the Qatar government to influence the views of the European Assembly on their monarchy.

Eva Kalli, a Greek socialist member was arrested by police in December and is currently in jail along with her partner Francesco Giorgi, a former political aide in the Human Rights committee of the European Parliament. Pier Antonio Panzerri, a former Italian MEP was also arrested. At least €1.5 million was seized by the authorities.

Parliamentary immunity was lifted for two politicians on Thursday. Marc Tarabella, a Belgian socialist MEP, is suspected by investigators of having been part of the corruption pact. Pier Antonio Panzerri has told to Belgian police that he received €120,000 in cash to defend Qatar's records on human rights.

The immunity of Andrea Cozzolino, another centre-left Italian MEP, was also lifted. He is been suspected by Belgian authorities of having a too cozy a relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco.

As both men are lawmakers, they are protected from legal action. However by lifting parliamentary immunity, they can now being interrogated by police and charged.

Source: European Parliament

📸 Marc Tarabella, Belgian centre-left MEP

🤝 Sphera

30/01/2023

Three years after the United-Kingdom left the European Union, more than 6 million Europeans remain in the country, according to the British Office of National Statistics (ONS).

These 6 million European citizens (including nationals from Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) now live in the UK under either a "settled status" or a "pre-settled status", which were automatically granted to Europeans who arrived in the country before the 31st December 2020.

This status, as agreed with the European Union in the UK's withdrawal agreement, allows Europeans to keep all of their residency rights (no visa application, ability to receive allowances or social benefits, pensions' rights).

Poland and Romania alone represent a third of the approved applications. Other European countries, such as Portugal, Spain and Italy, also have a significant chunk of their citizens in the United-Kingdom.

However, by comparison to their countries populations, Lithuania and Latvia have the highest proportion of expatriates living in the UK, with over 9% of Lithuanians and 7.3% of Latvians. The proportion is slightly lower for Romania (5.6%) and Poland (slightly less than 3%).

The 'settled status' and European citizens' (who arrived in the UK before Brexit) right to remain in the UK, was a non-negotiable for the EU and its former Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, during Brexit talks.

Nevertheless, according to official statistics, since 2016, between the pandemic and Brexit, over 1 million Europeans left the United-Kingdom.

26/01/2023

According to Eurostat, the EU's statistics body, Greek households are struggling more than any other households in Europe, to pay their energy bills. In 2020, more than a third of them (35%) were unable to pay their bills on time, which was over fives times the EU average of around 7% for that same year.

According to experts and economists, austerity measures are partly to blame for energy poverty in Greece. From 2008 to 2015, the Greek government cut support to poor households and the economic situation slowed down renovation projects.

The statistics do not include the years 2021 and 2022 when energy prices skyrocketed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

24/01/2023

As the World Economic Forum kicked off on in Switzerland on the 16th of January, gathering global elites to discuss the worlds problems, Oxfam released a new report called Survival of the Richest.

The report shows how billionaires have profited from the multiple crises facing the world.

Since 2020 the richest 1% have earned nearly twice as much as the other 99% put together.

Oxfam is calling for the increase in taxation of the super-rich.

Over the past forty years, governments across the world have slashed income tax rates on the richest.

To give you an example, Elon Musk paid a ‘true tax rate’ of around 3% between 2014 and 2018 whilst a flour vendor in Uganda, making 80 dollars a month, pays 40% in taxes.

Oxfam calculates that a 5% wealth tax on multi-millionaires and billionaires could raise $1.7 trillion a year, enough to lift 2 billion people out of poverty.

23/01/2023

14% to 20% of homes in metropolitan France had visible mould in 2021 according to Santé publique france.

Humidity and mould can cause allergies and respiratory diseases such as asthma, according to Santé publique france.

As of 2023, 450 kWh, per m2, per year, is the maximum amount of energy a dwelling can consume to be considered decent.

510,000 extremely energy-inefficient homes exist in France, according to the National Observatory for Energy Renovation.

Indecent living conditions can cause multiple health problems such as, allergies, respiratory diseases, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, mental health problems and poisoning, as well leading to domestic accidents.

22/01/2023

On the 20th December 2022, the Athens Court of Appeal unanimously rejected the release of Yiannis Lagos and Ilias Kasidiarisdes, the leading members of Golden Dawn, a Greek neo-Nazi, ultra-nationalist and right-wing criminal organisation.

In October 2020, the leaders of Golden Dawn and 61 other defendants were convicted of participation in a criminal organisation "disguised as a political party". They were found guilty of murder and violent attacks on immigrants and left-wing political opponents.

18 of the defendants were former members of the Greek parliament. Golden Dawn held 21 seats in the Greek parliament in 2012 and 18 seats in 2015, making them the third most popular party, as well as 3 seats in the European parliament in 2014.

"For years, Golden Dawn enjoyed immunity due to the fact that it operated in the context of the state. The police would give it the dirty work in cases of 'difficult' protests," said Dimitris Psarras, a journalist, author and expert on the Greek far right.

📸 by on Twitter : a demonstration in front of the Athens court on 7 October 2022, the day of the Golden Dawn trial. The sign reads "Fascism never again".

12/01/2023

In 2019 and 2020 some Polish counties and local authorities set out anti-LGBTQ resolutions, whilst others introduced a so-called "Charter of Family Rights," in the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman in the supposed interest of child protection and to prevent "moral corruption".

Since 2015, the conservative, Law and Justice, party (P*S) has been in power, chaired by Andrzej Duda who has been noted for his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.

A group of activists created the "Atlas of Hate" (Atlas Nienawiści in Polish) mapping out the areas which are opposed to "LGBTQ ideology".

Opoczna, a county of 75,000 inhabitants was listed by activists in red i.e. as a place where anti-LGBTQ resolutions have been adopted. The county filed a lawsuit claiming that the classification was unjustified and "damaged the reputation of the county".

On the 21st December, the Polish court ruled in favour of the activists, who were found to be legally exercising their right to "express criticism of a public authority". In addition, the court ordered the county to pay 20,000 zlotis (€4,258.70) in legal fees.

In 2020, the European Union refused to grant subsidies to six Polish towns, in a European town-twinning project, because of their LGBT-free zones.

The areas in yellow delineate lobbying activity and in green are the areas which refused the anti-LGBTQ resolutions.

10/01/2023

Electricity prices are breaking records in Europe. Although prices have fluctuated dramatically over recent months, the average price of electricity in the European Union was 36.7% higher in November 2022 than in November 2021, according to Eurostat.

The post-Covid-19 economic and industrial recovery and the war in Ukraine are the two major factors behind the price increase.

The slowdown in economic activity had led to a drop in the consumption of electricity, which cannot be produced in surplus and stored, which in turn resulted in a drop in prices. In November 2020, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices for electricity in Italy was -3.5% compared to 2019, -38.9% in the Netherlands and -0.1% in the EU.

Part of the electricity produced in Europe is made from natural gas. However, since their invasion of Ukraine, Russia has reduced its exports of natural gas to Europe, leading to an increase in the price of electricity.

09/01/2023

There is always an election somewhere in Europe!

In 2023, around 69 million Europeans will cast their vote in parliamentary and presidential elections across the bloc.

The Czechs will be the first to vote, from the 13th-14th January, to replace their outgoing President, Miloš Zeman, elected in 2013. The former populist Prime Minister, Andrej Babiš, is running to replace him. A run-off will be held from the 27th-28th January if no candidate manages to win over 50% of the vote.

On the 5th February, Cypriot voters will also cast their vote to choose Nicos Anastasiades' successor. Former Foreign affairs minister, Nikos Christodoulides, is currently leading in the polls. A run-off is scheduled on the 12th February.

Two female Prime Ministers are also looking to stay in power. Estonia's Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, is running for the centrist Reform Party on the 5th March. The center-left, Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, will also run for a second term during the Finnish parliamentary elections which are scheduled for the 2nd April.

Meanwhile, the conservative Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will also run for a second term in their July elections. Voters in Luxembourg will also vote to choose their next parliament in October.

However, the biggest elections to watch this year will be the Polish parliamentary elections which should take place in November. Whilst the incumbent (far) right-wing party, 'Law and Justice' (P*S), are leading in the polls, an alliance of centre-right and left parties is likely to be formed to oust them.

06/01/2023

Despite being disbanded in 2020 by the Greek judiciary after a 5-year trial, the former far-right, neo-Nazi criminal organisation, Golden Dawn, continues its ultra-violent, racist attacks.

🤝 Sphera

06/01/2023

€70,000 would be the cost of insulating the roof of the Montalvo Theatre near Madrid in Spain. Unable to pay for the work, the theatre’s director, Cecilia Anahi, has watched her energy bill double, made worse by inflation.

🤝 Sphera

06/01/2023

A look at hooliganism in the UK, Germany, France, Serbia, Croatia and Greece.

28/06/2022

📣 Episode 2 of our series "New landlord" is available!
Learn how citizens are reinvesting goods confiscated from organised crime by the courts in Italy.

This series is written by Mathilde Dorcadie for the COESO project, that combines journalism and scientific researches, with the help of Fabrice Rizzoli.

Read the full story here 👇

https://bit.ly/3AaHX2T

"New Landlords: when Italian civil society moves in with the mafia" is the latest series from Cafébabel on citizens who are reinvesting goods confiscated from organised crime by the courts. How and why have projects been created for the common good in places which, in the past, have served the inte...

24/06/2022

For those who haven't noticed yet, our series "New landlords" is now available in English!
Read all about how properties that once belonged to the mafia can serve the civil cause. 👇

https://cafebabel.com/en/article/repurposing-property-isnt-just-important-its-essential13-628e0689f723b32b21d66868/

“New Landlords” is Cafébabel’s series about citizens who reinvest property from organised crime seized by the justice system. How and why do they create projects for the common good in these places which have, in the past, served the interests of the mafia? In this first part of our inquiry, ...