Tag Archives: Europe

Class + Socioeconomics

U.K. News | Middle & Working Classes

Scotland works to correct massive land ownership inequality through pro-community initiatives
  • The Land Reform Bill of 2015 promotes community ownership and settlement in Scotland’s rural regions, establishing a new land registry and the Scottish Land Fund to help community groups purchase land.
  • A 2014 government report found that half of Scotland’s privately held land is owned by 0.008% of the population.
  • Scotland’s land inequality has been driven by aristocratic inheritance, violent land hoarding in the 1800s, and massive contemporary real estate investments by the wealthy.

Read more:
“Scotland moves against wealthy gentry dominating land” (Reuters)
“‘New dawn’ as MSPs approve land reform proposals” (BBC)
“New £10m community buy-out fund revealed as MSPs debate land reform” (Scottish Housing News)
“A new dawn for land reform in Scotland?” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)

Health + Ability, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Ireland News | LGBT & HIV

HIV testing in Ireland expands into gay bars
  • The Panti Bar, run by LGBT and poz activist Panti Bliss (drag persona of Rory O’Neill), is set to begin offering 30-second HIV tests to patrons.
  • HIV infection rates rose 160% in Ireland between 2005 and 2015, including a record high of 182 new cases in 2014.
  • With trained counselors on site and the ability to register positive individuals with Ireland’s treatment and counseling program, the Panti Bar will be the first expansion of HIV testing out of clinical settings in Ireland, with similar programs to follow in Cork, Limerick, and other parts of Dublin.

Read more:
“Dublin drag queen turns pub into HIV-Aids testing centre” (The Guardian)
“Rory O’Neill on living with HIV: ‘Most gay guys don’t understand how far things have changed and how different it is’” (Independent.ie)

Nationality + Migration

Greece & Turkey News | Migrants & Refugees

Greece begins mass migrant deportations to Turkey in accordance with controversial new EU deal
  • More than 130 migrants were on the first boat from Lesbos to the Turkish port of Dikili, including Pakistanis, Afghans, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Indians, Syrians, and an Iraqi.
  • To stem the flow of human trafficking across the Aegean Sea, Turkey has agreed to receive migrants and refugees who have arrived in Greece via the Aegean without authorization.
  • In return, the EU will take in Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and give Turkey money, visa-free travel, and progress in its EU membership application.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeAIOeSyAeg

Read more:
“Migrants sent back from Greece arrive in Turkey under EU deal” (Reuters)
“First EU migrant deportations from Greece to Turkey ‘go smoothly’, despite protests” (euronews)
“First boats returning migrants and refugees from Greece arrive in Turkey” (The Guardian)

Age, Ideology + Affiliation

Portugal & Angola News | Activists & Dissidents

Protests over jailing of youth activists in Angola spread to Portugal
  • Advocates in Lisbon have expressed dismay that the Portuguese government has so far refused to condemn the jailing of 17 youth activists in its former colony.
  • Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos warned Portugal against stepping into what he considers to be an Angolan domestic matter.
  • Demonstrations in Lisbon castigated the conviction of the book-club activists as well as Angolan businessmen’s investment in Portugal’s news and telecommunications industries.

Read more:
“Anger as Lisbon fails to condemn jailing of Angola book club dissidents” (The Guardian)
“Tensions high after Angolan activists sentenced in ‘show trial’” (The Observers)

(Image Credit: Joao Relvas/EPA, via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

Czech Republic | Iraqi Christian Refugees

Czech Republic expels Iraqi Christian refugees for attempting to cross into Germany
  • Interior Minister Milan Chovanec announced the 25 refugees have seven days to arrange their return to Iraq.
  • Chovanec accused the Iraqis of “abusing the country’s generosity” after they were caught at the German border and returned.
  • The Czech Republic agreed to accept 153 Christian refugees from Iraq in December, but only 89 have been resettled so far and Chovanec has suspended the relocation program.

Read more:
“Czechs to return Iraqi Christians who tried to move to Germany, interior minister says” (Reuters)
“Czechs To Repatriate 25 Iraqi Christians Who Tried To Cross Into Germany” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Gender, Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.K. News | LGB

Scotland becomes first country to have out sexual minorities comprise majority of political party leaders
  • Kezia Dugdale, leader of the Scottish Labour party, came out quietly in an interview with the Fabian Review, mentioning her relationship with another woman.
  • Dugdale joins the leaders of the Scottish Conservative, Scottish Green, and UKIP Scotland parties as an out politician.
  • At 34, Dugdale is also the youngest leader of the Labour party and discussed how her relative youth has affected perceptions of her leadership capabilities.

Read more:
“The long road: interview with Kezia Dugdale” (Fabian Review)
“The Scottish Labour Leader Just Came Out And No One Batted An Eyelid” (BuzzFeed News)
“Kezia Dugdale: Scottish Labour leader announces she is in a same-sex relationship” (The Independent)

(Image Credit: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images, via BuzzFeed News)

Nationality + Migration

Germany News | Refugees

German minister announces proposed law requiring refugee integration
  • Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere outlined plans for a law requiring refugees to learn German, allow free mobility for relatives, and accept employment or lose their residency.
  • Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel stated integration must be “demanded” in return for residency after ruling pro-refugee conservatives were dealt a blow during recent regional elections.
  • In 2015, some 1 million refugees arrived in Germany, and an estimated 100,000 have arrived so far this year.

Read more:
“Germany wants refugees to integrate or lose residency rights” (Reuters)
“Europe Refugee Crisis: Syrians Must Learn German Or Lose Residency Under Proposed Integration Law” (International Business Times)
“When refugees want to work in Germany” (Deutsche Welle)

(Image Credit: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

Gender, Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Germany Feature | Women & Refugees

Securing Women’s Bodies in Germany

On New Year’s Eve, hundreds of women were grabbed and sexually assaulted by a group of mostly Algerian and Moroccan men during holiday festivities in Cologne. In the fallout, a contentious international debate exploded, impacted by ongoing tension over Germany’s refugee policy. While both sides have accused the other of information distortion for political purposes, some feminists have shifted the focus to the lax laws that enable such sexual assaults to take place, arguing that such violence has been a problem since long before refugees arrived. With a mere 13% of rape cases resulting in conviction, advocates have sought to change laws that require evidence of overwhelming offensive and defensive physical force for a case to be considered rape. BuzzFeed News examines the intersection of sexism, racism, xenophobia, and feminism in the fight to secure women’s sexual agency and refugee integration in Germany.

Read more:
“Why The New Year’s Attacks On Women In Germany Weren’t Even A Crime” (BuzzFeed News)

Additional reading:
“Germany tightens rape law in wake of Cologne assaults” (AFP via The Local)
“Germany to tighten rape laws in wake of Cologne attacks” (The Independent)

(Image Credit: Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images, via BuzzFeed News)

Nationality + Migration

U.K. & France News | Migrants & Refugees

U.K. faces refugee surge as France continues Calais camp dismantlement
  • France has begun evicting an estimated 3,500 refugees from the makeshift camp outside of Calais, one of the most prominent symbols of refugee marginalization across Western Europe.
  • U.K. border officials have discovered refugees coming from France in trucks as part of a surge in those attempting to reach the U.K., including an increase in unaccompanied minors.
  • Refugees pay high prices graded by their means to smugglers, who face comparatively lax screenings of their trucks.

Read more:
“Calais camp demolitions ‘forcing more refugees to make crossing to UK’” (The Guardian)
“As France Razes Calais Camp, Some Ask Where Migrants Will Go” (The New York Times)
“Clashes break out as France begins clearing Calais migrant camp” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters, via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration

Belgium News | Foreigners

Brussels bombings claims victims from some 40 countries
  • The IS-connected airport and subway bombings in the Belgian capital has left 31 dead and 316 injured to date.
  • Victims have been identified from countries including China, France, India, the Netherlands, Peru, the U.K., and the U.S.
  • Identification has proven difficult given the attack of heavily international bloodlines in the city, as both the open nature of the attacked spaces and the international effort required to obtain material needed for identification slow efforts.

Read more:
“Brussels bombings claim casualties from over 40 countries” (Reuters)
“Here Are The Victims Of The Brussels Attacks” (BuzzFeed News)
“Brussels attacks victims may not be identified for weeks” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty, via The Guardian)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Sweden News | Indigenous Peoples

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Judge rules in favor of exclusive land rights for indigenous group in northern Sweden
  • A district court ruled that the Sami, an ethnic group indigenous to northern Scandanavia and northwest Russia, should have exclusive rights to control hunting and fishing in the Arctic village of Girjas.
  • The legal battle began in the early 1990s, when the Swedish government stripped land rights to the village from the Sami, Sweden’s only officially recognized indigenous group who trace their lineage in the region back thousands of years.
  • The victory comes as the Church of Sweden has released a two-volume report detailing the history of its treatment of the Sami, including the segregated schools it ran for from the 1910s to the 1960s.

Read more:
“Sweden’s indigenous Sami people win rights battle against state” (The Guardian)
“Sami minority wins symbolic court victory over Sweden” (The Local)
“Swedish church admits it ran ‘racist’ Sami schools” (The Local)

(Image Credit: Alamy/The Guardian)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.K. Research | Ethnic Minorities

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The U.K.’s Minority/White Wage Gap

The Trades Union Council (TUC), a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, released a report indicating significant disparities in white and minority worker compensation in the U.K. Degreed black workers in particular face acute inequity relative to similarly qualified white peers in the labor market. The findings come as PM David Cameron has publicly committed to tackling systemic racial inequalities.

12.8% (black) / 5.6% (black and other ethnic minorities)

Average pay gap for all workers

23.1% (black) / 10.3% (black and other ethnic minorities)

Average pay gap for degreed workers

14.3% (black) / 17.1% (black and other ethnic minorities)

Average pay gap for workers with A-levels (a secondary-level graduate certification)

11.4% (black) / 13.6% (black and other ethnic minorities)

Average pay gap for workers with GCSEs (a secondary-level graduate certification)

Read more:
“Black workers with degrees earn a quarter less than white counterparts, finds TUC” (The Trades Union Council)
“Black graduates in Wales are being paid 23% less less than their white colleagues” (WalesOnline)

Health + Ability

U.K. News | People with Disabilities

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More than 13,000 in the U.K. see mobility cars taken away under new disability assessment protocol
  • Some in the U.K. disability community have begun to worry and push back as the government transfers from the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), a program for people aged 16 to 64 with disabilities due for nationwide implementation in 2018.
  • The new scheme requires new applicants as well as historical DLA recipients to apply for the new allowance, which requires a face-to-face assessment by a program official to determine whether they qualify for the highest rate and the opportunity to appeal should they not.
  • Those without sufficient points to earn the highest rate (to date, 13,900 of the 31,200 former DLA recipients reassessed for PIP) lose access to the allowance rate that enabled them to lease a car through the Motability Scheme.

Read more:
“Nearly 14,000 disabled people have mobility cars taken away” (BBC)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Motability (Motability)
“Girl who had leg amputated told she’s not ‘disabled enough’ for Motability car” (The Daily Mirror)

(Image Credit: BBC)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.K. News | Ethnic Minorities

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U.K. PM Cameron appoints MP to investigate racial discrimination in British criminal justice system
  • Labour PM David Lammy will lead a government review of the British criminal justice system.
  • Black and other ethnic minorities account for more than 25% of British prisoners despite only comprising 14% of the population of England and Wales.
  • Minorities are also disproportionately more likely to represent Crown Court defendants and receive custodial sentences if found guilty than white counterparts.

Read more:
“David Cameron calls on David Lammy to investigate race bias in UK courts” (The Guardian)
“David Cameron appoints David Lammy to lead review into racism in the justice system” (The Independent)

(Image Credit: AFP/Getty, via The Independent)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Italy News | Gay & Lesbian

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Thousands protest same-sex civil union legislation under review in Italian parliament
  • The protesters, estimated in size from the tens of thousands to the millions, gathered as part of Rome’s “family day,” where they expressed opposition to the legislation currently under examination by the Italian senate.
  • A similar protest in 2007 contributed to the withdrawal of a civil union proposal, but PM Matteo Renzi anticipates the legislation’s passage this time.
  • Italy remains the only holdout among the major Western powers in granting same-sex couples the right to legal partnership or joint adoption, with polls indicating around 70% of the country in support of partnership rights and 24% in support of adoption rights.

Read more:
“Tens of thousands protest against same-sex unions in Rome” (Deutsche Welle)
“Italians protest against civil unions for same-sex couples” (The Guardian)
“2m march in anti-civil union protest in Rome, ‘Family Day’ organizer says” (Gay Star News)

(Image Credit: R. Casilli/Reuters, via Deutsche Welle)