Romania leaders under growing pressure amid protests BBC News | Europe | World Edition A new decree to free officials jailed for corruption has sparked outrage across Romania. Romania protests continue against government ‘thieves’ Aljazeera.com–3 hours ago “I do not want to divide Romania,” a pale and tired-looking Grindeanu said in a televised address, sparking … Read more
Romania readies itself for first female and first Muslim prime minister EurActiv.com by Samuel Morgan Romania could appoint its first female and first Muslim prime minister after the Social Democratic Party (PSD) put its support behind Sevil Shhaideh, in a shock move following the Eastern European country’s 11 December elections. EurActiv Romania reports. Debate: A Muslim … Read more
Europe’s top court says UK surveillance rules are unconstitutional Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow Last July, the European Court of Jutice’s Advocate General ruled that the UK’s mass surveillance regime was unconstitutional, triggering an appeal to the ECJ itself, which has affirmed that under European law, governments cannot order retention of all communications data; they … Read more
Berlin lorry attack: Man films chaos moments after truck hits BBC News | Europe | World Edition An eyewitness describes filming “horrible scenes” moments after a lorry ploughed into a Christmas market in Berlin. Berlin Christmas market attack ‘affects all Europe’ EurActiv.com by Frédéric Simon French President François Hollande and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker sent … Read more
Martin Schulz to run in German election, leaving EU parliament BBC News | Europe | World Edition The head of the European Parliament is to return to German national politics next year. The Brief: Schulz gives up European Parliament to return to politics EurActiv.com by James Crisp Martin Schulz is giving up the European Parliament to return … Read more
European Brides in the Islamic State SAPIENS by Martijn de Koning, Aysha Navest, and Annelies Moors What factors are motivating Dutch women to relocate to Islamic State strongholds at all costs? Three anthropologists set out to find the untold stories behind their emigration. Michelle Jones/SAPIENS Obama and Merkel BBC News | Europe | World Edition A look … Read more
Soft or hard Brexit: do the UK’s political parties know what they want? open Democracy News Analysis – by Kirsty Hughes On the single market, Labour, the Tories, and UKIP, appear to agree: good access to the single market not membership of it – in disagreement with the SNP, LibDems and Greens. Scottish Independence activists take … Read more
Report here Turkey rated ‘not free’ in internet freedom in new Freedom House report Internet freedom in Turkey has been rated “not free” in the latest annual report by the Washington-based watchdog Freedom House, a downgrade from its “party free” status last year Message of Solidarity From Margaret Atwood to Aslı Erdoğan on PEN’s Day of The … Read more
Germany: Trump victory to spur EU military union EUobserver.com – Headline News Donald Trump’s election as US president, as well as Brexit, ought to speed up plans for EU military integration, Germany’s defence chief says. Trump to model UK relations on Reagan-Thatcher EUobserver.com – Headline News Ukip leader Nigel Farage already says he is willing to help … Read more
Unsecured Internet of Things gadgets get hacked within 40 minutes of being connected to the net Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow The Atlantic’s Andrew McGill set up a virtual server on Amazon’s cloud that presented to the internet as a crappy, insecure Internet of Things toaster; 41 minutes later, a hacked IoT device connected to it … Read more
EU accepts Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership application EurActiv.com by Georgi Gotev The European Union’s 28 member states yesterday (20 September) accepted Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership application and ordered the Commission to prepare an assessment of the Balkan country’s readiness to join the bloc. Fancy Bears hackers: What we have learnt from the leaks BBC News | Europe … Read more
International organisations condemn crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey A delegation of international civil society organisations visited Istanbul to demonstrate solidarity with writers, journalists and media outlets in Turkey. The failed coup of 15 July, in which at least 265 people were killed, has traumatised the Turkish population and the government must bring those responsible … Read more
Stop the press: Turkey’s crackdown on its media goes into overdrive theguardian.com – Constanze Letsch – Aug 28, 10:00 PM Since the attempted coup, the government has ordered more than a hundred outlets to close and arrested 48 journalists More journalists detained in operation against Gülen Hurriyet Daily News Detention warrants have been issued for a … Read more
Selfie Diplomacy- Analysis of MFA Profile Pictures on Twitter Exploring Digital Diplomacy by Ilan Manor Last week, as news of Brexit broke, foreign ministries throughout the world took to social media to comment on the UK’s decision to leave the EU. The German foreign ministry responded in two ways. First, it published a series of tweets … Read more
The World Changed Overnight OPEN ANTHROPOLOGY by Maximilian Forte The European Union is now to be written as a postscript. Thanks to British voters, who were given an extremely rare chance to have a say on one of the biggest issues affecting their lives, who were allowed a rare vote on the fate of globalization and … Read more