Religion and spirituality
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Literature: 2011 - the year of the translator
28 December 20114564 The Observer London -
Eurozone crisis: May God defend the EU’s heretics
3 November 201133210 Die Presse Vienna -
Opinion: Burqa ban — a false move
11 April 20111119 The Independent London -
Burqa ban: Islam in Europe - a real problem
11 April 20111752 Rzeczpospolita Warsaw -
THE 10 DAYS OF EUROPE | 7: When my daughter wears the burqa…
30 December 20101655 Presseurop -
European of the week: The riddle of Princess Hijab
12 November 2010466 The Guardian London -
Science: God is demoted, again
2 September 2010PresseuropThe Times -
Secularism: For the free movement of gods
13 August 20101282 Die Zeit Hamburg -
Poland: Warsaw’s cross row
10 August 2010PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
Religion and State : Burqa, the cross we must bear
21 July 201030114 Der Standard Vienna -
Religion: Italy leads battle for the Holy Cross
1 July 201029PresseuropLa Stampa -
Spain: Barcelona bans burqa in public places
15 June 2010PresseuropEl Periódico de Catalunya -
Europe: How the burqa spoiled the party
31 May 20101PresseuropNew Statesman -
Religion: Half Europe for crucifix, against veil
28 April 2010PresseuropABC -
EUROPHRENIA: Burqa ban, and why not plastic surgery too?
21 April 2010PresseuropBlog -
France: Banning the burqa anti-constitutional
31 March 2010PresseuropLe Monde -
Europhrenia: The world last week
4 February 2010PresseuropBlog -
Europhrenia: Burqa barbarous, but a ban is wrong
3 February 2010PresseuropBlog -
Islam: Beyond the burqa
27 January 2010366 Presseurop -
Denmark: Few burqas, much fuss
19 January 2010PresseuropJyllands-Posten -
France: Banning the burqa isn't easy
13 January 2010PresseuropLibération -
Religion: Is Islam good for Europe?
2 December 2009191 El Mundo Madrid -
Germany: Thou shalt not shop on the holy Sabbath
2 December 2009PresseuropFrankfurter Rundschau -
After '89: Loving Europe, despairing of the EU
10 November 2009233 The Observer London -
Environmentalism: Judge decides Greenness is godliness
4 November 2009PresseuropThe Independent -
Religion: European Court bans the Cross
4 November 2009PresseuropLa Repubblica -
Literature: Saramago toughs it out with God squad
22 October 2009PresseuropDiário de Notícias -
Europhrenia: The other side of Lisbon
1 October 2009PresseuropBlog -
Denmark: Burqa “un-Danish”
17 August 2009PresseuropJyllands-Posten -
Voyage: Mysticism, drugs and rock n roll
13 August 2009Trouw Amsterdam -
Religion: The Islamisation myth
28 July 2009812 The Observer London -
Obituary: So farewell then Leszek Kolakowski
20 July 2009PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
Music: Madonna non grata in Warsaw
15 July 2009PresseuropHandelsblatt -
Integration: Battle of the burka
25 June 200911 Presseurop
With the worldwide success of Stieg Larsson and Haruki Murakami, translation has not enjoyed such a boom for over a generation. But will it ever attain to that Holy Grail, of perfect fidelity to the original? 
Irresponsible? Poker game? – The reactions to the Greek referendum are revealing how tenaciously the “Brussels Congregation of the Faithful” are sticking to their dogmas. And that's a good thing, writes the editor of Die Presse: as things stand, Europe's last chance is heresy. 
Wearing the burqa in public places is now forbidden in France. For the Independent, the new law is a piece of electioneering from an embattled Nicolas Sarkozy, and will worsen the condition of Muslims in Europe. 
The debate about secularism organised in France by the ruling right-wing UMP party has been decried by the Muslim community as a brutal attack on Islam, while the Left has seen it as a disguised attempt to curry favour with the supporters of the National Front. But no debate at all is a victory for extremism, argues a Polish editorialist. 
Magazines tell us that women are the future of Europe, but exactly what kind of future do they mean? Czech novelist Petra Hůlová offers her tragicomic vision. 
In the midst of heated debates about national identity and burqa bans, French graffiti artist Princess Hijab’s ad-busting interventions on Paris metro fashion ads now have a worldwide audience. But who is she? And does it matter if she’s not even a she? 
Confronted by a multiplicity of religions and their symbols, most states choose to forbid them. But in doing so, they are heading toward an impasse, claims Die Zeit while pleading for tolerance and pluralism. 
The ban on the burqa in Belgium and France, now spreading to Spain, the UK, and even to universities in Egypt and Syria, points up the hypocrisy and double standards of Western Christian culture, writes German philosopher Andrea Roedig. If the burqa is an instrument of oppression, isn’t the cross we worship really a morbid fascination with torture? 
A French parliamentary commission recommends banning the burqa in certain public places. Though the issue is hotly contested in Denmark as well, the European press seems leery of actually outlawing the full Islamic veil. 
The Swiss referendum on minarets has re-ignited the debate about Islam in Europe. While Muslim philosopher Tariq Ramadan stresses Muslims’ cultural contributions to Europe, journalist Arcadi Espada argues that religion is not a desirable calling card in Europe. 
Twenty years after the fall of Berlin Wall, the hope the event inspired is being thwarted by a European Union that seeks “to standardise behaviour and attitudes”, argues Henry Porter in the Observer. 
Glastonbury is not only famous for its performing arts festivals. Pilgrimage, spirituality, drugs, nature — since the 1970s, the town on the imaginary Isle of Avalon has welcomed all sorts of visitors in search of spiritual awakening. 
In the wake of the London and Madrid bombings, predictions proliferated in print and on web that Islam was entering a radicial and violent phase. Dire warnings of the imminent “Islamisation” of Europe have turned out, however, to be of little substance, reports the Observer. 
Whether it's the burka in France, or the niqab or headscarf in Belgium, the debate about whether to ban certain Islamic forms of dress is back on the European agenda. The European press has been weighing up the issue at a national level about the need to legislate or not.