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EU fails to protect citizens from US surveillance

FT. MEADE, MD - UNDATED: (FILE PHOTO) This undated photo provided by the National Security Agency (NSA) shows its headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. The NSA has been secretly collecting the phone call records of millions of Americans, using data provided by telecom firms AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, the newspaper USA Today reported on May 11, 2006. (Photo by NSA via Getty Images)

European authorities have known since mid-2011 that the US could conduct surveillance on EU citizens. But experts say that European countries had little interest in picking a fight with their ally in Washington.

Obama: From transparency advocate to plumber-in-chief

US whistleblower goes public over surveillance

Greece

A 'haven of public waste'?

The closure of ERT, Greece's state-run broadcaster, has surprised and angered many, DPA correspondent Christine Pirovolakes told DW.

Eurozone crisis

Germany's constitutional court criticizes ECB

Ferdinand Kirchhof, a judge at Germany's constitutional court (photo: Uli Deck/dpa)

Is the European Central Bank allowed to buy government bonds? After a citizens' suit, the German Constitutional Court is currently wrestling with the question. There is no verdict as yet, but the court seems skeptical.

Europe

No rights for gays and lesbians

Russian policeman detain activists of gay movement during their gay parade attempt in Moscow (photo: EPA/IGOR KHARITONOV +++(c) dpa - Report+++ pixel)

Russia's State Duma has passed a controversial bill punishing "non-traditional sexual relations."

EU, Russia and the new pragmatism

Sci-Tech

UK looks to Iceland as calls for porn ban grow

Image to symbolize fear, child abuse. A girl sitting at the top of a set of stairs, knees pulled up tight to cover her face

Should search engines do more to block child abuse images online? After two child murders, a leading UK government advisor wants action to stop internet users accessing images of child sexual abuse.

Internet

Net neutrality is still a chimera in the EU

Internet cables (Photo: Jens Wolf/dpa)

Some Internet services in the European Union are blocked by providers because they undermine profits. Skype and Whatsapp are just two examples. The EU now wants to take action, but critics are skeptical.

European Union

Latvia is headed for the eurozone

Riga, centre

The European Commission has given the small Baltic state of Latvia the go-ahead to join the eurozone next year. Skeptics are concerned that might boost the influence of the country's wealthy Russian minority.

Feedback

  • Tear gas, Istanbul (photo: dpa)

    Clashes in Turkey

    People against police forces

    Clashes between police and anti-government protesters have killed at least four people and injured thousands more. Mass arrests have also taken place during a police crackdown on demonstrations. Protests started at the end of May at Istanbul's Taksim Square, and Turkey has not been able to catch its breath ever since as tear gas and water cannons face off against Molotov cocktails and stones.

  • People on Taksim Square (photo:AFP)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Massive rallies

    Istanbul's governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, tried to justify the clamp down on protesters, saying the protesters' takeover of Taksim Square "tarnished the country's image before the eyes of the world." He also said it was "marginal groups" that gathered to protest. In Istanbul, at times, more than 100,000 people took to the streets. People in other Turkish cities joined in the protests.

  • Play ground, Gezi Park (photo: Reuters)

    Clashes in Turkey

    A fight to save trees

    Resistance started when people protested peacefully against government plans to cut down a dozen trees in Gezi Park, right next to Taksim Square, to make room for a new shopping center. The park is one of the few green areas left in Istanbul's city center. When the first trees fell, activists put up tents to save the remaining trees.

  • Clamp down on protesters in Ankara (photo: dpa)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Police crackdown

    The demonstrations in Gezi Park were brutally put down by police at the end of May. They used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray on the protesters.

  • A demonstrator, tear gas (photo: Reuters)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Hundreds injured

    Police tried to stop demonstrators from entering Istanbul's Taksim Square. According to doctors, hundreds of people were injured on May 31 alone; some of them lost their eyesight. That fueled protests even further and tens of thousands of people came out to demonstrate against the government.

  • Protests in Izmir (photo: Reuters)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Protests across Turkey

    People in other Turkish cities joined in the demonstrations and the protests turn into a political affair. People started taking to the streets in Turkey's capital, Ankara, the western Turkish city of Izmir and even in touristic centers in Turkey's south. Every protest repeated the same images: Tear gas, water cannons, injured people.

  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tunis (photo: Reuters)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Criticism of government

    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government have been put on the spot: His Islamic-Conservative party is increasingly being described as authoritarian. Demonstrators feel their freedom has been limited by restrictive laws. Erdogan confirmed construction plans for Istanbul's Gezi Park and initially chose to ignore the demands of the people.

  • Theater performance in Istanbul (photo: Getty Images)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Playful protest

    The rallies have become quite creative as different theater groups and artists cme along to Taksim Square and perform. People in Gezi Park demonstrate in various ways: some practice yoga, others make music; even classical music can be heard. Many here want to oppose violence by being peaceful.

  • Lady in Red (photo: Reuters)

    Clashes in Turkey

    The lady in red

    But the violence goes on. And there is one picture that makes headlines: It shows Ceyda Sungur, who works at Istanbul's Technical University. As the "lady in red," she unintentionally became a symbol after a police officer sprayed her with tear gas from close range. She collapsed quickly after but returned to the park the next day.

  • People hold on to a parasol (photo: Reuters)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Parasol vs. water cannons

    The demonstrators keep up with the police. They build barricades - and use everything that's in their reach and improvise. They distribute masks; some of them try to protect themselves against water cannons and tear gas by using diving goggles.

  • Police in fog (photo: AP)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Clashes continue

    Police uses modern equipment on the protesters and continue to fight them in central areas in Turkish cities. In addition to battles on the streets, police arrest people who have called on people to join the protests on Twitter.

  • Erdogan (photo: AFP)

    Clashes in Turkey

    Erdogan: Some protesters connected to terrorism

    Upon his return from a trip to northern Africa, Erdogan was greeted by his supporters in Ankara. The prime minister warned protesters all over Turkey that the time for patience would be over soon and said there were "extremists, some of them implicated in terrorism" among the protesters.

  • Solidarity in Berlin (photo: dpa)

    Clashes in Turkey

    International support

    In the meantime, protests have expanded beyond Turkey as the whole world observes events thanks to media reports and social networks. People in New York, Athens, Berlin and other cities have taken to the streets to express solidarity.

  • Demonstrators on a rooftop in Istanbul (photo: Getty Images)

    Clashes in Turkey

    What's next?

    What started as a demonstration to save trees in Istanbul has grown to a protest movement all over Turkey. An end to protests is not likely to be happening soon. According to media reports, Erdogan has said he had agreed to meet activists on Wednesday (12.06.2013) for the first time to talk.


    Author: Klaus Jansen /sst | Editor : Sean Sinico

In Focus Germany fights back floods

Soldiers of the German Bundeswehr help shore up flood barriers with sandbags against floodwaters (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Slow-moving Elbe floodwaters are still moving north. As residents there prepare for the worst, southern German towns are starting to clean up. DW looks at Germany's second "flood of the century" in just over a decade.

German town of Wittenberge fights floods

Germany still battling floods along the Elbe

Democracy

Ukrainian politics getting more polarized

Donezk demonstration (photo: DW/K. Oganessjan)

"Antifascists" vs "Neofascists" - politics in Ukraine are getting more and more radicalized, polarizing voters. Yet some critics suspect it's a plot working in the current government's favor.

Failed revolution - Ukraine heads back to Soviet past

Theater

The pen is a sword on Napoleon's battlefield

Actors Andreas Vonder and Andreas Meidinger in Millennium Front Theater in Leipzig

Which battles are you involved in? European artists provide answers 200 years after Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Nations in Leipzig. Their experimental communal theater project brings audiences to the "front."

Temple sports

Buddhism and Kung Fu in Germany

Kaiserslautern's Shaolin temple offers studies in Buddhism as well as Kung Fu. But it's not for the faint-hearted.

Inside Europe

Europe magnified

Click on the links below to listen to reports from this week's edition of Inside Europe, DW's award-winning radio program with features from around the continent.

Listen to this week's show, produced 06.06.2013

Defiance grows in Turkey

White Europe through black eyes

A nose for a good movie

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