Stories about LANGUAGES from August, 2007
Ukraine: Crimea
On the last day of summer, here's a translation of LJ user drugoi's photo report on his trip to Crimea, one of the favorite summer tourism destinations in the Soviet times, now facing fierce competition from resorts in Turkey and Egypt.
Brazil: Tired of Philips
There is a popular saying in Brazil that goes like this: “Say whatever you want to and you will hear what you don’t”. Paulo Zottolo, the Latin American President of the electronics giant Philips, has learned this the hard way. In a recent interview with Valor Econômico, a newspaper from...
Tunisia: A new Mohammed cartoon crisis ?
Tunisian blogger A.L.G.Y of Cos-maux-polis is wondering whether a new Mohammed cartoon crisis is brewing. She explains that drawings of a man with the body of a dog wearing a turban were published in a local Swedish newspaper on August, 18th. As protests are underway in Pakistan and Iran, she...
Producing traditional music in Benin
Benin couleurs posts photos of a Solidarite Internationale project to build a sound studio (Fr) that will produce traditional music.
Efforts underway to recover downed plane in French Polynesia
Parlons Tahiti writes about efforts to recover the downed plane (Fr) from a crash that killed twenty earlier this month in French Polynesia.
Slideshow of Iran's female athletes
Tunisiendoctor has a slideshow of Iranian female athletes (Fr).
Korea: Korean Beef VS Non-Korean Beef
The Moon Festival, one of the biggest festivals, is coming soon in Korea. One of the customs is to send gifts to relatives or people to whom you would like to show your appreciation. The most popular and fancy gift box is beef. Not just beef… the best is Korean...
Arabeyes: Who is Using the Tunisian Presidential Airplane?
The Tunisian presidential airplane and the 'unofficial' trips it takes to Europe and the fashion capitals of the world has attracted the scrutiny of the country's most outspoken bloggers. Who is using the president's plane? Who approves the trips abroad and how much is it used for official business? These are some of the questions being raised in Arabic and French, which I am translating today into English.
Mauritania : Ignorance and Tradition
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Generously endowed women are favored in Mauritania. The fatter the woman, the more beautiful she is thought to be. Being big is also a sign of wealth and the search for beauty and signs of exterior wealth leads to some unorthodox methods...
Ukraine: Animal Shelter
On August 19, Ukrainian journalist Tanya Kremen paid a visit to an animal shelter located near a small town just outside Kyiv. Below are her impressions and thoughts, which she has posted on her blog at Korrespondent.net, as well as a couple of comments from her readers.
Madagascar : Andriamanankoavy Jonny r'afa on why he writes
Malagasy Author-Musician-Sculptor Andriamanankoavy Jonny r'afa explains his art : “D'abord, à travers l'Art, entretenir et enrichir la ” Mémoire Collective ” des Malgaches. Celà reste un devoir par respect des origines. Trouver alors ce qu'il faut préserver, et les transmettre, les traduire.” “Through art, one can maintain and enrich the...
Morocco: The Upcoming Elections
With the Moroccan legislative elections looming on September 7, Moroccan bloggers share their concerns about the process and its progress.
Japan: Life out of a Manga Kissa
Results of a survey just released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has found that thousands of people across Japan bordering on poverty live their lives out of Internet cafes or "manga kissa". Bloggers this week reflected on the significance of the results.
China: Exploitation in Summer Holiday
Tan Weishan reported the exploitation of student workers by a shoe factory in Dongguan. More than a hundred secondary school kids spent their summer holiday working 12 hours a day with RMB$3 (US$0.4) per hour (zh).
Hong Kong: An Old Man Wishing To Live In Jail
Luqui Luwei commented on a recent news about an 78 years old man who committed a minor crime in order to go to the jail so that he could at least fill up his stomach. As the income disparity is becoming more and more serious, the blogger felt that the...
China: Websites Forced To Close By Police
Vapano from a data company D2EX reported that many Internet Data Centers have received notices from Gong-an (Police department) which forced them to close down thousands of websites. To prevent other clients service being affected, his company has to close down all BBS data storage (zh). The police's policy is...
Chile: Budgetary Needs for OLPC Project
The One Laptop Per Child project in Chile outlines the budgetary needs for their upcoming public information campaign [ES], which includes letters and outreach to schools.
Congo: Lack of new work by Black Francophone writers
Alain Mabanckou regrets the lack of new works by Black Francophone writers at the 2007 “rentrée littéraire” in France.
Mali:Abandoned wives and children
Faits Divers d'Afrique relates the fates of abandoned wives and children left behind by men who emigrate.
Morocco: 2 Million Blogs Banned
MoTIC (fr) provides us with statistics on Livejournal, which has been blocked in Morocco for over a year, as well as other blocked sites.
France: The use of the French language in international communication.
The general delegation for the French language and languages in France, a branch of the Ministry of Culture and Communication recently published a report on the use of the French language in the digital world. The objective of the delegation is to promote the use of the French language in...
