· August, 2012

Stories about LANGUAGES from August, 2012

Pakistan: Conflicting Reports in #SaveRimsha Blasphemy Case

  31 August 2012

The blasphemy law in Pakistan has been the focus of a heated debate yet again, after a minor christian girl named Rimsha was accused of blasphemy and was sent to jail. There have been a few conflicting reports about the case, and the most significant one being a picture of a girl being used, that has now become the face of the #SaveRimsha campaign.

Portuguese, a Global Language?

  31 August 2012

A community page on Facebook, Língua Portuguesa: Uma Língua Global? (Portuguese Language: A Global Language?) [pt], provides a diversity of materials to promote the debate about the expansion of Portuguese...

Russia: Moscow's Peculiar Illegal Parking Problem

RuNet Echo  31 August 2012

Russian adventures and misadventures in parking could be a movie plot. But Russia’s parking problems are anything but comedy. It remains to be seen how vigorously the country will deal with illegal parking. If it succeeds, its methods could show what kind of transportation system and cities Russia will have, and even what kind of country it will be.

UK: Lion Spotted Is Actually Pet Cat Named Teddy Bear

  31 August 2012

United Kingdom police officers were busy last weekend with a major operation launched on the evening of Sunday August 26, following the apparent sighting of a lion in the English county of Essex. It was later revealed to have actually been a large domestic cat named 'Teddy Bear'.

Angola: Before Polls, Serious Questions Arise

  31 August 2012

On the eve of Angola’s elections, leader of the country’s largest opposition party was loud and clear to the media, stating the electoral process was the worst ever. Citizens report on lack of transparency around the electoral rolls, problems with polling staff assignments and lack of accredited observers.

Venezuela: Preserving the Oral Traditions of the Plains

  31 August 2012

The oral traditions of the plains are brilliant protagonists of the culture that has spread to other regions of Venezuela. Many natives of the Venezuelan plains use social networks and other Web 2.0 tools to spread, highlight, and preserve these traditions.

Combatting Cocaine Production in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru

  30 August 2012

Drug production and trafficking is a major issue in Latin America that governments are constantly trying to deal with. However, as the continent leaders gathered last April in Colombia for the Summit of the Americas fully agreed, the so far US-led war on drugs has failed in the Region. Peru, Colombia and Bolivia are the three largest illegal cocaine producing countries in the world. What are these Andean Countries doing to combat illegal drugs?