Stories about LANGUAGES from January, 2022
Why Beijing’s artificial snow at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games is stirring controversy
The Winter Olympic Games start in Beijing, on February 4: For the first time, all of the snow at the Games will be entirely man-made.
Belgium introduces new passport design featuring characters from domestic comics
"The introduction of this new passport is also an opportunity for us to highlight the 9th art, the comic strip, which is a central element of our culture and our influence abroad"
COVID-19: You can’t have a recovery using the same bad medicine
A new collaborative report attempts to piece together the “missing receipts” from the IFI-supported COVID-19 response, documents several shortcomings, and raises critical questions for the ongoing pandemic response.
Russia rose to second place globally in Twitter content removal requests
Russia came in second place after Japan and accounted for 25 percent of global Twitter takedown requests in January-June 2021. Most requests targeted content that allegedly violated local laws against suicide promotion.
Caribbean virgins, Caribbean whores: Unlacing goodness/dismantling perversion
"Maybe in some world, an even more distant and improbable one, there are no virgins and no whores. No Good or Bad Girls. Only survivors."
Azerbaijan is silent as other nations announce plans to boycott the Beijing Olympics
The country's leadership and its National Olympic Committee have remained notably silent when discussing the host country's dismal human rights record.
To flee or not to flee? That is the question in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankans are facing the bleak prospect of a full-blown economic crisis, and one in four, mainly the young and educated, say they want to leave the country.
Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year is ruined by Omicron outbreak
This year, the Chinese Lunar New Year is on February 1. Yet, thanks to the community outbreak of Omicron and the zero-COVID policy, there isn't much festival mood in town.
The Gambia’s AFCON debut: from underdogs to title contenders
The Gambian team, though first timers in the African Cup of Nations, now seem capable of mounting an unlikely title chase in a competition that provided them with dark moments.
Thousands of Nigerians sign petition to reform IELTS
Nigeria a former British colony, has English as the lingua franca and language of instruction in schools. Yet Nigeria is not exempted from writing IELTS, the English proficiency test.
How Assamese Villages use traditional wisdom to guide climate preparedness
For credible early warning systems for natural calamities, villages in the northeast Indian state of Assam rely on the observations of elders based on their traditional experiences and folk beliefs.
An upcoming British edition of ‘Capitalism and Slavery’ makes news, but the Caribbean has always known the book's worth
Dr. Eric Williams' seminal book is attracting fresh interest after it was announced that a new edition will be published in Britain.
Tongans share stories of how they survived the volcano eruption and tsunami
"It felt like the heavens cracked open and the world exploded inside my ear. I’ve never heard a louder noise in all my life."
Armenian president resigns amid dual-citizenship scandal
The former president criticized the limited powers of the presidential office and decried attacks on the presidential office from "various political groups."
The issue of the Jamaican police allegedly cutting a young woman's dreadlocks remains unresolved
"Ms. King is symbolic of the ‘have nots;’ in Jamaica, who continue to be neglected and whose human rights are so often disregarded and abused."
Philippines’s new vaccine mandate decried as punitive and anti-poor
"This measure is punitive. The low vaccination rate should not be blamed on the people especially if supplies are not always available."
Passengers stranded at Istanbul Airport stage a protest
Videos of passengers demanding accommodation made rounds on Twitter after thousands of travellers were stranded at the new Istanbul airport as a result of bad weather conditions and cancelled flights.
Belarusian cyberactivists claim railway system hack to protest Russian troop movements
The hacker collective said it would be prepared to hand over encryption keys if 50 Belarusian political prisoners were released and the presence of Russian troops in Belarus was “prevented.”
Mourning the death of the Bengali author and publisher who opened a door to world literature
Qazi Anwar Hussain singlehandedly popularised the mystery-thriller genre in Bengali literature, published translations of world classics and gave the Bengali readership the taste of Western, mystery and classic literature.
Georgian PM gifted his wife part of a state-owned forest
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili has come under fire after the government leased almost 6,000 square meters of publicly owned forest in the resort town of Bakuriani to his wife.
Flights to resume between Turkey and Armenia
Following the meeting in Moscow, the two countries announced the charter flights operated by the Turkish budget carrier Pegasus Airlines and Moldovan low-cost airline FlyOne would resume operations effective February 2.
