Stories about English from October, 2018
Madagascar citizens demand transparency in a fishy deal with China
The livelihoods of Madagascar’s coastal communities will be seriously threatened if they must compete with the potential catch capacity of these fishing boats.
Israa Al-Ghomgham, a Saudi woman facing the death penalty for peaceful protest

Al-Ghomgham, and many other Saudi Shiites, took to the streets in 2011 to demand better rights.
For Calypso History Month in Trinidad & Tobago, #metoo does a double-take on empowering tunes
Readers offer a few suggestions for calypsos that make female empowerment their priority.
One dead in Sri Lanka amidst a constitutional crisis
Power struggle between ousted Sri Lankan PM and newly appointed PM has led to the death of a protester in Colombo.
Paramilitary group killed farmers in Philippines sugar plantation, fact-finding mission says
The "Sagay 9" massacre was the single most deadly attack against peasant activists under the Rodrigo Duterte administration.
‘Voice for the Ocean’ gives European citizens a say on the future of ocean conservation
"It is necessary to connect European citizens and ocean lovers to the political sphere in order to discuss, make progress, and protect the ocean together."
Death by bureaucracy? Russian regulators slap independent news site with sky-high fine

"It obviously means bankruptcy and imminent closure for the magazine."
All art is political: A conversation with Patricia Kaersenhout

"We all have ways in which we are a victim and a perpetrator."
Arrested in Saudi Arabia, and then disappeared: Yemeni writer Marwan Almuraisy

In the authoritarian kingdom, the crackdown against independent voices has escalated under Mohammed Bin Salman's rule.
No more photos of sleeping MPs? New rules restrict what media can cover in Tasmania Parliament
"Who do these politicians think they are? They are elected by the public, and the public is absolutely entitled to see how they behave."
Ukraine is outsourcing law enforcement to private companies that don't respect human rights
Their mandates are based solely on contracts signed between them and the city -- which vary a lot from city to city -- and mechanisms of accountability are virtually nonexistent.
Trinidad & Tobago loses ‘The Mighty Shadow’, the ‘bassman’ of calypso
"When all other calypsonians in the early 1970s had six sheets of music, Shadow had seven, the additional one for the bass guitar."
Landslide victory for Bhutan's centre-left party following peaceful general elections
This is only the third democratic elections to take place in the tiny, landlocked South Asian country since it abolished its Monarchy and adopted a new constitution in 2008.
As China legalizes Xinjiang ‘re-education camps’, Weibo netizens cheer on
China has switched its public relations tactics from denying to defending the camps, and the u-turn immediately reflected back on the social media conversation.
Chinese artist Badiucao sends ‘Make Wall Great Again’ hats to Google, in protest of company's return to China

“I want [Google] to know it is a mistake to collaborate with China’s censorship. It is as shameful as Trump’s wall ... an invisible wall online — the great firewall.”
Heavy rains and flooding turned parts of Trinidad & Tobago into disaster zones
"Residents are trapped. My road is cut off completely. Not even trucks can access the highway, the water is so high.”
Serbian authorities clamp down on a health charity after it exposed state negligence
The methods of pressure against Serbian civil society organizations bear resemblance to those used by governments in Central and Eastern Europe, in particular in neighboring Hungary and Macedonia.
For Calypso History Month in Trinidad and Tobago, six tunes for the #metoo era
In a genre that has often painted women in a negative light, the tunes that broke the mould are etched forever in the national consciousness.
Macedonian propagandist calls for rape of female journalist, sparking outrage

The threat came from Cvetin Chilimanov, a well-known propagandist and dogged promoter of Macedonia's former ruling party.
Hong Kong Free Expression Week features Umbrella Movement activists and political cartoonist Badiucao

In recent years, Hong Kongers who support democratic rights and territorial independence have faced fierce repression.
When will Egypt release photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid aka Shawkan?

More than one month after a Cairo court verdict that many saw as the end to his ordeal, Shawkan remains in jail.