Stories about English from January, 2013
Survey of China's 24 most corrupt officials in 2012
Barry van Wyk from DANWEI highlighted a survey conducted by the Crisis Management Research Center at Renmin University which looked into 24 cases of corruption that became public knowledge on the Chinese Internet in 2012. The objective of the survey is to generate some trends and patterns in corrupt behavior...
China: Air Pollution in Major Cities
Jacky Huang from China Hush translated a local media feature on the problem of air pollution in major Chinese cities. According to a report published by National environmental analysis of the People’s Republic of China: only 1% of China’s 500 largest cities meet the recommended standard set up by WHO....
Google Debuts Crowd Sourced Map on North Korea
Google revealed on Jan 29, 2013 its newly revised, crowd-sourced map of North Korea. There are drastic changes of Google's North Korea map and instant web reactions have followed.
Kazakh Quake Sends Tremors through Twitter
After an earthquake hit southeastern Kazakhstan yesterday, hundreds of the country's netizens took to Twitter to tell the rest of the world about what they had experienced. Blogger Olzhas Salmurza has collected [ru] the most interesting tweets from all over Kazakhstan. Ravil Abdulov reports [ru] that Twitter has also helped spread rumors...
Spain: Catalonia's “Declaration of Sovereignty” Translated into 36 Languages
On January 23, 2013, amid rising tensions with the Spanish government, the regional parliament of Catalonia approved by majority vote a Declaration of Sovereignty [ca] — seen widely as a prelude to a referendum on independence, expected to be held by 2014. Thanks to a diverse team of collaborators, the online...
A Couple's Civil Marriage Rejected in Lebanon
A secular marriage in Lebanon is still not possible, but a couple's claim to the contrary reignites the debate and hope for partisans of civil marriage.
Google Maps Targets Hermit Kingdom, North Korea
Google debuted its Google Maps program for one of the world's most secretive countries, North Korea, as part of its crowd sourcing map initiative. North Korea Tech blog posted several pictures of it with some background information.
“The Un-European Union”
GV Author Filip Stojanovski, on his blog Razvigor, has translated into English a mock story [sr] by Njuz.net, “the Serbian equivalent to The Onion,” about the UK striving to join “the Un-European Union”: The Council of Ministers of the countries of the Un-European Union stated today in Skopje that a...
China: Campaign to Halt the Execution of a Woman Victim of Domestic Violence
Amnesty International launched a campaign against the execution of a Chinese woman, Li Yan, who shot her husband to death in self-defense. Li had been abused by her husband since they were married in 2009.
China: Land collapses in Guangzhou
A 300 sq metres piece of land sank suddenly in Guangzhou Kangwang Road on 28 of January, dragging surrounding buildings underground. The 9 meters deep is near a subway construction site. Shanghaiist has collected a number of photos showing the collapsed site.
Chinese apologize to Tibetans
A Facebook Page: Chinese Apologize to Tibetans has been set up by a group of overseas Chinese activists to collect information about the human right situation in Tibet.
Tibetans Outraged by Chinese TV Drama on Tibet
A recent TV drama, Tibet's Secret, has outraged many Tibetans who criticize that the director Liu Depin for distorting Tibetan culture and religion. As the drama was broadcasted in the state-run China Central Television (CCTV), the conflict is inevitably political in nature.
The Big Wet: Northern Australia in Grip of Floods
As uncontrolled bushfires continue in Victoria, major flooding is happening in Queensland and northern New South Wales in Australia. Nick Evershed sums up the national feeling about the latest weather and the climate implications: "Australia: if it's not on fire, it's probably underwater."
Homosexuals – The Invisible Minority of Bangladesh
The LGBT communities in Bangladesh remain underground as they face discrimination, verbal abuse, physical abuse, social and legal challenges everyday. This invisible minority uses the internet and social networking to communicate between themselves and learn about the psychology and politics of sexual orientation.
Arab World: Pan Arab Web Awards Academy Scam
Lebanese blogger Rita exposes the terms and conditions of the “Pan Arab Web Awards Academy” competition which makes the participants “buy” their award in this post.
Yemen: United Nations Security Council Delegation Visits Sanaa
A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) delegation visited Yemen Sunday January 27, 2013, to boost President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi and help push forward national reconciliation talks. Netizens react to the visit.
Naming the Victims of the Algerian Hostage Crisis
If the press have the energy to expose the names of victims and their pictures, why can't they pour the same energy into covering the information and wisdom that would prevent further tragedies? A professor of Islamic studies Naito Masanori commented on Twitter [ja] about the press coverage of the Aménas hostage crisis...
An ‘Evolution in Thinking’ in Afghanistan
Afghans and some foreign observers claim that Afghanistan is a vastly different country now than it was under the Taliban. Few of these observers can tangibly explain exactly what they mean by this change apart from pointing to the number of students in school, the proliferation of TV channels and the improved road networks... [I]t’s the evolution in thinking and expectations that has made Afghanistan such a different place now than it was a mere 10 years ago.
Peace March: ‘Stop Violence in North Myanmar’
A peace march was organized in Myanmar to call for the end of hostilities between government troops and Kachin rebel forces. Renewed clashes in recent weeks have displaced more than 90,000 civilians.
