Stories about English from June, 2014
Trinidad & Tobago: Secrets of the CL Financial Bailout?
The public is being told that the CL Financial bailout is being resolved, while at the same time the Minister of Finance & the Economy is withholding the fundamental information which any prudent person would need to make a decision. Afra Raymond wonders what is being hidden.
Jurassic Park Opening Sparks Fury In Peru Town Without Running Water
In a Peruvian dirt town without running water or a sewerage system, the construction of a dinosaur theme park is underway.
What Would Buddha Do? Not Attack Sri Lankan Muslims, Buddhists Say
Hardline Buddhist organization Bodu Bala Sena's anti-Muslim rhetoric has fueled deadly riots in Sri Lanka. The group is vocal, but Buddhists are speaking out against them on and offline.
How a Protest to Reinstate a University Professor Relaunched Jamaica's Gay Rights Debate
Jamaica's moral compass is on overdrive ever since the dismissal of Professor Brendan Bain. The controversy continues to fuel the debate over gay rights in an infamously homophobic country.
This Film Is About the Remarkable Friendship Between a Buddhist and Muslim in Myanmar. So Why All the Hate?
A human rights festival in Myanmar cancelled a screening of the documentary "The Open Sky" after receiving threats on social media accusing the film of being a Muslim conspiracy.
This Street in Bangladesh Has a Colorful World Cup Celebration to Rival Brazil
Bangladesh didn't qualify to play in the tournament, but the country's football fans have caught World Cup fever nonetheless.
Russians See in US Government Spokesperson the “Heart of a Dog”
An unusual video clip – the latest in a series of Internet memes attacking Jen Psaki, the spokesperson for the US State Department – is circulating among Russians online.
‘A Shift From Surveillance Mode to Elimination Mode’ in China
The Chinese government under the leadership of Xi Jinping has been prosecuting citizen right lawyers, activists and dissidents in past months. Prominent Chinese human right lawyer Tien Biao pointed out that the previous “stability maintenance” model of political control has transformed into elimination of dissents.
Hong Kong Is ‘Haunted’ by China's ‘One Country, Two Systems’ White Paper
Famous blogger on mainland Chinese political news, @yanghengjun, ran into a protest against the mainland Chinese official document on the practice of “one country and two systems” in Hong Kong. As the document is called the White Paper, protesters dressed in white with white papers stuffed in their mouths, like...
Trinidad & Tobago: Give Suarez a Menu
It is irrefutable now. Uruguay and Liverpool striker Luis Suarez either needs a psychologist or a new dietician. Thank heavens Uruguay was not playing Chile. Wired868 sinks its teeth into a post about the behaviour of the Uruguayan footballer after he bit an opposing player in his team's World Cup...
Trinidad & Tobago: Can Brazil Win the 2014 FIFA World Cup?
Backing Brazil to win the FIFA World Cup? Trinidadian travel blogger Rishi Sankar explains why you shouldn't count on the host country taking home the trophy.
Could Snowden Be Russia's Alfred Kinsey?
If Kinsey’s Big Data could show the reality of human sexual behavior, what might the total disintegration of online privacy reveal about all kinds of political behavior?
The Problem of Bullying in Cuba
Abuse at school is an issue that is rarely discussed in the national media, but it affects hundreds, even thousands, of students across the country. Generacion Y blogs about bullying in Cuba.
The Story of Famine Refugees from Niger in Eastern Algeria
In the past few weeks, hundreds of Sub-Saharan immigrants from Mali or Niger have migrated to Algerian cities by the Eastern border. Liberté Algérie narrates the stories of those who made the choice to immigrate and why [fr] : Les conditions de vie au hangar de la cité Bourroh sont inhumaines....
French Startup Companies Want to Make Your Home Smarter
Want a smart thermostat to control your home's heating? Or one that is hooked up to the Internet and measures your home's concentration of CO2? French start-ups are on it.
Mapping the 567 Ebola Cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
On June 16, 49 new Ebola cases, 12 of them deadly, were reported by the WHO. Bart Janssens, director of operations of The international NGO Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF)) released a statement saying that: The epidemic is out of control, with the appearance of new sites in...
Jamaica: Beauty & the Beast
The issue is that there is an idea in Jamaica of who is beautiful and who isn’t…that this idea of beauty is, to a large extent, a racially constructed one. Kei Miller recounts a heartbreaking story of the dark side of beauty pageants and contends that the Miss Jamaica franchise...
Homecoming Revolution in Africa
Homecoming Revolution is an organisation that encourages skilled Africans to come back to the continent: Homecoming Revolution, which showcases career, property, investment and entrepreneurial opportunities for expatriates in sub-Saharan Africa, has helped almost 360,000 South Africans to return home in the past five years. It has an active database of...
Thai Coup Leads to Exodus of More Than 180,000 Cambodian Migrant Workers
Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians are streaming over the border to escape a rumored crackdown on illegal migrants, only to be greeted by poor conditions and uncertainty.
Jamaica: The Colours of the FIFA World Cup
Active Voice posts a compilation of tweets about the FIFA World Cup in which “race, religion, colour, ethnicity, nationality, all came in for comment”.
Russian Bureaucracy’s Race to Police the Web
"...the most frightening truth may be that Russia’s law enforcement agencies don’t always wait for lawmakers to grant them formal authority when it comes to policing the Internet."
