Stories about English from October, 2019
The Indian state of Odisha publishes online dictionaries in 21 indigenous languages
India is home to over 780 languages and approximately 220-250 languages have died over the last 50 years.
Bulgaria's far-right is attempting to shut down the country's oldest human rights NGO
A member of the European Union since 2007, Bulgaria took a turn to the far-right in 2017 when PM Borisov's center-right party GERB allied itself with a small coalition of nationalist parties.
How bad is African swine fever for the pork supply crisis in China?
Animal epidemic control is about people, such as whether or not the media could effectively monitor the authorities and inform the public at early stage of the outbreak.
India partially lifts communications blackout in Kashmir, internet still down
According to a recent report, Kashmiris are resisting the clampdowns and shutdowns imposed by the Indian Central Government “through satyagraha or non-violent civil disobedience”.
Is Rihanna Barbadian or Jamaican? Jamaican Twitter claims the superstar as their own
Barbadian Twitter users poked fun at the Jamaican Dollar exchange rate, so Jamaicans did the next best thing — they claimed Rihanna.
Was the Nobel Peace Prize for Ethiopia’s prime minister premature?
Abiy Ahmed Ali has undertaken unprecedented reforms since he took office last year. But will he end up like other African leaders who started well, but went rogue over time?
Thai judge shoots himself in court after alleging political interference in courtroom decisions
"Return rulings to judges. Return justice to people....My statements might hold weight as light as a feather, but a judge’s heart must be as firm as a mountain."
Young Jamaican senator makes ‘inappropriate’ comments in parliament about breast cancer
"How is [discussing] part of a woman's body either appropriate or relevant in a Parliamentary (or any other public/formal discourse)?"
Police raid on rehab centre in Trinidad reveals inhumane conditions
Scores of people were found caged and mistreated in a rehabilitation centre that at one time received millions of dollars in government assistance.
India's apex court halts tree felling in Mumbai amid protests
The Court stay on tree-cutting in Aarey may be a temporary victory to activists fighting for preserving Mumbai forest, but India is losing the larger battle on protecting the environment.
Google removes Hong Kong protester role-playing game from its Play Store
The mobile game, entitled "The Revolution of Our Times", provides details on the political context leading up to the protests with a map on key protest sites in Hong Kong.
Nigerian journalist Omoyele Sowore remains in jail on trumped-up charges of treason and insulting the president
Rights groups see Omoyele Sowore's continued detention and the charges filed against him as merely a criminalisation of political dissent in Nigeria.
Trinidad's First Peoples say the indigenous name of airport should not be changed
The Trinidad prime minister's announcement about a possible airport name change from Piarco International Airport to the Eric Williams Airport has left the public divided.
Despite last year's ‘alternative’ win, Guadeloupe's Maryse Condé passed over for 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature
The odds appeared to be in Condé's favour, but the Swedish Academy instead named Austrian author Peter Handke winner of the 2019 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Bangladesh regulator blocks engineering university webpage containing reports of student abuse
The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission blocked an online page where over 175 complaints were anonymously made by current and former students of the top engineering university of the country.
Thai Twitter users face threats over comments on royal motorcade
The hashtag #royalmotorcade trended in Thailand after netizens reported traffic problems caused by a royal motorcade.
#SexForGrades: A new documentary exposes sexual harassment at West African universities
Professors who harass female students and pressure them for sex in return for grades or school admission has become the norm in many universities in Nigeria and Ghana.
The oligarchs are the main disinformation proxies in Bulgaria, says local expert
"Patterns of ownership, economic dependency and (in)formal political links of media outlets in the countries under investigation to pro-Russian groups are reflected into corresponding trends of employing Russia-originating propaganda narratives."
US gaming company Blizzard bans Hong Kong e-sport player from tournament for shouting pro-democracy slogan
The e-sport player will be removed from the tournament without receiving any prize money and banned from Hearthstone contests until 2020. Chinese tech giant Tencent owns about 5% of Blizzard’s parent company.
A burqa controversy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
The government needs to come out of the thinking covering women in an abaya or chadar will protect them from harassers.
Trinidad and Tobago president's stance on unmarried partners faces backlash
Not legally married? Don't expect your partner to receive an invitation to an event at President's House — unless President Weekes reconsiders her "Victorian era" decision.