Stories about English from December, 2010
Somalia: How do you solve a problem like Somalia?
Daniel Kalinaki discusses ways to solve a problem like Somalia in global politics: “Somalia is not a new conflict; the country ‘failed’ in 1991 and has since then been a collection of tribes and clans struggling to control the territory and the people.”
Uganda: Why I am not my tribe
UgandanInsoniac explains why she is not her tribe: “They say I am trying to be a mzungu by asserting that I have no tribe. They accuse me of denying my heritage and have called me pretentious, arrogant and stupid. Some have even gone as far as to say I am...
Cameroon Becomes Tourism Destination
Cameroon has officially become a tourism destination: “The country registered more than 500,000 tourists in 2010, a figure required by international norms to become a tourism destination.”
Nigeria: The New Face Of The Niger Delta Insurgency Speaks To SaharaReporters
Sahara Reporters speak to “General” John Togo, the leader of a newly created militant group known as the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF).
Africa: Looted African artefacts belong to Africans
Sign an online petition that has been created to build on a recent petition to stop an auction house, Sotheby’s from selling a 16th Century Benin Mask.
Africa: MDGTagger available in Swahili
MDGTagger, a simple tool to help people track Millennium Development Goals is now available in Swahili: “After quite a bit of searching we found an ‘official’ translation of the the Millennium Development Goals translated into Kiswahilli here. So we now have the MDGTagger available to Swahili speakers!”
Kenya: Internet and mobile to be the future of stock trading
The future of stock trading in Kenya is going to be via the Internet and mobile phone applications: “Kenyans are fast with technology and moved en masse to leapfrog the rest of the world and adopt new technology for mobile money transfers.”
Taiwan: Concerns about press freedom
Media freedom has come into the spotlight in Taiwan recently. Michael Turton has a good summary of the issues. A Taipei Times reporter writes about how the proposed changes to the child welfare law would affect her work.
Latin America: 2010 in Review
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile, a police strike in Ecuador and the Nobel Prize in Literature for Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa were some of the news bloggers and citizen media users reported and analyzed this year. Let's take a look at these and other stories the Latin American team covered in 2010.
Nigeria: Controversy Over the Sale of Stolen Benin Mask
Online activists have been protesting against the proposed auction of six pieces of stolen artworks including the mask of Queen Idia – the first Queen Mother of Benin, Nigeria.
Bahamas: Junkanoo colours
Bahamaboy posts images of Junkanoo — the traditional year-end masquerade celebrated in Nassau and other parts of the Bahamas — at Flickr.
Bermuda: bird's eye view
FreshieBlog posts high-resolution aerial photographs of Bermuda from 1940 and 1973, “a valuable tool for seeing how Bermuda has developed over the past 70 years.”
Caribbean: environmantal atlas
Repeating Islands links to a new Latin America and the Caribbean Atlas of our Changing Environment, published by the United Nations Environment Programme, which “uses over 200 images to highlight the region’s diverse ecosystems.”
Cuba: cheaper remittances
The Cuban Triangle explains how the removal of a government surcharge makes remittances “cheaper”.
Barbados: abolish income tax?
The Bajan Reporter covers a recent panel discussion on abolishing the income tax in Barbados.
Zambia: Tina Banda, The Facebook Agony Aunt
To many people Facebook is a tool to announce what they are doing or what they have done, yet to some Zambians, it is being used as ‘Agony Aunt’ from which they are seeking advice on many social problems affecting them.
China, Congo and Japan: Soccer politics
Ministry of Tofu translates Chinese netizens’ reactions over a recent soccer fans riot in Congo. The African soccer fans had mistaken the Japanese referee as Chinese and smashed Chinese-own stores to avenge the partial rule in the football field.
Russia: Informal Medvedev Election Trailer Realeased Online
An anonymous user created a short à la Guitar Hero video trailer jokingly presenting Dmitry Medvedev as “President Hero 2012.” The video draws attention to the upcoming 2012 presidential elections in Russia.
Malaysia-Indonesia Soccer Match Turns Into War of Words
Malaysia and Indonesia are the two finalists in the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup. Two twitter hashtags made it into the worldwide trending topics, ‘Hate Malaysia’ and ‘#loveindonesia’ as Indonesian netizens expressed their disappointment over the first game loss of their team
Sri Lanka: Development, Not Aid
Indi.ca discusses the importance of development assistance rather than aid as a system for lifting Sri Lankan citizens out of poverty.
Pakistan: Karachi International Book Fair
Cafe Pyala offers an alternative tour of the 6th Karachi International Book Fair.