Stories about English from August, 2013
Ugandans Blast President's Gifts to Country's Marathon Champion
President Yoweri Museveni gave Stephen Kiprotich, the marathon gold winner at the World Athletics Championships, a brand new Mitsubishi Pajero and a promise build him a three-bedroom house.
Chelsea Manning Case Surfaces Issues of Transparency, Security, Journalism, and Sexuality
What Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning's case means for whistleblowers, journalism, state secrecy, security, and the transgender community.
Chinese Social Web Shines Spotlight on Illegal Rooftop Structures
Authorities have been slow to do anything about the elaborate and illegal constructions, including one rooftop villa in Beijing that resembles a lush green mountaintop.
Bangladesh: Startling Disaster Stats Of Three Decades
During 1980-2010 Bangladesh faced approximately 234 natural disasters. A shocking number of 191,836 people died in these calamities. PreventionWeb has the detailed statistics.
‘No’ to Homosexuality, ‘Yes’ to Child Marriage in Nigeria
A man was beaten for allegedly been gay in Nigeria where lawmakers recently passed a bill to criminalise homosexuality and voted for a clause to legalise child marriage.
Prison Overcrowding in Indonesia
Leopold Sudaryono tackles the problem of prison overcrowding in Indonesia. In 2011, there were 144,000 prisoners in the country. Prisons were reported to be overcrowded by 45 per cent on average. Among the factors contributing to the problem are lack of alternative sentencing options at trial and delays in the...
Are Female Vigilantes The Answer To Stop Rapes In India?
India, reeling from the news of another woman gang-raped in Mumbai, is searching for a way to stop these sexual crimes.
Leaked Chinese Document Warns Against the Evils of Western Values
The directive reaffirms President Xi Jinping's political conservatism despite his economic reforms and tough stance on corruption.
Charges Dropped for South Korean Indicted for Retweeting North Korean Messages
Park Jeong-geun, a photographer/activist who was sentenced to 10 months jail term for satirically re-tweeting messages from a North Korean official account, was found not guilty [ko]. A flurry of tweets congratulating him were sent to Park's Twitter account (@seouldecadence), who tweeted after the verdict [ko] that there is a chance the prosecutor may...
Suspicions Arose Over North Korean Defector-Turned-Lawmaker
During a parliamentary hearing on the spy agency election interference scandal, Cho Myung-chul, a ruling party lawmaker famous for being the first North Korean defector to take a senior government post in South Korea, went under fire for making snide and offensive remarks discriminating against people from certain province. More criticisms mount as...
Fight Erupts in Saudi Mosque After Preacher Curses el-Sisi
The fight, uploaded on to YouTube, has gone viral and the tug-of-words continues online.
A Disappearing Generation of Indigenous Children in Kerala, India
Thirty-five tribal children in Attappady, India have died so far this year due to malnutrition.
Special Probe into South Korean Spy Agency's Electioneering Falls Flat
The investigation does not seem to be enough to quell public anger, which continues to grow over the agency's campaign of Internet posts that smeared the opposition.
Syria: Photos of Chemical Weapons
On Brown Moses Blog more evidence illustrating what is believed to be the devices which have been used in the “Chemical Weapons attack” on 21/08/2013 in Damascus suburbs, Syria, has emerged. The blog claims that they are similar to those previously recorded in the conflict and reportedly launched by government...
Lebanese Blogger Beirut Spring Tweets from Tripoli Bomb Explosion
Lebanese blogger Mustapha Hamoui was a few metres away from the second blast, in his own apartment, when it occurred. He reports on the unfolding mayhem.
Photo: Pro-Morsi Supporters Rally in Cairo
Journalist Evan Hill shares this photograph of supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi from a rally at the Arab League Street in Cairo today.
Pro-Morsi Supporters Rally Across Egypt
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia maintains a live blog here for protests and rallies planned by supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi across Egypt today. (August 23, 2013) She adds: There will be not less than 28 rallies in Cairo and Giza alone. The Pro-Supporters today are not going to street...
Wave of Violence Against Guatemalan Journalists
Guatemalan journalists Carlos Alberto Orellana Chávez was gunned down on Monday, August 19, 2013; he is the fourth journalist killed in Guatemala this year. In an opinion piece [es] published in Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre, UN's special rapporteur for freedom of expression Frank La Rue denounced “the recent wave of...
Navalny's Montenegrin Kryptonite or Russia's Invulnerable Candidate?
Information has emerged showing Navalny’s ownership of an active real estate company in Montenegro, established in 2007 and undeclared when he registered as a candidate for Moscow's mayor’s race.
At 89 Years Old, Zimbabwe President Mugabe Sworn in for Five More Years
Mugabe responded to allegations that the election was rigged in his favor by telling critics to "go hang".
Jamaican Media “Won't Call a Spade a Spade”
The questionable newspaper coverage of a fatal accident in Jamaica has one blog challenging the relevance of the country's mainstream media - not an uncommon gripe with regional netizens.
