Stories about English from December, 2016
‘Keyboard Warriors’ Want To #TakeBackKenya
Even though police used teargas to disperse participants at the #TakeBackKenya walk in Nairobi, Kenyans are determined to speak out against corruption and bad governance.
Syrian Women Thank Russian Soldiers in New Sexy Calendar Funded by the Kremlin
Thanks to Kremlin grants, there's now a glossy calendar featuring a dozen beautiful Syrian women, posing beside flirty captions that praise Moscow’s armed intervention in the Middle East.
#FreeMaxenceMelo: Authorities Charge Tanzanian Whistleblowing Website Owner Under Cybercrimes Law
"Mentioning 'Tanzania' and 'democracy' in the same sentence amounts to subjecting the term 'democracy' to ridicule."
Student Leaders Spark Hope for Change on Iran’s National Student Day
"Iran’s civil society and student movements remain a ray of hope, and indeed pride, for a nation that continues to struggle for change."
Controversial Trinidad Carnival Fete Frustrates Fans Seeking Fun
The organisers of Soaka 2017 may have thought they were being Internet-savvy by asking patrons to go through a five-step ticketing process, but it struck some as elitist and discriminatory.
2016 Was the Caribbean's Year of Loss
For bloggers in the Caribbean, “2016” has nearly become an obscenity. Adjectives now used to describe this "annus horribilis" include "sucky", "terrible" and "the worst".
Lebanon Deports Prominent Unionist, Testing Migrant Workers’ Resolve
Law enforcement officers in Lebanon are cracking down on unionists committed to organizing the country's migrant workers, and labor activists find themselves squeezed and left with few options.
Taiwanese Wonder If They're Just a Chip for Donald Trump in Negotiating With China
"What Trump is doing now might be a maneuver...He tries to make China nervous by befriending Taiwan, and then he can get a better deal with China."
Albanians From Macedonia Cross Ethnic Lines to Vote Against Ruling Parties
Ethnicity plays a big role in Macedonian politics, and Albanians are the country's second-largest ethnic community.
Controversial Legislation in Bangladesh Highlights the Complexity of Child Marriage
"Civil society easily can see child marriage but is blind to the fact why it happens. When there is development in society...child marriages will fall. We need time for that."
Gambians Fear President Jammeh Is ‘Putting the Lives of Citizens at Risk’ With His Rejection of Election Results
In a televised address Jammeh criticised the electoral commission and proposed fresh elections to be organised by "God-fearing" people.
Ghanaians Call Out CNN for Misrepresenting Their Country in Post-Election Coverage
"Such a lazy coverage of a fantastic story by @CNN. No nuance, just the usual template "Africans are suffering."#CNNGetItRight"
When You’re Black and Foreign in Brazil: An African Medical Student Shares His Story
In 2016, while still halfway through his undergraduate degree in medicine at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Fleury Johnson decided to start blogging about his life in Brazil.
The 2016 Word of the Year Down Under? ‘Democracy Sausage’.
'Democracy Sausage', the Australian word of the year, celebrates the sausage sizzles at polling booths on election day.
Russian State-Run TV Network Refuses to Give Former U.S. Ambassador His Own Show
This Sunday, Michael McFaul proposed a novel idea: he reached out to the chief editor of Russia Today, offering to host his own television show on the network.
Little Dolls From a Vietnamese Prison Carry a Big Message
"What the authorities didn’t realize was the messages the dolls bear were right in front of their faces–they just couldn’t comprehend them."
The High Cost of Algeria's Crackdown on Speech: Life and Freedom
Will the Algerian government acknowledge the high cost of silencing its critics before more lives are lost or destroyed for a mere Facebook post?
Syrian Media Activist: ‘It Is Terrible and Scary, Aleppo Has Become a Horror City’
Gnaid, an activist with the Aleppo Media Center, and his wife recently welcomed their second child, a baby girl, in the midst of a deadly siege on their city.
Native American Pipeline Resistance at Standing Rock Resonates Around the Globe
"Stay strong. Be strong. And you have relatives all over the world to stand with you."
Taiwanese Are Disappointed With the Foreign Media’s Response to Donald Trump’s Tweet
Donald Trump, the next president of the United States, shocked the people of Taiwan on Dec. 2, when he tweeted about a congratulatory phone call he'd received from Taiwan's president.
Russian Intellectuals Make Bolshevik Revolution a Virtual Reality, Repeating 100-Year-Old Mistakes
At a time when Russia favors smooth historical narratives, it's difficult to say how the Kremlin will apply a narratological suture over one of the most fractious moments in history.
