Stories about LANGUAGES from May, 2009
Zimbabwe: Is Movement for Democratic Change backing down?
Is the Movement for Democractic Change in Zimbabwe backing down?, “In a shocking about face, the MDC told the media yesterday that they could live with Gideon Gono because they...
Japan: Open access online journal Journal@rchive
Librarian Charles Ellwood Jones writes about academic journals focusing on antiquity at open access online journal Journal@rchive, an archive site of J-STAGE operated by the Japan Science and Technology Agency....
China: Police harassment
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated Ai Weiwei's blog posts on how he was harassed by security “rice streamers” (meaning stupid polices) and lawyer blogger Liu Xiaoyuan's article explaining Ai's rights....
China: Deng Yujiao Case Reporters Assaulted
ESWN translated local forum news reporting on the assault of Southern People Weekly magazine reporter Wei Yi when he tried to interview the maternal grandmother of Deng Yujiao – the...
Hong Kong: SC group censored June 4th special feature
Daisy, an editor from Esquire, a lifestyle magazine under South China media group in Hong Kong, disclosed in her blog that the top management banned the publication of 15 pages...
Azerbaijan: Toyland
Fighting windmills? Take a pill introduces its readers to “toy,” the local word for wedding, and comments on the role marriage plays in society in Azerbaijan.
Russia: Blogging for Justice in Hit-and-Run Accident Case
On May 13, 2009, a Subaru Forester car hit a pregnant woman who was crossing the street in Moscow. She died in hospital later. The perpetrator escaped the scene of the crime, but eye-witnesses remembered his license plate number. He turned out to be an off-duty police officer. On May 21, he was still not apprehended. On that day, the victim's husband, Alexey Shumm, started a blog to draw public attention to this tragic case and to document his attempts to seek justice. Below are some excerpts.
Serbia: Torture or Therapy?
Last week, on May 21, a short film about torture in the Spiritual Rehabilitation Center "Crna Reka," located in south-western Serbia, was shown on the web site of Vreme, a Serbian weekly magazine. The patients of this center are drug addicts and its head is Branislav Peranovic, a Serbian Orthodox priest. Nearly all Serbian media have shown the horrible scenes from the short film, in which Peranovic is shown beating one of the patients brutally with a spade and with his fists. Sinisa Boljanovic reviews Serbian bloggers' responses.
Russia: A Blogger's Review of “The Associate”
About a month ago, Jost A Mon blog posted a “roundup of translated crime fiction consumed in April” - which included several books by writers from Central and Eastern Europe. What follows below is a displeased Russian blogger's blitz review of John Grisham's 21st novel, The Associate.
Azerbaijan: Republic Day
Sheki, Azerbaijan marks the anniversary of the first republic declared in Azerbaijan by looking back at the significance of the event, and also looking forwards.
Colombia: HiperBarrio Workshops in Ituango
The HiperBarrio project has been conducting blogging workshops in the Colombian community of Ituango and Blueandtanit of $ujetate [es] provides details on the weekend's activities.
Colombia: Bogotá Campus Party 2009 Blog
The official blog of Campus Party Colombia 2009 [es] is now providing updates on the activities scheduled for the event to held in Bogotá on July 6-12.
Russia: Farewell to Actor Oleg Yankovsky
Renowned Russian actor Oleg Yankovsky, 65, died in Moscow on May 20 and was buried at Novodevichiy Cemetery two days later. Thousands of fans came to the Lenkom Theater to bid farewell to him. LJ user drugoi re-posted AP photos from the memorial event, and LJ user leosat wrote about it.
Mexico: Television Comedy Show Makes Light of Actor's Mental Disability
The Human Rights Commission of Mexico DF has asked the television network Televisa to apologize the actor known as Sammy, after the contestants of a comedy game show played a prank on him, even though it is widely known that he suffers from moderate mental disability. The incident brought to light the frequency that Mexican comedians mock others or their situations in order to get laughs.
Bangladesh: Waiting For The Community Radio Boom
Panos Radio South Asia airs a special report on the status of the community radios in Bangladesh. Following a progressive and pro-radio broadcasting law enacted by the government last year,...
UN Human Rights Council Backs Sri Lankan Government
Sepia Mutiny reports that the UN human rights council passed a resolution praising Sri Lanka's victory over the LTTE and refused calls to investigate allegations of war crimes by both...
Sri Lanka: Prabhakaran's DNA Matches With Son
Bailaman reports that DNA taken from the body of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran matches with his son Charles Anthony. This discovery by Sri Lankan Army medical experts is supposed to...
Lebanon: Women in Parliament
“There are actually more men with the first name of Mohammad than there are women in parliament,” writes BabaGannouj et La Zaytouni about the current number of women parliamentarians and...
Honduras: 7.1 Scale Earthquake Hits
A 7.1 scale earthquake has hit Honduras. Janpedrano [es] writes about communicating with friends and family around the country through internet, SMS, and telephone making sure that they were alright.
Morocco: The Blogoma's Journey Continues
Blogging has come a long way in Morocco. From a handful a blogs a few years ago, the blogosphere is now growing rapidly, in three languages. In this post, Anas Alaoui reviews the Blogma - the bloggers' very own name for Morocco's thriving blogging scene.
Guadeloupe: In May 2009, keep May 1802 and May 1967 in mind
2009 will definitely be a "new" year in Guadeloupe - at least judging from a pun that people used as their New Year's wish, since in Creole "new" is pronounced "nef" and "nine" is also pronounced "nef". The first social movements in December 2008 foreshadowed the massive mobilization which took place from January until March 2009, which resulted in 45 days of an all-out strike on the island. Although an agreement was signed, the situation still has not been properly settled - and May, traditionally a month of protest in the French and Guadeloupean social history, is particularly hot this year.
