Stories about LANGUAGES from August, 2020
How a bad translation of ‘Black Lives Matter’ ended up enabling racist narratives on Chinese social media
A popular Chinese translation of the anti-racism protest slogan is paradoxically being used to spread racist discourse.
Abused and infected with COVID-19, Nigerian domestic workers are stranded in Beirut
African governments must press on their Lebanese counterpart to grant amnesty to all migrant domestic workers to be repatriated to their home countries and abolish the slave-like Kafala labour laws.
‘Hiroshima Timeline’ uses tweets to portray real-time experience of world's first atomic bombing
Three Twitter accounts use an "on-this-day" format to share observations and experiences of daily life from 75 years ago in the months leading up to the August 6, 1945 bombing.
The historic selection of Kamala Harris as the Democrats’ vice-presidential candidate resonates in the Caribbean
Could Kamala Harris, daughter of immigrants and the first Black/South Asian woman vice-presidential candidate for a major U.S. political party, be "great for diversity"?
Women's cooperative in Srebrenica produces ‘protective masks for everyone’
"There are not a lot of us in Srebrenica and we need to stick together through communion and mutual care."
Meet the artist embroidering Belarus’ protests
From faraway Prague, the Belarusian artist Rufina Bazlova is paying homage to the protests in her homeland by depicting them in traditional Belarusian embroidery.
Human rights defenders and journalists under attack in Southeast Asia
The past two weeks saw several disturbing cases of arrests, convictions, and raids targeting human rights activists and journalists in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law
Upon his arrest, Hong Kong police raided the office building of his news outlets.
A rare, golden turtle — first of its kind — discovered in Nepal
The recent discovery of a yellow turtle in India drew a lot of attention, but it's not the first time one has been spotted.
In Pakistan, a man accused of blasphemy was shot dead in a courtroom. His killer was hailed as a hero.
Extrajudicial killings of people accused of blasphemy aren't uncommon in Pakistan.
How the murder of musician Hachalu Hundessa incited violence in Ethiopia: Part I
In the wake of musician Hachalu Hundessa's murder, Ethiopia has struggled to come to terms with the violence and turmoil that erupted along ethnic and religious faultlines.
‘Wiki Loves Africa’ 2020 features images of a continent on the move
"Wiki Loves Africa," encourages people to contribute Africa-relevant media to Wikimedia annually around a particular theme to fundamentally change how people both within and outside Africa see the continent.
What will a US ban on WeChat mean for Chinese netizens?
While many in the West have criticized Trump's ban, some overseas Chinese dissents see the decision with positive eyes.
COVID-19 and China's information control policy
China’s strategy to control information and its consequences has become a global concern.
Another Australian university criticized for censoring voices supporting Hong Kong's human rights
An Australian university was criticized for deleting an article published on its website that urges the international community to put pressure on China for infringements on human rights in Hong Kong.
Calls, SMS, and radio: How pre-internet tech helps low-income children's schooling in India's lockdown
An award-winning non-profit start-up from the city of Cuttack, in the state of Odisha, is providing low-cost remote education to over 5,000 children from 400 villages.
Angolan police kills 23-year-old for breaking confinement rules, local media reports
A National Police communiqué said that officers were on patrol when they came across a crowd of young people at an unauthorized time and place.
In Trinidad & Tobago, the use of Black iconography in Emancipation Day ads backfires
"This ad brings to light greater issues of the way Africans are represented in media and how careless and flippant many media programmers are with African icons, legacy, and symbols."
Ahead of elections in Trinidad & Tobago, one party promises to build a dome to limit ‘illegal outsiders’
With less than a week until Trinidad and Tobago's general elections, electioneering has reached a fever pitch. Still, no one quite expected a dome as a campaign promise.
Who are the 6 Hong Kong activists wanted by the police under Beijing's national security law?
All of the wanted activists live overseas. One of them, Samuel Chu, has been a citizen of the United States since 1995.
Melbourne academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert remains a ‘political hostage’ inside Iran’s Qarchak prison
"Whatever the governments of #Australia and the #UK are doing to free their citizen, Kylie Moore-Gilbert from prison in #Iran, it’s failing miserably. This innocent woman should be free."
