Stories about Culture
25 January 2020
A sea of red: celebrating the Chinese New Year
The 2020 Lunar New Year, which began at midnight on January 24, will last for several days.
22 January 2020
Pakistani director halts release of award-winning film after receiving threats
"They are holding a film hostage for all the wrong reasons and there is nothing we can do about it."
21 January 2020
Yorùbá loanwords: How languages evolve
Using Yorùbá words in their original forms helps ensure that culture — kept alive through language — continues to thrive.
Redemption Song: My journey to marijuana activism
"Ganja has been a source of inspiration, meditation and medication on my journey as a mixed-race, working-class Caribbean woman trying to make a way in this capitalist world."
20 January 2020
Facebook apologizes for translating Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name as ‘Mr. Shithole’
"And the president of China, Mr. Shithole, signed a guest record of the house of representatives."
Baul singer Shariat Sarkar arrested in Bangladesh for ‘insulting’ Islam
Baul singer Shariat Sarkar is accused of making comments which hurt the “religious sentiment” of Muslims. He says that there is no evidence forbidding music in Islam.
19 January 2020
Zanzibar says goodbye to legendary ‘king of kidumbak,’ musician Makame Faki
Legendary Zanzibari musician Makame Faki Makame has died at the age of 77. He was hailed as the king of kidumbak and a master of taarab, Zanzibar's "national sound."
Residents flee as Philippines’ smallest active volcano emits smoke and ash
Over 30,000 are estimated to be affected and displaced from Batangas and Cavite provinces because of the volcanic eruption
16 January 2020
From Indonesian exile to Czechoslovakian pop star: An interview with Rony Marton
Jaroni Surjomartono, an Indonesian scholar, arrived in Prague in 1963. He and hundreds of scholars were later banned from returning home after General Suharto rose to power.
14 January 2020
‘An interplay between Western and Eastern Cultures': Two art exhibitions on cultural collisions
In October 2019 in Brooklyn, New York, two women artists from Iran and Pakistan exhibited new bodies of work in which they portrayed the interplay between Western and Eastern cultures
13 January 2020
The Trinidadian that inspired Sam Mendes’ WWI epic, ‘1917’
Trinidadian Alfred Mendes had a long and extraordinary life in which he was many things – war hero, writer, politician – all of which was worthy of the big screen.
12 January 2020
In Modi’s India, anti-Bangladeshi-immigrant rhetoric is used to justify changes in citizenship laws
The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens in India and the rhetoric of deportation of "illegal Bangladeshis" have put the India-Bangladesh relation on stress.
Zanzibar mourns the death of Omani sultan who strengthened historical ties with East Africa
Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman was known to many as a "quiet diplomat" who modernized Oman and restored and strengthened historical ties with Zanzibar and East Africa.
10 January 2020
Interfaith harmony disturbed after Sikh holy site attacked in Pakistan
Sikh holy sIte Gurdwara Janam Ashtam at Nankana Sahib city near Lahore Pakistan was attacked by violent mobs and communal and hateful slogans against the Sikh minority community were raised.
9 January 2020
Is Taiwan an unrecognized country?
"While today the international community is happy to maintain the current status-quo when dealing separately with Taiwan and China, certain political forces in both places are advocating for a change."
8 January 2020
Ahead of Taiwan's presidential election, KMT accuses DPP of ‘green terror’ and Beijing echoes
The political label “green terror” is also circulating widely on mainland Chinese state-affiliated media and social media outlets.
7 January 2020
Six years after deadly crackdown of garment strike in Cambodia, families say no hope for justice
"Justice seems as far away as the horizon, or like searching for a needle in the bottom of the sea. We have not yet seen the light of justice."
6 January 2020
‘Byzantine Pompeii’ archaeological discovery in Greece will be moved to make way for the Thessaloniki subway
"What the metro construction procedures have brought to light is Byzantine Pompeii! Do you understand? And do you plan to remove it and reattach it later? Are you crazy?"
Chinese propaganda slogan ‘unifying Taiwan by force’ is losing its threatening edge
Ahead of Taiwan's 2020 presidential election, mainland Chinese propaganda has started to downplay the “unifying Taiwan by force” narrative.
2 January 2020
Long live Večerníček: The enduring appeal of a 55-year-old Czech children's television show
The show's format has remained virtually unchanged and become a shared childhood reference for millions of then Czechoslovaks, and now for Czechs.
