In an effort to recognize our writers and translators and be more transparent about our readership each month, we will be launching our Stats4Community series, where we share monthly updates about our most popular stories each month. We will also be highlighting the top Lingua posts for different languages to showcase the linguistic diversity across the GV community. This month's stories are from our Portuguese, Arabic, French, and Bangla Lingua sites.
All statistics here are drawn from Google Analytics and do not necessarily represent the total number of views due to adblockers and other privacy settings.
GV English top stories July 2023
Our English site saw over 160,250 viewers during July. Here are some of the most popular stories.
Social media users and pundits are speculating about the disappearance of China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang after he has failed to appear in public since early June. Beijing has attributed the absence to health issues, but many online are speculating about an internal power struggle within the Chinese Communist Party and even an extramarital affair with TV journalist Fu Xiaotian. (9,150+ views)
Popular TikToker Nekoglai tells of torture by Russian police
Moldovan blogger Nekoglai, who is a major online celebrity in Russia, shared a story on his TikTok account of his experience being attacked and tortured in Russia and leaving Russia for safety in Moldova. His detainment came after he released numerous TikTok videos parodying Russian soldiers throwing bombs. (6,060+ views)
Kyrgyzstan's YouTube sensation, D Billions, kicks off its global concert tour
This story talks about D Billions, a Kyrgyz music group that makes educational songs for children. The group has gathered millions of views on YouTube with their catchy songs, including “Left, Right” and “Yummy, Yummy Fruits and Vegetables.” On June 9, they kicked off their global concert tour. (4,675+ views)
Here are the most viewed stories from our French, Bangla, Portuguese, and Arabic sites.
GV Arabic
الحنين إلى الخرطوم الجاثمة تحت وطأة أحذية العسكر (Khartoum: The city I fled; the city I love)
In this personal essay, Sudanese writer Mohammad Najeddine reflects on his relationship with Khartoum, Sudan, which he was forced to flee amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan, which came to a boiling point in April 2023. (1,270+ views)
GV Portuguese
Um ritual de proteção para “fechar o corpo” liga tradições religiosas diferentes no Brasil (A Protection Ritual to ‘Close the Body’ Links Different Religious Traditions in Brazil)
In this piece from 2016, Adam Lee discusses how an Afro-Caribbean ritual connects people across religions and backgrounds in Brazil. The “closing of the body” ritual is supposed to ward off evil and is practiced among Afro-Brazilian religions of Candomblé and Umbanda, as well as some Catholic denominations. (2,880+ views)
GV bangla
যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের নতুন বিকল্প প্রস্তাবে চীনের বন্ধনী ও সড়ক উদ্যোগ কৌশল পুনর্বিবেচনা বাংলাদেশের (Bangladesh reassesses its Belt and Road Initiative strategy with China as the US offers a new alternative)
After observing how numerous Southeast and South Asian nations fell into China’s debt trap relating to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) over the last few years, Bangladesh is reassessing and pulling on its commitment to development projects with China. Bangladesh is being forced to tread a fine line of appeasing both the US and China in its foreign policy and development plans. (890+ views)
GV French
Comment j'ai fini par mépriser ma langue maternelle en Ukraine (How I ended up despising my mother tongue in Ukraine)
In this personal essay by GV Ukraine Editor Yulia Abikok, Yulia shares her story of why she has grown to despise the Russian language — the language she grew up with. Because of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many Ukrainians have forsaken the Russian language and begun to unpack the complicated colonial and classist history of the Russian language in post-Soviet countries. (600+ views)
Come back next month to see our August statistics.
