ELODIE INTROIA WITH LIZ MURRAY WRITE — President Hamid Karzai holds the destiny of women in his hands. A few days ago, the Afghan parliament passed a law banning women from seeking any sort of legal recourse in the face of domestic abuses. President Karzai is unequivocally under tremendous international…
Month: February 2014
QATAR: Father Doesn’t Know Best
AHMAD ALKHUZAM WRITES – Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yousef al-Qardawi recently finagled his way onto Qatar state television to blast the United Arab Emirates for opposing Islamic influence in the region. (Yes, it’s complicated. Something like a Canadian getting on Mexican TV to blast the U.S.) What’s not complicated is…
LOS ANGELES: USC PRESENTS ON THE ‘FORGOTTEN CHINA’
ASIA MEDIA IS HAPPY TO PASS ON TO YOU THIS INVITATION FROM OUR HARD-WORKING COLLEAGUES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: “USC’s East Asian Studies Center invites you to our upcoming event entitled Taiwan in the World on March 3, 2014: Taiwan in the World Monday | March 3 |…
VIETNAM: Relationship Status with the UN — It’s Complicated
YVONNE EPPS WRITES — We’re already familiar with Vietnam’s war on peaceful protest and “Internet dissent.” But really: Is it wise to attack a journalist en route to a UN human rights review? Vietnamese authorities kept independent journalist, civil society advocate and prospective UN speaker Pham Chi Dung from leaving…
POVERTY PROJECT: Introducing the Asia Media Poverty Project
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES: In September 2011, a group of young activists occupied Zuccotti Park in Manhattan. The movement, dubbed Occupy Wall Street, became a rallying point for progressives around the world. Subsequent police crackdowns generally failed to disperse the activists, and their tenacity inspired people from all walks of life…
TAIWAN: Leaving China? Welcome to Taiwan, Ramzy
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – In the wake of New York Times reporter Austin Ramzy’s unceremonious departure from Beijing, neighboring Taiwan has warmly welcomed him for a temporary stay while he continues his coverage of the mainland. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that the government “welcomes international media enterprises and their staff” such…
AUSTRALIA: Let’s Keep it Classy, ABC
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES – The government of Prime Minister Tony Abbot hopes to sever the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s ties to its international broadcasting service, the Australian Network. As reported in The Guardian, Julie Bishop, the foreign affairs minister, has questioned the overall quality of the Australian Network’s service and contends it may…
MALAYSIA: Got Cannabis? See You on Death Row
MARLENA NIP WRITES – Drug trafficking charges loom over a French woman, an Indonesian maid, and three Malaysian men. About a pound of processed cannabis and 36 pot plants were allegedly confiscated from the quintet by police in the nation’s capital Sabah. If found guilty, the group face the death penalty, with zero room…
JAPAN: Social Media Backlash Over Dolphin Slaughter
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Spreading awareness of animal cruelty through hashtags can make an issue go viral faster than you can say “Save the Dolphins.” If you’ve seen the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove, you’re familiar with Japan’s yearly Taiji Cove dolphin slaughter. Despite numerous pleas by nature conservation groups…
PHILIPPINES: Governmental Corruption Strikes Again, But Hope Remains
TREVOR ISBELL WRITES – The Philippine government suffers from further acts of corruption as an incognito rice smuggler, David Tan, has finally been identified as successful businessman Davidson Bangayan. However obvious his involvement with the rice smuggling has been, Bangayan has yet to be arrested on any smuggling charges. Rather,…
INDIA: Bogus Beijing Story Fogs Attention of Delhi’s Real Pollution Problem
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES – A misleading story about Beijing’s virtual sunrise earned more press than Friday’s report naming New Delhi the world’s most polluted big city. The Daily Mail’s inaccurate story claimed that China’s government digitally simulates the sunrise on television screens throughout Beijing since its pollution blocks natural sunlight. Major…
HONG KONG: Mainland’s War on Hong Kong Publications
LAUREN CHEN WRITES – Mainland authorities continue to usurp Hong Kong press freedom by silencing dissenting voices. Publisher Yao Wentian was arrested on what appear to be bogus charges of smuggling prohibited items, and has been detained for almost three months. Wentian is head of Morning Bell Press, a Hong Kong…
NORTH KOREA: That Time of the Year
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Nothing says “stop it” like a country threatening to nuke its neighbor for taking part in a military drill. This is how North Korea responded to this year’s Foal Eagle exercise, which is an annual military drill held in South Korea between its forces and those from…
QATAR: The UAE is NOT Happy
ALEXANDRE GUIRAUD-COINTREAU WRITES – The United Arab Emirates has been insulted and demands the offender stop: Egyptian-born Muslim cleric and head of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated International Federation of Muslim Scholars (IFMS), Yousuf Al Qaradawi, who resides in Doha. According to Gulf Times, the clash began over the topic of the…
LEBANON: A ‘Selfie’ Protest to Stop the Violence
NICOLE SABA WRITES – It all started with a series of deadly car bombings that happened in December. Other than the target of the initial explosion – Mohammed Chatah, former Finance Minister of Lebanon – four others lost their lives that day. Among them was Mohammed Chaar, a sixteen-year-old boy,…
THAILAND: A Clean Sweep
ELIZABETH NAAI WRITES – A Yellow-shirt “boy’s club” has Thailand’s Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in its cross hairs. Democrat party leaders and public spokespersons air Yingluck’s dirty laundry as a further attempt to delegitimize her and undermine the February 2nd snap election. Khao Sod daily newspaper released a video of Somchai…