RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – It’s now even safer to assume that North Korea is not the utopia its leaders would like the rest of the world to believe. Recently, the United Nations published the findings of an inquiry on the state of human rights in the country. The report contains…
Month: March 2014
THE PLATE COLUMN: Skating on Thin Ice
TOM PLATE WRITES IN HIS SYNDICATED COLUMN APPEARING IN THE JAPAN TIMES (Tokyo) – Like so many people around the world, I was totally blown away not only by Olympic skater Kim Yuna’s performance on the ice in Sochi, but even more so by her cool and classy performance off…
INDIA: Elections Could be the Costliest Ever
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES – The world’s largest democracy may finally be set to host the world’s most expensive elections. In the months leading to India’s April-May congressional election, the competing Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party, or the People’s Party) will spend upwards of $5 billion on TV, print, radio, and…
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Nation Says ‘No’ to ‘Noah’
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES – Just before its global premier, the Hollywood-produced film Noah was banned from the silver screen in three Arab countries, including Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, due to its religious themes. The $125 million film, starring Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins, features the biblical story of Noah,…
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Causes Trouble for Presidential Elections
VITTO BANEZ WRITES – With Afghan elections around the corner, it’s no surprise that the Taliban have something to say. On March 10, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghans should sit out the elections, because they’re “an American conspiracy” cooked up by the U.S. for its own evil purposes. Evil…
INDONESIA: THE MESSY LOVE TRIANGLE OF MEDIA, POLITICS AND DEMOCRACY
LOANA BENJAMIN WRITES – On February 27, The Jakarta Post named Indonesia’s PKS (Prosperous Justice Party) “media darlings” for being mentioned in the press more than any other party in the previous month. But given that PKS rivals own many of the media outlets in question, the accomplishment may just…
THE PLATE COLUMN: Should Crimea Be Such a Priority?
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST TOM PLATE WRITES — Viewed from Los Angeles, tiny Ukraine seems much, much farther away and remote from our core national interests than, for example, gigantic Indonesia. So perhaps something is wrong with us on the West Coast of the United States, and we simply fail to understand…
HONG KONG: Taking a Meat Cleaver to Press Freedom
LAUREN CHEN WRITES — This is difficult to believe, but here it is: Recently, in broad daylight, two men attacked former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to with a meat-cleaver and fled the scene. The attackers remain unidentified and, at this writing, Lau was recovering and in critical condition. Leading…