RYAN URBAN WRITES – We need to remember this: The mass shooting in Orlando was one of the deadliest in U.S. history. The horrific mass shooting was an act of home-grown terrorism, committed by an even more sick and twisted character. And the tragedy is that something like it bodes to…
Full Article USA: AN INDIVIDUAL’S ACT OF HATE AND AN ACT OF TERRORISM
SABRINA VERDUZCO WRITES – The United States and South Korea displayed a new desire to cement a lasting relationship between the two countries on October 16. Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye demonstrated an eagerness to strengthen the US-South Korea alliance on October 16. In a statement from the White…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: Double Diplomatic Parking with Obama
EMILY ROCHA WRITES: During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the United States in late Sept., forty-four writers from the PEN American center spoiled the dinner party with a demand for the release of Chinese journalists and writers who are state captives for nothing more criminally offensive than…
Full Article CHINA: Journalists Speak Out on Behalf of Imprisoned Peers
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – In early September, as if the international community needed to be reminded about the alleged capabilities of the North Korean armed forces, the country said that it was prepared to carry out a nuclear attack against (big shocker) the United States and “other hostile forces” for…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Business as Usual in the Hermit Kingdom
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Every summer, North Korea makes it known that they vehemently oppose the annual military exercises held by South Korea and the United States. This time, however, tensions may run slightly higher than they usually do during this time of the year. Last Monday, the armed forces…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Tensions Flare Over Annual Military Exercise (Again)
NICK ARMER WRITES – Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post correspondent, was charged with serious crimes by Iranian authorities on April 20 after being detained and held by the government for over nine months. The White House and the Washington Post have denounced the charges against Rezaian, who is an American…
Full Article IRAN: Of Politics and Prison
ASIA MEDIA WRITES – Looking for international journalist experience? The East-West Center is now accepting applications from US journalists for its 2014 China-United States Journalists Exchange!
Full Article EAST-WEST CENTER: International Fellowship OpportunityAUSTIN SZABO WRITES – For years, news anchor and journalist Hamid Mir has been fighting for the cause of a free press in Pakistan. Now he’s fighting for his own life. Still recovering from an unsolved assassination attempt April 19, Mir, undaunted, issued a statement accusing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)…
Full Article PAKISTAN: Are Government Spies Behind Media Assault?LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – “Forgive and forget” is often easier said than done. When two countries have as rough a history as South Korea and Japan, it’s not surprising that tensions would be high between their leaders. For years, South Korea has requested that Japan offer compensation to the many…
Full Article JAPAN: Leaving the Past in the Past?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…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: U.N. Releases Report on Human Rights in North KoreaAUSTIN 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…
Full Article INDIA: Elections Could be the Costliest EverAUSTIN 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…
Full Article POVERTY PROJECT: Introducing the Asia Media Poverty ProjectAUSTIN 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…
Full Article INDIA: Bogus Beijing Story Fogs Attention of Delhi’s Real Pollution ProblemRYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Tension between North and South Korea is old news, but a recent offer by the North offers a ray of hope that it’s possible for relations to cool down. Earlier this week, North Korea proposed that the two countries tone down their usually confrontational language. If…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Squabble over Name-Calling an Obstacle to ProgressBEN SULLIVAN WRITES – U.S. journalists in China have long griped that the government picks on them. Specifically, they say, China retaliates against unfavorable coverage by withholding visas and access to top officials, barring reporters from important events, and even blocking the China editions of their employers’ web sites. The…
Full Article ‘Smokin’ Joe’ Jabs at China Treatment of U.S. NewsiesE.J. DE LARA WRITES – Several reports have criticized New Zealand for its intrusion of privacy. Many have raised concerns over Parliament passing a bill for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) – the intelligence agency of the New Zealand government – to spy on people with a search warrant.…
Full Article NEW ZEALAND: Spying Here, There, and Almost Everywhere