New Year’s is seen as a time of renewal, but it does not always bring desired changes. This week the Thai government forced over 4,000 Hmong over the border into Laos, despite the possibility that they will be persecuted upon their return. This action runs counter to international human rights …
I find myself sitting here trying to get everything done as the day, and year, quickly close in on me. As the year, and decade, comes to an end I find myself looking back on the year and what is has meant for children across the globe.
Tonight many look back …
As India steps into a new decade it seems ready to take on the world. But this process will not be without some big challenges. While terrorism and internal security are crucial concerns, sustaining the rapid economic growth and making India easier and safer to do business with are also …
Teaching gorilla protection in Congo
Schoolchildren in the Republic of Congo capital Brazzaville are learning about gorilla protection as part of a campaign by conservationists, authorities and nongovernmental organizations to protect the threatened primates. Supporters hope the program will begin to change social attitudes toward gorillas …
Of the seven new films reviewed in this space in the past year, the best by far is “Sin Nombre”.
It is a harrowing tale of desperation and consequences.
The movie follows the lives of a Honduran woman named Sayra who rides on top of trains hoping to reach Texas …
The holiday season is less of an affair in Cuba than elsewhere: only in 1990 did the regime remove references to atheism from its constitution, and it was not until 1998—after Pope John Paul II visited the island and met with Fidel—that December 25 was restored as a national holiday.
Still, …
Let’s ring in the new year with forward looking news.
Bangladesh and India are moving closer to politics in concert. The cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding that Dhaka and New Delhi would import and export electricity from each other over the long term.
The Daily Star reports:
“A meeting …
“Because that’s where the money is” –
Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks
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The New York Times ran a story this past Sunday noting that some U.S. universities that set up operations in …
At the FPA’s Global Film Review Blog Sean Patrick Murphy reviews Invictus. I am working on an essay on the movie, the book on which it is based, and another book on South African sport and Apartheid which I will share with you as soon as it …
Recently the Foreign Policy Association published a “Viewpoints” piece of mine titled “Disunity in South Africa.” Please check it out if you have any interest in South African politics.
2009 was an unusually dramatic year in the journalism world. But not because of ongoing corporate changes, which translated as the further downsizing of media companies. Lost jobs and denigrated institutional memory at major news outlets was an important part of what happened to reporters and their kin in the …
African governments are not well known for standing up against fellow leaders who violate the rule of law or commit human rights abuses. Ask most people what they expect from African governments in this area and you are likely not to hear anything positive. The reputation is not entirely undeserved, …
This film is solid.
Not amazing, not incredible, but solid.
It is about newly elected South African President Nelson Mandela and his relationship with the country’s rugby team captain.
Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) understands that post-apartheid South Africa needs to rally – black and white – behind a common cause. And that …
World Food Program (WFP) officials have stated that UN cutbacks in food aid funding to Nepal have been caused by the drastic financial market downturns and global financial crisis. The UN estimates that it would need roughly $20 million to feed approximately 600,000 people for the next …
It is the time of year when people promise to do things differently, when they commit to change. What might world leaders resolve for fighting corruption and promoting accountability in 2010?
There are few political or business leaders on the planet who would not publicly vouch for anti-corruption and accountability. …
