It’s known as National Uprising Day to the Tibetans: on March 10, 1959, Tibetans, who had watched Chinese People’s Liberation Army troops march in less than a decade before, rebelled against communist rule on the high …
Japan: A Year After the Tsunami, A Coastal Town Comes Together
Driving into Minamisanriku, it’s hard not to feel a little discouraged. A cold drizzle falls over what used to be a thriving, picturesque fishing village but is now a barren swatch of gray cement foundations. The twisted hulks of …
Palestinians Protest in the West Bank
Demonstrators and Israeli forces clash across the occupied territory
Must-Reads from Around the World: March 9, 2012
Failed Rescue — An attempt to rescue two men held captive by the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram failed Thursday, the Guardian reports. The hostages, Briton Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara, had been held by the al-Qaeda-linked group since May 2011. Their deaths came hours after U.K. Prime Minster David Cameron authorized …
As Kofi Annan Arrives to Mediate, Syria’s Assad Regime is Far From Beaten
The defection of Syria’s deputy oil minister to the country’s year-old rebellion briefly captured headlines on Thursday, hailed in the West as a hopeful sign that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad may be starting to …
Fate of Chinese Political Star Fuels Intrigue at Annual Congress
Bo Xilai, the high-profile Chinese politician whose rise has been damaged by a scandal involving a key deputy, spoke at a press conference Friday in Beijing and denied that he had offered to resign or is himself under …
Can Colombia’s Santos Solve the Cuba Conundrum?
It isn’t easy playing mediator in the chest-thumping, Cold War time warp of U.S.-Cuba relations. It’s even harder to resolve Washington-Havana disputes in a way that pleases both sides. But Colombian President Juan Manuel …
Why We Should Be Talking About Sri Lanka
As 47 countries meet in Geneva to take stock of the world’s human-rights performance, Sri Lanka finds itself in the dock, haunted by the legacy of a fierce civil war that spanned two and a half decades and came to a violent end …
Sarkozy’s Xenophobia: French President Panders to the Extreme-Right
French economic growth is slowing, unemployment is rising, Greece is still a risk to default, and the crisis-rocked euro—while somewhat stabilized of late—is still not out of the existential woods. Yet despite those burning …
Why You Should Feel Awkward About the ‘Kony2012’ Video
Most Americans began this week not knowing who Joseph Kony was. That’s not surprising: most Americans begin every week not knowing a lot of things, especially about a part of the world as obscured from their vision as Uganda, …
Must-Reads From Around the World: March 8, 2012
Nuclear North Korea — Based on newly released satellite images, the Washington-based Institute of Science and International Security says North Korea has made progress in building a light-water reactor to expand its nuclear program, The Guardian reports. (North Korea says the reactor is for electricity generation.) This information …
Changes to Detention Rules Are Small Victory for Activists in China
A controversial law that would given Chinese police broad powers to ‘disappear’ people has been modified, a limited victory for the legal and civil society advocates who opposed it. The proposed change to China’s Criminal …