On June 14, the British television network Channel 4 broadcast a stunning hour-long documentary presenting footage of horrific abuses allegedly committed by Sri Lankan troops during the last months of the country’s war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The images are graphic and profoundly disturbing. They include the …
One New Message: Press and Police Shamed by U.K. Phone Hacking Scandal
If you didn’t cry, you’d laugh. There are elements of farce to the saga gripping Britain—a tangled tale of criminality and corruption, of phone-hacking, glad-handing and back-slapping, of politicians in thrall to the power of the press and of police in the pay of the press. But for some it has been a tragedy compounded. Take Graham …
Venezuela’s Bicentennial: Should Chávez Re-Examine Bolívar – and His Revolution?
George Washington and Simón Bolívar are rightly remembered as the New World’s greatest independence heroes, but the anti-democratic flaws each possessed are too often forgotten. Washington was a slave-owner, a fact most Americans disregard during commemorations like this week’s July 4 fete. Likewise, the Caracas-born Bolívar …
Justice Deferred: Why Indonesia Doesn’t Want to Host the ‘Bali Bomber’ Trial
You’d think Indonesia would jump at the chance to try Umar Patek, the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali Bombings. But the head of the country’s anti-terror agency, Ansyaad Mbai, says a high-profile terror trial is too much of a security risk. Patek, one of the leaders of the al-Qaeda linked Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah …
Clashing Op-eds: Recommended (Perhaps Even Required) DSK Reading
Well-deserved props to both the New York Times and Washington Post (What? I can do more than criticize!) , whose op-ed writers today contributed interesting observations and arguments about where the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case should go from here—and how the next steps taken in it will reflect upon the American …
An Indian Temple’s Hidden $22 Billion Treasure Hoard May Wake Political Dragons
Renowned as sites of great spirituality and stunning architecture, India’s myriad ancient temples draw tens of millions of devotees and tourists each year. But it’s been a long time since any of its many hallowed shrines were in the news for possessing something altogether more mundane: a vast golden treasure, worth approximately $22 …
Is China’s Ex-Leader Jiang Zemin Dead? Local Censors Don’t Want Any Speculation
Is he or isn’t he? Around 11 pm on July 5, China’s blogosphere began trading in rumors that Jiang Zemin, the former leader of the People’s Republic, had died. By midnight local searches on this topic had become very popular. But within half an hour, the heavy hand of China’s censors descended. Chinese language searches for …