Good thing my two-year old got in his first visit to the zoo here in Boston. Turns out it might not be around much longer.
Pet lion, anyone?
10 July 2009, 8:06pm · Leave a Comment
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Tagged: Franklin Park Zoo
North Koreans hold off on prison sentence
10 July 2009, 10:37am · Leave a Comment
North Korea is leaving the door open for cooperation with the US by delaying sending two American journalists to a prison camp. This is according to a Korean American academic, Han Park of the University of Georgia.
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Tagged: Euna Lee, Laura Ling, north korea
Xinjiang unrest explained
10 July 2009, 9:24am · Leave a Comment
ForiegnPolicy.com editor Christina Larson has a fantastic piece on how Chinese policies in Xinjiang are making matters there worse. It’s a great read with lots of details that help explain why things are so volatile there, and how Beijing appears to be its own worst enemy in its handling of the situation. Here’s an example:
Outside Urumqi, the troubled provincial capital where Sunday’s riots took place, new highway signs are posted in both Mandarin characters and the Uighur language, written in an Arabic script. But there’s a danger of getting lost if one tries to follow those signs. If you ask the local Uighurs, they say that what passes for signage in their language is often nonsensical transliterations, a version of “Chinglish” in Uighur. There’s ornamental appeal, sans utility — evidently Uighurs weren’t consulted in planning or proof-reading.
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Tagged: China, East Turkestan, Islam, religion, Uighurs, Xinjiang
DPRK 5029
9 July 2009, 9:27pm · Leave a Comment
Here’s a scary scenario to contemplate: North Korea’s government collapses overnight. Few experts believe it’s likely, even if there are big questions about the leadership transition under way there. But it’s something to think about at least, if you’re Michael O’Hanlon. He games out the challenges a sudden DPRK collapse would present to the US and its Asian allies. With American troops so overstretched already, there are no great options.
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BBC NEWS | China riot city ‘under control’
9 July 2009, 11:47am · Leave a Comment
BBC’s Quentin Sommerville reports from Xinjiang.
See coverage of the Xinjiang story from PRI’s The World here.
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Tagged: China, Xinjiang, Urumqi, Uighurs
Israel, Syria and the Golan Heights
1 July 2009, 11:06am · Leave a Comment
We had a two-part sequence on the Golan yesterday, starting with a short set-up interview with Aaron David Miller. He’s a former State Department advisor who worked on Middle East issues for six secretaries of state. Followed up with my story about what’s at stake for people living in the Golan.
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Golan photos
30 June 2009, 1:35pm · Leave a Comment
Just putting up some photos to go with my radio story airing today on the Golan Heights.
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