News
Time for class
Gerald Martone, IRC director of humanitarian affairs, wins the 2008 Outstanding Photo Prize in a competition organised by InterAction, a coalition of 160 U.S.-based humanitarian groups, The photo, entitled, “A Chance to Learn: Time for Class in a Refugee Camp,†depicts young children at the Kalma Camp in South Darfur, Sudan. There were four other […]
Demonstrations against the Dollar
11am Somali time: Central and southern Mogadishu are currently awash with demonstrators protesting the massive inflation of the Somali national currency (Somali shilling) as well as shopkeepers who have started only accepting dollars on account of the near worthlessness of Somali bank notes. Previously there were denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 […]
Tipping Point
“Every individual Somali fights to stay himself, a person.” (Gerard Hanley in ‘Warriors’) The atmosphere can change in a matter of seconds while working in Somalia. Today we were traveling with a militia south of Mogadishu in part so that Philip could take some photos of a ‘technical’, the well-known battlewagon in Somalia popularized in […]
Al-Jazeera journalist Sami al-Haj released from Guantanamo
[video:youtube:qXLDtAYm6SI] Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj was finally released from Guantanamo Bay prison this week after seven years. He spoke with Al-Jazeera about his time in captivity. via Ethan
What I’m Reading…
Usually when traveling and working abroad I like to be reading about something completely off-topic. For this trip I brought with me Dick Davis’ translation/reworking of Abu al-Qasim Ferdowsi’s 10th century Persian epic, the Shahnameh or Book of Kings. I studied parts of it in classes at university, always perplexed by the complexity of the […]
Mogadishu Day Four
Today was a burst of activity following a very slow day yesterday – to ensure our security following the assassination of a senior al-Shabab leader (Aden Hashi ‘Ayrow) we spent most of the day inside the hotel conducting interviews there. This morning, however, we began with an interview with Somalia’s TFG (transitional federal government) deputy […]
Roddy Scott remembered
Next week sees the launch of the first ever Nidderdale Book Festival. It will help raise funds for the Roddy Scott Foundation. Roddy was one of the original Frontline TV agency journalists before he was killed by Russian soldiers in Chechnya in 2002. Roddy came from Nidderdale. The festival, which runs until May 11, is […]
Reporter’s Notebook 1
Listening to and engaging with your media-savvy audience is a key component of the new journalistic landscape. But remember, you can’t please everybody.
Leonora Carrington on Mexico City’s Paseo de Reforma
Leonora Carrington is a British surrealist artist from Lancashire who left Europe during the Second World War, on the run from the Nazis. She finally settled in Mexico, and has produced an impressive body of work, some of which is currently on display on one of Mexico’s main thoroughfares – Paseo de Reforma.
Would you get out of your tank to apologise?
[video:youtube:tPuyZ5qQLUQ] You’d think the least they’d do is stop, apologise and exchange phone numbers. But, no. Crush some poor blokes car in Iraq and on your way. Rather rude methinks. And just imagine, one second later…
The View from the Blogosphere
The view from Washington is no doubt that Thursday’s strike on Somalia, which killed Aden Hashi Ayro, was an unqualified success. Things are more difficult when viewed from Somalia. Royale Somalia points out that Somalis will be divided according to their support for or opposition to the Transitional Federal Government. He gives his colours away […]
Welcome to Somalia
I just got off the Skype chat with Alex in Mogadishu. He reckons he’s one of just three foreign reporters in Mogadishu at the moment. I thought of him when I read Janine Di Giovanni’s piece on Comment is free today about arriving at Moghadishu airport, A truckload of Kalashnikov wielding teenagers were waiting for […]
Negotiating to stay on the Web: the experience of The Destroyermen
My first post described how an RAF technician in Afghanistan became so concerned about the potential impact of his blog that he decided to close it down. He had been blogging without permission and deleted his blog after senior commanders became aware of its existence. At the end of the post, I posed a question […]
Ayrow: UPDATE 2
UPDATE 2: Al-Shabab official website has issued a statement on the death of Ayrow in Somali. “Airplanes of the enemy of Allah”, the text reads, have caused the “martyrdom of the mujahid and leader” Aden Ayrow as well as Sheikh Muhiyuddin Mohammad Omar (former Health Minister for the Islamic Courts). The statement said that a […]
Ayrow: UPDATE 1
UPDATE 1: Death toll from the attack seems to be 10. We have been speaking to people in Dhusa Mareb, including people digging in the rubble, and haven’t been able to confirm or find information on the speculated death toll of 30. Bakara Market area – stronghold of sorts of al-Shabab these days – in […]
Live from Somalia
Frontline blogger Alex Strick van Linschoten is in Somalia blogging as news breaks that the leader of Al-Shabab has been killed. Alex is working with the French photographer Philip Poupin in Mogadishu and as well as blogging he is posting his own pictures to his Flickr account.
Congo Season
[video:youtube:rnW3ZnU3mSo] Between 6th – 16th May the Frontline Club is hosting a Congo Season. The club has put together a short video highlighting the main issues in present day Congo. There are a number of interesting discussions scheduled and I’ll be uploading video from the season as it becomes available. Here’s what’s coming up May […]
Al-Shabab Leader Killed
Just a short note to confirm that Al-Shabab’s leader does seem to have died in an explosion (one presumes a missile) in Dhusa Mareb, central Somalia. Al-Shabab spokesperson held and press conference over the phone this morning with local radio stations in which they vowed they would retaliate against the attack. It makes working in […]
A Turning Point in Somalia?
Wires are reporting that Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in overnight US airstrikes on Somalia. If it’s true then it could be a turning point in the Islamist-led insurgency. He is/was the leader of the Shabaab, a nasty militia that acted as the military wing of the Islamic Courts Union. With the defeat of the […]
Ground Zero
“It is wonderful how little we have yet managed to impress the Somalis with our superior firepower.” (British officer following attempts to put down the ‘Mad Mullah’ in 1920s with R.A.F. bombers) Today was spent in a time capsule of sorts – visiting the destruction wreaked on the buildings of Mogadishu’s seafront at the end […]
Introducing ‘Kaboom: A Soldier’s War Journal’
I mentioned this blog in passing in yesterday’s post. But it deserves a proper mention and I thoroughly recommend it to Frontline readers. Kaboom: A soldier’s war journal is written by ‘LT G’. He’s serving with the US Army in Iraq and is stationed in a place he calls Anu al-Verona. As far as I’m […]
Journalist death threats in China
The Foreign Correspondents Club of China released a statement today condemning online death threats received by at least ten foreign correspondents in China following a campaign on the web and in the state-run media following media coverage of protests in Tibet. Melinda Lui, President of the FCCC, talks about the threats in Newsweek Magazine today. […]
Demystifying the Congo
A video to promote a series of events at the Frontline Club. I wrote an article on the topic of Victorian-era clichés and the Congo for the current issue of the From the Frontline newsletter. I’m grateful to Tim Butcher and Rory MacLean for the friendly exchange that gave rise to the piece.
One Mean Diplomatic Mofo
Move aside you gangsta rappers The matatus of Nairobi are decorated in many and various ways. By far the most spectacular are those with murals of popular figures on the back. Footballers – particularly Stephen Gerrard – and gangsta rappers seem to dominate. Now there’s a new face in town following Kofi Annan’s success in […]
“Life and death are cheap”
In the words of Smith Hempstone, the former US ambassador to Kenya: “If you liked Beirut, you’ll love Mogadishu…” And so it is. Arriving in a delayed Daallo Airways plane, fellow travellers flying on to the north of the country wish us well. “Life and death are cheap in this city…take care,” said one, patting […]
Dan joins the frontline
Welcome to Daniel Bennett, the latest addition to the From the Frontline blog. Daniel offers a unique perspective here. As he says on his blog he is “a PhD student researching the impact of blogging and new media on the BBC’s coverage of war and terrorism. He writes about how changes to news journalism are […]
RAF technician deletes blog after criticising Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Afghanistan
I used to follow a blog about the life of an RAF technician who services Chinook helicopters. He called himself ‘Sensei Katana’ and was deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan in January. Just over a month later his blog disappeared without warning and now all you see when you visit his website is this. According to the […]
Richard Butler on being held hostage
CBS News journalist Richard Butler discusses his ordeal at the hands of kidnappers in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. He was held for two months until the Iraqi Army rescued him. Butler talks with fellow CBS reporter Allen Pizzey, I am standing there, in front of these eight guys with AK-47s, and I am […]
“The ultimate reality show”
Hollywood agent turned war reporter Pat Dollard attempts to put the record straight in The Guardian today. Tony Scott, director of Top Gun, is working with Dollard to put together a TV series from the 700+ hours of film he returned from Iraq with. Dollard’s unconventional, drug fuelled style appealed to movie maker Scott who […]
Overseas Press Club Awards 2008
See what happens when you go away for a few days… Another award ceremony. This time the Overseas Press Club. The awards were announced last Friday. Journalists working in conflict zones dominate the winner’s rostrum. Getty Images snappers scooped three photography awards and reporters on The New York Times received a total of six awards. […]
