News
Death in El Salvador
The killing of documentary maker Christian Poveda represents a sad loss for a region much in need of greater understanding. The first, last and only time that I met the French-born filmmaker and photographer Christian Poveda was on 1 April of this year, when I interviewed him in an apartment he was renting in Mexico […]
I Think You’ll Find It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That
I’ve long been a fan of Ben Goldacre’s column Bad Science in The Guardian and his blog. It won’t surprise you to know that his use of rational thought and scientific evidence to dispel deliberate quackery and ill-thought out mumbo jumbo – take the MMR nonsense or homoeopathy – is rather popular in these quarters. […]
Azerbaijan: Video bloggers go on trial
Two months after they were arrested, detained video bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli finally went on trial in Azerbaijan. Most observers believe that the case against the two youth activists is politically motivated and an attempt to silence the two main founders of the OL! progressive youth movement and AN Network. Using new […]
Help to keep an independent newscast on the air!
FSRN’s major financial supporter — Pacifica Foundation — is in financial difficulty and late with their payments to FSRN. This, in addition to the $160k/year cut in FSRN’s funding from Pacifica in June 2008, leaves us without enough money to pay our staff and reporters from now through mid-October. Pacifica will have the funds to […]
Video: ‘I’ve never been afraid’: Director, recently slain, talks about filming El Salvador’s gangs
Photographer and filmmaker Christian Poveda was shot dead in El Salvador Sept. 2, 2009. He spent more than 16 months, every day, with the mara gangs of San Salvador to make the 2009 documentary “La Vida Loca.” This is footage from an interview conducted by the Los Angeles Times’ Deborah Bonello with Poveda a […]
Armenian political groups fume, but little visible opposition to Turkey protocols
As the international community applauds the presidents of Armenia and Turkey for making unprecedented progress in attempts to normalize relations, others are not so ecstatic. Indeed, while many consider the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders between the two estranged neighbours as crucial in establishing peace and stability in the region, opposition […]
Christian Poveda, “la Vida Loca” director, killed in El Salvador
Reports have surfaced that French photographer and director Christian Poveda has been shot and killed in El Salvador, possibly by the gangs that his recently released documentary "La Vida Loca (the Crazy Life)" focused on. Reuters reports: Suspected Salvadorean gang members killed French filmmaker Christian Poveda, whose 2008 film "La Vida Loca" crudely depicts the […]
‘Pirates’ and ‘Protectors’ on the Black Sea
Fuel-smugglers, embargo-busters, accusations of piracy and threats of armed retribution: the temperature off the Black Sea coast of Georgia seems to be heating up towards boiling point. When I was in the disputed Black Sea region of Abkhazia a couple of weeks ago, people were worried about possible gasoline shortages because Georgian coastguards had seized a […]
Michael Yon to end Afghanistan embeds and go it alone
Independent war reporter Michael Yon has not so much burnt his military embed bridges as completely obliterated them. He claims that the Ministry of Defence has been trying to have him removed from the area of Regional Command (South) and from Thursday he will be reporting unilaterally from Helmand province. Yon was annoyed that his […]
Armenia and Turkey set to establish diplomatic relations
Following media reports earlier today that Armenian President Serge Sargsyan had "chided Turkey" for not seriously seeking to unconditionally open the border between the two countries comes unexpected news. Within the last few hours at time of writing, reports from the BBC, Reuters, AP and others now say that "domestic discussion" in the estranged neighbouring countries […]
Summer and something of a seaside independence
Earlier in August I had the opportunity to film in Abkhazia with Matthew Collin – Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Georgia and fellow Frontline blogger. It’s now one year since Russia recognised Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. The first time I visited Abkhazia was in December 2006 to produce radio […]
After 40 Years of Dictatorship, Gabon Votes
Gabon is headed to the polls for the West African country’s first real election since the rise of Omar Bongo as president some four decades ago. Bongo died in June, as one of the world’s longest-serving heads of state, and now will be replaced. Gabon, a major oil producer and one of the wealthiest and […]
Rapping for freedom and democracy in Azerbaijan (updated)
ShirBand ft Slang. Qorxaga ver cesaret: The title means ‘show courage to coward(s). The chorus is saying that this imprisonment, enslavement won’t go on for much longer; ‘your protesting tongue, your words are golden; your arms that rise fearlessly in the Square are golden.’ Then it talks about how they’re selling bullshit to everyone, […]
Evidence vs Dogma in Darfur
After six years of violence, the war in Darfur is over, according to a man who should know. General Martin Luther Agwai was handed mission impossible two years ago – setting up the joint UN and AU peacekeeping job. In an interview with the BBC, as he prepares to step down as force commander, General […]
Social media and conflict resolution in the South Caucasus
In the 15 years since the May 1994 ceasefire agreement put the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh on hold, various peace proposals have faltered. But if Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, was forced to resign in 1998 by nationalist hardliners in his government opposed to a compromise settlement, […]
Michael Yon: Ministry of Defence gave me “zero warning”
In an email I received overnight, Michael Yon claims the Ministry of Defence "cut off" his embed with the British Army in Afghanistan with "zero warning and no chance for me to prepare." As I highlighted yesterday, Yon had been embedded with 2 Rifles for the last five weeks. The MoD denied that Yon’s embed […]
Kandahar Eyewitness Account – Felix Kuehn
It was perhaps twenty minutes after the call to prayer had sounded and we were breaking the fast, sitting on the floor around a plastic sheet with plates of rice and meat, when I was knocked sideways to the ground. It takes a split second till you realize what happened; the shock-wave had blown out […]
Felix in Kandahar – Eyewitness Account
Please see the previous blogpost for more on this story, but here is Felix Kuehn (my friend and colleague in Kandahar) on CBC Radio talking an hour or two after tonight’s bombing: Just press play on the Houndbite bar above. Felix will be updating his blog and reposting here tomorrow morning when he wakes […]
Kandahar City Bombing
I’m sitting in Dubai at the moment so can’t claim to be the man on the ground for tonight’s bombing in Kandahar City. That dubious honour goes to Felix Kuehn (@felixkuehn on Twitter and www.felixkuehn.com for his blog). I just spoke to him over the phone and he added some details to the mix: – […]
Swashbuckling Adventurers
This from a recent exam sat by City University journalism students: In popular legend dating from the Crimean War to the Vietnam War, foreign correspondents had a reputation as swashbuckling adventurers. What is the workaday reality for foreign correspondents today? In what ways have the job, and the typical profile of those doing it, changed? […]
If you thought it couldn’t get any worse…
If you thought it couldn’t get any worse in Armenia and Azerbaijan then think again. As if youth activsts being detained in both countries while a defamation case is prepared against an environmental campaigner in the former, the situation as it pertains to human rights continues to deteriorate. Now, ultra-nationalist groups, edged on by their […]
The mystery of Michael Yon’s “cancelled” embed
So what’s going on with Michael Yon’s embed with the British Army in Afghanistan? Michael Yon is an independent journalist who has been spending some time with 2 Rifles in Helmand filing dispatches for his website. After writing a post entitled ‘Bad Medicine‘ – a description of a British operation in Sangin, (neatly summarised at […]
Guest Post: Votes we can believe in (Felix Kuehn)
It’s the middle of summer down here in Kandahar, with temperatures peeking around 50 degree celsius by noon. In the run up to Afghanistan’s second presidential and provincial council elections foreign troops stepped up their efforts, launching multiple operations to prepare the ground for voters. British casualties passed the 200 mark, with friends from London […]
Child abuse allegations lead to action against activist
A scandal over allegations of physical, psychological and sexual abuse in a boarding school for children with special needs has led to new concerns that youth activists in the South Caucasus have now been targetted by governments in Armenia and Azerbaijan. At the beginning of July, opposition youth activist Tigran Arakelyan was arrested and placed […]
Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan still kidnapped one year on
One year ago today, freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan were kidnapped on the outskirts of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The duo are reportedly being held in poor conditions, are in bad health and there is no indication that a release date is any closer one year on. Their Somali colleagues were released […]
“Go tell the world about our fake election”
So it finally happened. The election that we’ve been waiting for and looking forward to at least since last winter took place today all over the country. I’ll refrain from writing anything about the rest of the country. There are plenty of places to get a good sense of what happened. Make sure to check […]
Junk Bonds
Interesting story in The Times yesterday, using the Big Mac as a new index of earning power. Tokyo workers have to spend only 12 minutes at their desks before they can buy a Big Mac for lunch, while their counterparts in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, have to work for more than two and a half […]
New motto of Azeri Government – there’s no such thing as bad publicity?
As the government in Baku continues to crack down on dissent, the least it is concerned with seems to be its reputation abroad.
Marina Silva to make the 2010 electoral dispute greener
The news that former Environment Minister Marina Silva has left the ruling party PT (Workers Party) yesterday have created great excitement in the national media. Marina is considering joining the Green Party to run for president. Her candidacy would mean at least a new and quite exciting element in the electoral dispute, set to be […]
Beards no longer a personal choice in Swat
wearing white Shalwar kameez and black shades over his eyes, sitting at reception area. “He has an appointment with you, he has come from Swat” my assistant informed me. I was confused; I had a meeting scheduled with Sarmad Behzaad, one of my dedicated news sources from the Swat region. “Send him in”, I asked […]
