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After a decade and a half, it's fair to say that Al Jazeera—the news channel owned by the tiny Gulf state of Qatar—has "arrived" into the mainstream. Millions of dollars of investment and hundreds of journalists' hard work have earned the broadcaster—which has Arabic and English channels—a credibility that few other state-owned media since the BBC can claim. But the Arab Spring has been a big test for the channel, which some viewers have accused of covering the uprisings with a bias that gleans of Qatari foreign policy. I have a recent piece out on just how and why the critiques of Al Jazeera have grown: Since the Arab Spring, Al Jazeera’s previous success has been amplified and the Qatari government has started playing a bigger part in regional policy.
How Al Jazeera English Came of Age
Morsi’s Win is Al Jazeera’s Loss
“Mohammed Morsi reminds Egyptians of President Gamal Abdul Nasser.” Thus proclaimed Al Jazeera Arabic’s Cairo bureau chief Abdel Fattah Fayed shortly before the new president was due to take oath, apparently in reference to his down-to-earth behavior. Not only was this statement incorrect, it would ironically be offensive to Mohammed Morsi himself, who only a day before deplored the Nasser era using Koranic language .
It's not a great time, PR-wise, for the global cruise industry. It would be bad enough with all the attention surrounding the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and James Cameron's 3-D release of his blockbuster movie. But contemporary cruise disasters have been in the news with disturbing regularity as well. In the latest incident, on March 30, a fire broke out on the luxury cruise ship Azamara Quest, forcing it to make an emergency stop at a Malaysian port.
Treacherous Waters - By Ross A. Klein
The movie Movie still © 2011 the Weinstein Co. All rights reserved.
Bully documentary: Lee Hirsch’s film dangerously oversimplifies the connection between bullying and suicide
Hackers Steal More Than 10 Million MasterCard and Visa Numbers
Just days after retiring FBI executive assistant Shawn Henry warned that U.S. businesses and law enforcement are vastly overmatched by cyber criminals , more than 10 million MasterCard and Visa card numbers have been reportedly stolen in a “massive” data theft. The two companies late last week began warning banks that specific cards may have been compromised in January and February, yielding information that could be used to counterfeit new cards, Brian Krebs reported Friday on his security news blog. Neither Visa nor MasterCard’s systems themselves were breached, according to Krebs, who added that the information was stolen from an as-yet-unidentified U.S.
Just under a week ago, a 29-year-old woman was banned by a UK court from having sex. Anyone caught having sexual contact with her, consenting or otherwise, could face charges of sexual assault or rape. The woman, known only as H, became subject to the ruling by the Court of Protection on the grounds that her autism, ‘mild learning difficulties’ and low IQ meant she was incapable of consenting to sexual activity.
A perverted ruling that degrades us all | Luke Samuel
Cops And The Press
NYPD officers clear Zuccotti Park, the home to the Occupy Wall Street movement on Nov. 15, 2011. Photo by David Shankbone via Flickr Under the cover of early-morning darkness, an army of New York police officers, over 1,000 strong, moved into Zuccotti Park on November 15, 2011 to clear out Occupy Wall Street protesters.
General News 2011
9th Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith, who wrote the dissent in the court's Prop 8 ruling Courtesy of Idaho State University. One of the most remarked-upon aspects of the first round of Prop 8 litigation, that concluded this week with a 2-1 defeat for the initiative at the 9 th Circuit Court of Appeals, was the weakness of the case against gay marriage. As Andrew Cohen explained at the time , at every turn Judge Vaughn Walker, who presided over the trial, expressed frustration at the fact that the opponents of gay marriage either had no case or couldn’t be bothered to make one.
Why the Proponents of a Gay Marriage Ban Will Soon Be Speechless
Rémi Ochlik, the French photojournalist who took the photo above, was killed on Feb. 22, 2012, by Syrian government shelling in the opposition stronghold city of Homs. Ochlik, who was 28 years old, had already distinguished himself as one of the best conflict photographers of his generation, winning a 2012 World Press Photo prize for his work in Libya. Above, an opposition fighter on the frontlines outside of Ras Lanouf, Libya, on March 11, 2011, in one of Ochlik's prize-winning photos.
Remembering Rémi Ochlik - An FP Slide Show
Ten years ago, the International Labor Organization (ILO) established June 12 as World Day Against Child Labor. The ILO, an agency of the United Nations, says on its website: "Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education, health, leisure and basic freedoms, violating their rights." The World Day Against Child Labor was launched as a way to highlight the plight of these children and support governments and social organizations in their campaigns against child labor. [ 37 photos ] Use j/k keys or ←/→ to navigate Choose: The rough hands of an Afghan child, at the Sadat Ltd.
In Focus - World Day Against Child Labor
The "failed state" label may conjure up undifferentiated images of poverty and squalor, but a range of troubles plague the 60 countries atop this year’s Failed States Index -- an annual collaboration between Foreign Policy and the Fund For Peace that assesses 177 countries. (Scores are assigned out of a possible 120 points, with higher numbers indicating poorer performance.) Yes, inadequate health care, paltry infrastructure, and basic hunger are the most fundamental culprits, but sometimes it is a ruthless dictator, ethnic tension, or political corruption that is most to blame.
Postcards From Hell, 2012 - An FP Photo Essay
Debating the Failed States Index - An FP Roundtable
To see the 2012 Failed States Index, click here . By Nadeem Hotiana To paraphrase Mark Twain, the news of Pakistan's failure has been greatly exaggerated. We take exception to Pakistan's placement on the Failed States Index published in Foreign Policy magazine.BRUSSELS — In a briefing delivered at NATO headquarters on Jan. 30, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared that "NATO is the most successful alliance in history." Rasmussen and his colleagues are hoping that success lies not only in the past but in the future, too. While 2011 was NATO's busiest year ever for military operations -- with ongoing stabilization missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo and a surprise seven-month air campaign over Libya -- the alliance still struggles to define a convincing organizing principle that will be relevant in the future, a problem it has struggled with since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
This Week at War: What Is NATO Good For? - By Robert Haddick
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