By Jane Macartney Emerging from the midnight darkness enveloping Beijing’s main street, a People’s Liberation Army soldier pointed his AK-47 at two young men who were crouched by the roadside to watch massed troops marching on Tiananmen Square. He shouted at them to...
Millions of children in Afghanistan work full or part time. After Kabul’s public transit system collapsed, a new form of work emerged: street shouting. A “little shouter” in Kabul, Afghanistan (Photo by Atiq Rahimi) Children all over Afghanistan work, and this...
It’s been 30 years since China’s army crushed protests in Tiananmen Square. Can Beijing come to terms with its past without remembering? A man tries to pull a Chinese soldier away from his comrades as citizens confront troops heading to Tiananmen Square,...
The South China Sea has become one of the world’s most dangerous flash points. So far, the dispute has not resulted in military conflict. But it could. A globe showing islands in the South China Sea with China’s nine-dash line, Singapore, 13 July 2018 (AP...
The war in Afghanistan is the longest military conflict in U.S. history. It has failed. The key to peace is diplomacy and the quiet work of diplomats. U.S. and Taliban negotiators at peace talks brokered by Qatar, in Doha, 25 February 2019 (Qatar Ministry of Foreign...
Female genital mutilation persists in many countries. While efforts to curb the rite are progressing worldwide, the practice has gained ground in the U.S. A six-year-old girl screams in pain while being cut in Somalia, 17 June 1996 (AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju) The...
After extremists killed hundreds in Easter suicide bombings, Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim population now has to worry about retaliatory attacks. A Sri Lankan Muslim waits to pray in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 29 April 2019 (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) It used to be that Sri...
Mocked and belittled as an Asian-American, I was desperate to fit in with my peers. With time and age, I have learned to straddle the two cultures. Workers make mooncakes, Taipei, Taiwan, 17 September, 2004 (AP Photo/Wally Santana) One morning I boarded the bus to go...
By Jonathan Thatcher After the world’s largest ever democratic election in a single day last week, Indonesia’s 20-year-old democracy is looking reassuringly predictable. There was even an indignant post-election sulk by the losing candidate, who claimed, as he did...
Thailand holds the world record for military coups. Landmark elections in March seems sure to yield yet more instability in the Southeast Asian nation. A Thai woman casts her vote during the general election on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, 24 March 2019...