Muhammad Ayish Ever since the advent of satellite television and the world wide web, Arab media outlets have always found themselves embroiled in national and global controversies. But in the past few weeks in particular, tensions within many private media organisations have reached record levels in the face of what they see as ominous regional and global regulatory regimes. What is so intriguing is that those pressures come not only from within the region, but from places as far away as the US Capitol. A recent bill passed by the US Congress imposes sanctions on Middle East satellite companies that … Continue reading Attempts to control regional media will fuel radicalisation

By Donald Kirk SEOUL – Score one for the great North Korean propaganda machine. American missionary Robert Park walked across the frozen Tumen River from China into North Korea on Christmas Eve bringing “Christ’s love and forgiveness” to Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, and now he is to go home thankful for the “love” he got from the North Koreans. The saga of the 28-year-old Korean-American missionary, the son of Korean parents living in Tucson, Arizona, is the latest surprise in the stop-go signals emanating from North Korea as the country undergoes the trauma of revulsion against currency reform and a … Continue reading Desperation fuels North Korea’s leniency

By Axel Berkofsky Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has given his government a deadline of May to decide whether or not Tokyo will stick to a Japan-United States agreement from 2006 on the relocation of US troops in Japan. The 2006 accord foresees the relocation of the US Marine Corps air station Futenma from the residential area of Ginowan, located in the southern densely populated part of Okinawa, to Henoko, a less densely populated area on the northern part of the island. As part of the agreement, signed after 13 years of cumbersome and controversial negotiations, Washington agreed to reduce … Continue reading Okinawa call to shape new US-Japan era

By Dhruba Adhikary KATHMANDU – Nothing illustrates the deep divide that Nepal must cross to achieve lasting peace than the two armies that stand ready to stare at each other down the barrels of their guns. In what could be considered an unfortunate calendar clash, this year the national Nepal Army’s annual day falls on February 12, while the Maoists it fought for a decade commemorate the 1996 launch of their “People’s War” one day later. While the Maoists’ date is fixed at February 13, the Nepal Army’s traditional event takes place on the day the festival of Shivaraatri is … Continue reading Nepal Army tries to march in step

30-second warnings By Robert Lipsyte In 1987, an evangelical Christian missionary in the Philippines, Pam Tebow, sick, pregnant, and near term, ignored her doctors’ advice to abort her fifth child. How could they know he would grow up to win a Heisman Trophy – the highest individual award in American college football – and lead the University of Florida to two national American football titles? Twenty-three years later, before he even turned professional, Tim Tebow made himself the player to beat in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV by starring in a 30-second commercial for Focus on the Family, a Christian group … Continue reading The Rise of Christian Mullahism in the US goes unchecked