In The News

March 28, 2013
Skype, WhatsApp and Viber offer an array of free messaging and telephone calls. All are cross-platform internet services with widely popular free plans that reach out to numerous nations. Demanding the right to monitor the applications, the government has given the three companies a week to respond. Reports have emerged that the telecommunications regulator may block the services and may have...
Justin Ellis March 22, 2013
The drug wars in Mexico have targeted traditional journalists and blocked investigations. But a research study is showing that Twitter users “are spreading the word on shootings, arrests, and clashes between the cartels and police,” reports Justin Ellis for Neiman Journalism Lab. “And, researchers say, they’ve developed a kind of media-esque ecosystem that values traits like sourcing and...
Karen Elliott House March 15, 2013
Saudi Arabia has a diverse arsenal for squashing dissent against the repressive regime, ranging from bribes and government jobs to harassment and long jail sentences. Two moderate activists received 10-year prison sentences for supporting a constitutional monarchy and human rights, reports author Karen Elliott House in an opinion essay for the Washington Post. The Arab Spring has spurred activism...
Gabriel Weimann December 21, 2012
Two Florida brothers, naturalized US citizens, were arrested in November for trying to obtain explosives and carry out an attack in New York City. Prosecutors allege the men had read Inspire, a magazine in English said to be published by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for encouraging terrorism and random attacks in Europe and the US. Lone wolf terrorism – typically young adult men who plan a...
John Morrison November 12, 2012
President Barack Obama will be the first US president to visit Burma, nestled between India and China, since renamed by its government as Myanmar, as well as Cambodia. The tour includes his attendance at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with also a stop in Thailand. The trip emphasizes Burma’s steps toward democracy and improved relations even as the country struggles with sectarian...
Mary Kay Magistad October 29, 2012
Every decade, China’s Communist Party undergoes a leadership transition. The Brookings Institution estimates that about 70 percent of the members of three leading institutions - the Politburo Standing Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission – will be replaced, marking the largest shift in power in three decades. Party power in recent years is increasingly linked with...
Mary Kay Magistad August 9, 2012
Weibo, China’s microblog that’s celebrating its third anniversary this month, offers a national platform for ordinary citizens to hold the powerful to account. In an instant, an ordinary citizen can launch a public debate or shame government and corporate officials by posting photos, videos, comments and messages. Weibo has some 350 million users, and China's leaders are torn between...