Starving civilians as a weapon of warfare is prohibited under UN Security Council Resolution 2417, and is recognised as a war crime.
So, what is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who does just that?
And what are the governments who sell him weapons?… Read the rest
Normally, stories about corporate greed prompt me, and I suspect many other readers, to merely shrug and mumble: “So what else is new?”
But a report on CEOs getting 29 percent pay hikes in the time of Covid brought to mind a piece of sage advice I was offered many years ago, in the warehouse area of old Montreal where Leonard Cohen’s haunting “Suzanne” is set.… Read the rest
Military history is littered with examples of out-numbered and out-gunned, rag-tag forces outlasting well-trained, weapons-rich enemies.
Afghanistan is but the latest.… Read the rest
The most often quoted definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
So what’s the definition of “doing VARIATIONS of the same thing over and over…etc…” ?
Answer: “Israel versus Hamas”.… Read the rest
Confucius once wrote: “If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant…Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.”
Putting a 2,500-year-old Chinese sage and a television news legend in the same headline might seem like incongruous overload.… Read the rest
In a war zone, what you don’t understand is potentially as dangerous as bullets, bombs and shrapnel.
Body armour, common sense and luck will help keep you safe from the latter. But the only protection from the perils of ignorance or misreading of local culture is a smart, loyal interpreter.… Read the rest
… Read the restAmong the many privileges of being a roving foreign correspondent is encountering stark, and sometimes edifying contradictions in the midst of chaos. Over time, they help build a prism through which to view today’s world.
Since 1973, I’ve reported on wars, civil upheavals, famines, natural disasters, and uncountable non-hazardous news events in nearly 100 countries on six continents.