In Myanmar’s curious capital, quiet before Clinton
NAYPYITAW (Reuters) – Myanmar’s new capital, Naypyitaw, translates as “Abode of Kings,” fitting for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to begin historic talks that could restore some lustre to one of the world’s most reclusive states.
But just hours before her arrival on Wednesday to become the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years, there were no obvious signs of preparations — no crowds, no festivities, no flags — aside from policemen outside the hotel compound where she will stay.
In Myanmar’s curious capital, quiet before Clinton visit
NAYPYITAW (Reuters) – Myanmar’s capital with its forbidding stone walls translates as “Abode of Kings,” a fitting setting perhaps for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to begin historic talks that could restore some luster to one of the world’s most reclusive states.
But just hours before she was to become the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years, there were no obvious signs of preparations in Naypyitaw on Wednesday for her arrival, aside from some policemen outside the hotel compound where she will stay.
Eyes from behind the mirror
By Damir Sagolj
The opinions expressed are his own
Eyes from behind the mirror: a rare glimpse into the forbidden as crisis grips North Korea
I walked through the mirror to see what I’ve seen before – hunger and poverty, sad eyes of those in need and politics that promise no changes for the better any time soon.
Witness: My weekend at The Hague Hilton
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The road for former Yugoslavia’s war criminals ends here, at “The Hague Hilton.”
In this section of the international war crimes detention center in Scheveningen, 40 or so accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia live in remarkable harmony and comfort awaiting trial or sentencing.
My weekend at the “Hague Hilton”
By Damir Sagolj
I have followed their bloody trail for 20 years now.
As a Bosnian and as a photojournalist, I have tracked them through the ruins of Sarajevo — the target of concealed snipers and heavy artillery from the hills — to the mass graves of eastern Bosnia and the villages that were ethnically cleansed and destroyed forever, past houses, now owner-less, that nobody will rebuild and churches, barren of worshipers.
I visited every single corner of the Balkans’ “vukojebina” — literally, where wolves f** — a term that perfectly captures these remote, forgotten places, far from civilization. Always too late to be a victim, but early enough to see and feel. I followed war crimes with the passion of a journalist and the guilt of a survivor.
Srebrenica: The story that will never end
I’ve been to more than one hundred mass graves, mass funerals and witnessed the long, exhaustive process of victim identification. I took pictures of bones found in caves and rivers, taken from mud, recovered from woods and mines or just left by the road.
Most of these terrible assignments were around the small, used to be forgotten at-the-end-of-the-road town called Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia.
Inches from death, Japan tsunami survivor tells her harrowing tale
RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (Reuters) – When the massive earthquake struck northern Japan on March 11 and triggered a tsunami alarm in her Pacific Coast fishing port, civil servant Takako Suzuki knew exactly where to shelter.
At least, she thought she did.
Suzuki, 40, followed instructions broadcast on loud speakers and headed up to the third floor of the civic centre that her city of Rikuzentakata had designated as a tsunami evacuation point.
Japan tsunami survivor tells her harrowing tale
RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (Reuters) – When the massive earthquake struck northern Japan on March 11 and triggered a tsunami alarm in her Pacific Coast fishing port, civil servant Takako Suzuki knew exactly where to shelter.
At least, she thought she did.
Suzuki, 40, followed instructions broadcast on loud speakers and headed up to the third floor of the civic center that her city of Rikuzentakata had designated as a tsunami evacuation point.
Just inches from death. Japan tsunami survivor tells her harrowing tale
RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan, April 3 (Reuters) – When the massive
earthquake struck northern Japan on March 11 and triggered a
tsunami alarm in her Pacific Coast fishing port, civil servant
Takako Suzuki knew exactly where to shelter.
At least, she thought she did.
Suzuki, 40, followed instructions broadcast on loud speakers
and headed up to the third floor of the civic centre that her
city of Rikuzentakata had designated as a tsunami evacuation
point.
Catching gold fever
For the past 15 years Boonchu Tiengtan has been digging for gold in Panompa, a small village in Thailand’s Phichit province. His bare hands, a hammer and a shovel are his only tools.
Boonchy’s spouse sits in the shade of netting and patiently breaks rock into small stones with her little mallet. They seem to be a happy couple, laughing and joking when talking about what they do. We call it a hard job and primitive gold digging; they call it the only life they know.
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