Women’s refuge in Afghanistan

Patooni Muhanna, who works at a women’s shelter in Kabul, speaks about women’s rights since the fall of the Taliban. Patooni says that despite some positive changes, domestic violence and self-immolation are still concerns.

Follow news from the Afghan election here.

On the Afghan election trail

Soviet helicopters, pick-up truck racing, Kalashnikov-carrying security guards, banquet lunches.  Photographing Afghan presidential candidates as they traverse the country before the election on August 20, is campaign travel at its quirkiest.

Flying with Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah to a campaign rally in Samangan province.  Photo: Tyler Hicks

In Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan one week before the vote, the traveling press piled into the back of pick-up trucks following Abdullah Abdullah, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s main rival, from the airport to the Shrine of Hazrat Ali.

Photographing the Beijing Olympics

Lucy Nicholson presents a multimedia blog on Reuters’ coverage of the Beijing Olympics.

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was my nickname yesterday.

My Olympic opening ceremony endurance test began with an 8am call to be on the roof of the Bird’s Nest stadium for a meeting of photographers.

I began my first of three climbs through the maze of steep, narrow catwalks with IOC pool photographers from AP, Getty, AFP and Xinhua. On either side of the path were sheets of glass through which the colored lights of the stadium are projected.

from Changing China:

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was my nickname yesterday.

My Olympic opening ceremony endurance test began with an 8am call to be on the roof of the Bird's Nest stadium for a meeting of photographers. I began my first of three climbs through the maze of steep, narrow catwalks with IOC pool photographers from AP, Getty, AFP and Xinhua. On either side of the path were sheets of glass through which the colored lights of the stadium are projected.

We were told to wear fireproof suits, helmets and climbing harnesses over our clothes. The Chinese fireworks technicians on the roof had sensibly chosen to wear t-shirts and shorts.

It was 90-something degrees Fahrenheit and humid on the ground, but felt a lot hotter on the roof -- especially after lugging three camera bodies, five lenses, a bag of magic arms and 50 meters of remote cable up there.

The Super Bowl 2008 – a multimedia blog

  http://int1.fp.sandpiper.net/reuters/edi torial/images/20080220/LucyBlog.mov

  http://int1.fp.sandpiper.net/reuters/edi torial/images/20080220/LucyBlog.mov

Links: http://www.nfl.com/ http://www.giants.com/ http://http://www.patriots.com/ Composer of ‘dub’ media day music: Pierre Gerwig Langer

Notes from a wildfire

Photo: Lucy Nicholson.

4.30am and traffic is actually moving at the busiest freeway junction in the U.S.  If only I could drive everywhere at this time.

Photographer Mike Blake has been up all night waiting to hear whether he will have to evacuate from his San Diego home with his wife and son.  Luckily the wind has changed direction and the expected firestorm didn’t make its way to the coast.

Through the hoops

Los Angeles Senior Photographer Lucy Nicholson reports back from the 2007 NBA Finals

Growing up in England with 4 tv channels, I didn’t get to watch much basketball.

The first game I ever saw was during the 2001 NBA Finals when I worked as a runner for Agence France-Presse in Los Angeles, taking disks from the photographers and keeping the editors happy with beer.

Allen Iverson was darting all over the court for the Philadelphia 76ers.  I was mesmerized by his energy and acrobatics and quickly became hooked on the game.  With its breakneck pace and emphasis on rhythm over rules, it was instantly more attractive to me than reading through ‘The Complete Idiots Guide to Baseball’ and ‘American Football for Dummies.’