By pure coincidence, two new senior executives of the London-based BBC World Service and the Washington-based Voice of America and four other U.S. overseas networks were named on May 4 and 5. Together, those networks reach more than two-thirds of a billion users a week — the largest ever in both the BBC’s and the…
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, an international accord agreed to by Britain and the Peoples Republic of China guaranteed a unique status for Hong Kong. A British Crown Colony for 156 years, Hong Kong was formally re-established in 1997 as part of the PRC while retaining its status as a key free trade…
The New York Times edition of Sunday, May 24 was an eye-catching tribute to nearly 100,000 American fatalities of the coronavirus pandemic. The entire front page of that unprecedented issue of the Times consisted of victims’ names in small type, top to bottom. Page 1’s listing of six columns continued for 10 columns more on…
Mohammed Ghuneim, former director of the VOA Arabic Service and frontline Middle East correspondent during the last half of the 20th century, died May 16 in West Palm Beach, Florida. He had just celebrated his 90th birthday last December. A funeral service and burial were held on May 18 in West Palm Beach. Born in…
With millions in residential confinement globally, it’s tempting to turn to past generations for a sample of wisdom from sagas of old as we deal with covid-19, and hopes for an easing of the crisis: “Do not expect to make headway with a frail sail width.” —the Eyrbyggja Saga, Chapter 20 “Nothing ventured, nothing…
An unforgettable image: hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians, holding hands in a 650-kilometer chain with their Baltic neighbors — the Baltic Way, a peaceful protest against Soviet occupation in August of 1989, was the backdrop of a year long campaign carried out by the public affairs section at Embassy Vilnius to build resilience and bolster…
As the pandemic enters its sixth month, it has cost nearly 240 thousand lives — by far an unprecedented death toll in the 21st century. The battle to tame the deadly disease seems far from over, even as western countries are easing home confinements, and some businesses are re-opening. Coronavirus cases now exceed 3.3 million…
Over the last weekend in April, the worldwide total of new COVID-19 cases declined over a three day period for the first time in weeks. The total death toll, however, was close to reaching 3,000,000 around the globe. Unprecedented efforts by medical doctors and nurses and those heeding stay-at-home restrictions appear to have slowed the…
My esteemed colleague and friend Gene Pell was well known in his primary profession, international broadcasting, to a world often denied high quality, objective news and information. Gene died on April 7 after a three-year battle with cancer at his home near Syria, Virginia. He was 83. Gene is the only leader to have occupied…
The Voice of America is the nation’s largest publicly-funded international broadcaster, reaching 280,000,000 multimedia users in 47 languages each week, many of whom access it daily for honest, balanced and accurate world news. To most senior VOA officials, past and present, including this writer, an unsigned White House blog on April 9, 1600 Daily, omitted…