Report: ‘Deep and disturbing decline in media freedoms’ … including in the USA and Europe

Report: ‘Deep and disturbing decline in media freedoms’ … including in the USA and Europe

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Governments throughout the world seem increasingly nervous if not paranoid over a free press and media, according to a searingly poignant survey by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The annual survey of the global media in 180 countries, the French-based monitor report underscores a gradual deterioration […]

A filmmaker’s stealth coup: Zooming in on North Korean mind control

A filmmaker’s stealth coup: Zooming in on North Korean mind control

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com Russian documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky has managed to bamboozle his North Korean hosts in a confidence game that’s one of the greater journalistic coups ever scored against the regime. Mansky, having given the North Koreans the clear impression that he wanted to collaborate fully with them, totally deceived […]

Presidential primary circus does New York

Presidential primary circus does New York

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler NEW YORK CITY — The seemingly never ending presidential primary circus came through New York with the predictable partisan name calling and puerile political promises. For much of the campaign the political charges and arguments resembled peeved sandbox kicking kindergarten kids more than serious adults running for the […]

By ‘invitation’ only: North Korea’s blunt force approach to foreign language education

By ‘invitation’ only: North Korea’s blunt force approach to foreign language education

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com North Koreans some years ago had an unusual way of acquiring professional expertise in teaching people foreign languages. Rather than advertise for teachers, they kidnapped native speakers. Most of them were Japanese, but they also captured likely candidates from Europe and the Middle East. Robert Boynton, a professor […]

Hillary’s e-mails: What is obvious, but not openly discussed

Hillary’s e-mails: What is obvious, but not openly discussed

Special to WorldTribune.com By Sol W. Sanders Not a lot that is being said by the talking heads makes sense in the case of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails. First of all, everything would tell us that any domestic or foreign political figure would be interested in the very fact that a specific subject had reached the […]

Modern slavery: Silent scourge that reduces humans to commodities is a $150 billion business

Modern slavery: Silent scourge that reduces humans to commodities is a $150 billion business

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Calling for an end to “human trafficking and other forms of human slavery,” British Cardinal Vincent Nichols presented a stunning testimony against the “resurgence of slavery” where up to 21 million people are affected by the scourge. As Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Nichols has led […]

The Trump theat: Patriotic nationalist terrifies a corrupt globalist establishment

The Trump theat: Patriotic nationalist terrifies a corrupt globalist establishment

Special to WorldTribune.com Jeffrey T. Kuhner The Boston Globe just hit a new low. Its recent fake front page allegedly demonstrating the violence, riots and chaos a Donald Trump presidency would unleash is more than gutter journalism. It is pure hysteria and fear mongering. The phony Globe front page in the Editorial section published multiple […]

Do North Korean propaganda writers really want to channel Abraham Lincoln

Do North Korean propaganda writers really want to channel Abraham Lincoln

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com WASHINGTON – Credit someone in North Korea with a sense of historical irony. Who would have thought anyone up there would have dreamed of writing an imaginary letter from Abraham Lincoln to President Obama berating him for endorsing harsh UN sanctions and failing to halt the U.S. nuclear […]

China closely watching as Burma evolves from a socialist winter

China closely watching as Burma evolves from a socialist winter

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — A new dawn has come to Burma. At long last the political pariah state, also known as Myanmar, has ushered in a new civilian government in which Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has a strong if not formal hand at the democratic […]

Pop quiz: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Yes or no?

Pop quiz: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Yes or no?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com WASHINGTON ― Here’s a question people here keep asking: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Forget about the missile shots. They’ve all landed in the sea and harmed no one. What about the nuclear tests? They dislocated some rocks deep underground but were otherwise harmless. So what does […]