PROFILE
FROM Nicholas Kristof
Nicholas Kristof on Myanmar's Persecuted Minority The country of Myanmar enjoys a fledgling democracy but is forcing its Muslim minority to languish in concentration camps. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof joins us in the studio to share his reporting on the persecution of the Rohingya. Photo: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
What Can the World Do for South Sudan? Four years ago, President Obama celebrated South Sudan as the world's newest nation. Today, at a meeting of the African Union, he was urging its East African neighbors to help stop that country's devastating civil war. President Obama addresses the African Union at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 28, 2015 Photo courtesy of African Union Recently, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof was in South Sudan. He joins us to discusses the human cost of the conflict.
Nicholas Kristof on the Dilapidated State of Our Public Lands The western writer Wallace Stegner called America's National Parks the nation's "best idea." But facilities in both the Parks and the National Forests are being allowed to decline. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and cherry farm in Oregon. This summer, he went home in a way, with his 15-year-old daughter to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs south from the Canadian border to Mexico. That led to a column on the current status of America's wilderness preserves.
Peaceful Protests Turn Violent in Egypt After nine days of peaceful protest in Cairo, Tahrir Square erupted in violence today, just hours after President Hosni Mubarak said he would not run for re-election. At 2 in the afternoon, pro-Mubarak forces attacked anti-government demonstrators in Tahrir Square. We hear about the developing scene in Egypt and about repercussions in other Middle Eastern countries. (Listen to today's full To the Point discussion about the situation in Egypt.)
Peaceful Protests Turn Violent in Egypt After President Mubarak declared he would not run for-re-election last night, President Obama went on TV with his assessment of the ongoing protests in Egypt. At today's White House briefing , press secretary Robert Gibbs would not elaborate on whether the President was calling on Mubarak to step down immediately, rather than serving out his term, which ends in September. Meanwhile, after nine days of peaceful protest, Tahrir Square erupted in violence today as Mubarak loyalists arrived on the scene. Men on horses and camels beat anti-government protesters. Thugs attacked reporters and TV crews. As darkness descended, Molotov cocktails started fires in crowds of men, women and children, and there was the sound of gunfire. But, despite the presence of tanks and armored personnel carriers, there was no indication that the military was trying to restore order. It's now evening in Cairo. We hear from reporters and others about the developing scene, see how the Obama Administration is reacting, and talk to observers about repercussions in other Middle Eastern countries.
Unrest in Egypt: Should the US Take Sides? The Obama Administration appears to be distancing itself from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, after 30 years of support in the name of "regional stability." Protesters want much more. Tomorrow, they hope to raise more than a million people to demand that Mubarak step down. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof once lived in Cairo and he's back there now, talking to demonstrators and checking out his old neighborhood. We update the crisis with Kristof and others, and learn what the US can do now to stay on "the right side of history."
Unrest in Egypt: Should the US Take Sides? Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has reorganized his government, but protest leaders plan a "million man march" tomorrow to demand that he step down. Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on several weekend news programs to talk about the Obama Administration's evolving position on the crisis. Protestors denounce the Administration's call for "an orderly transfer of power" as "hypocrisy." But would pushing Mubarak out provide a path for democracy or an opportunity for some new form of tyranny, perhaps one like that of Iran? In the meantime, will Mubarak order the riot police and the Army to crack down? After supporting an increasingly unpopular despot for 30 years, what can the US do now to stay on "the right side of history?"
Darfur, War Crimes and a Truth Commission In Sudan, hundreds of thousands of people have died in political violence. UN and African Union peace-keepers have not been effective. Now the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court plans to file charges of genocide and crimes against humanity and seek an arrest warrant for the President of Sudan. Luís Moreno-Ocampo plans a news conference next week to explain his charges against Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Sudan's Ambassador to the UN says "Ocampo is playing with fire." New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff has written many times about Darfur.
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