Lady Gaga: Threat to Kids?

Published on May 11, 2012 by Luke Hunt

The self-appointed culture police are at it again. Indonesia’s hard-line Muslims are promising to block American singer Lady Gaga from taking to the stage during a scheduled June 3 performance in Jakarta. Among their many complaints are that the pop diva is a danger to children.In threatening to mobilize 30,000 people, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) also described the hottest artist in contemporary music as vulgar, very dangerous and argued that her sense of dress were threatening to a child’s sense of morality. Read more in The Diplomat from Luke Hunt..

The Call to Poetry

Published on Apr 4, 2012 by Luke Hunt

The recent explosion of Istanbul’s arts scene has put Turkey’s largest metropolis firmly on the cultural compass and poets across the world are hearing the call. In this spirit, American poet Dan Boylan and New Zealand poet Fred Simpson have gathered for a one-night celebration honoring the world’s oldest love poem, which currently has its home in the city’s archaeological museum. Read more about Dan Boylan..

Reach Sambath: 1964-2011

Published on May 16, 2011 by Luke Hunt

As a war correspondent, Reach Sambath was among the bravest. Luke Hunt writes.Throughout the 1990s, Reach Sambath earned his stripes as the journalist ‘who got on the chopper first’ when Cambodia’s warring factions went into battle. Later on, he emerged alongside his most affable compatriots as his country began stitching together a peace. Sambath, sadly, passed away Wednesday after a massive stroke. He was 47 (we think).When I began as bureau chief for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Cambodia on July 1, 2001, Sambath’s exploits had already lent him an air of superiority. With his great friend Ker Munthit at Associated Press, the pair had formed the formidable local backbone of the international press corps in Cambodia. They survived the Khmer....

Semporna Boat Festival

Published on Apr 24, 2010 by Luke Hunt

SEMPORNA, Malaysia — Each year in Semporna on the east coast of Borneo the Bajau people hold their boat annual boat festival. The festival is colourful and the people use this to highlight their maritime skills. The government also used the 2010 festival to highlight their military skills.The show of force was meant to intimidate locals who have extensive connections with local prates and members of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyha terrorist outfit in Indonesia and the Southern Philippines..

Peter Mackler: 1949-2008

Published on Jun 22, 2008 by Luke Hunt

Tough Love & Cold Cans Of BeerFrom Luke HuntThe glint in Peter Mackler’s eye when he had his hands on a story destined for the front pages of the world’s newspapers was as marvelous as it was memorable.His bearded smile had all the cheek and gusto of a man in his prime, as he struggled to contain himself, for just a few minutes, long enough to hammer out the words faster than the competition.In Iraq during the 2003 invasion, he was in his element pretty much every day.For an outsider the race to cover firefights, massacres and the everyday bloodshed of Iraq might sound macabre.But what stood out amid the mayhem, absurdities and the sheer nastiness of conflict was Peter’s....