Monthly archive : "March, 2018"

AFP Photo Kourosh Ziabari - Medium: Four people stormed the Iranian Embassy in London on Friday, 9th March and took down the Islamic Republic’s flag to give the Iranian government authorities ammunition for the escalation of tensions with the UK at a time the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is hindering the smooth and unhindered progress of bilateral relations. The attackers were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police “on suspicion of causing criminal damage and being unlawfully on diplomatic premises”. The attack was intrinsically condemned by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, and some hardliners in Tehran suggested that there is a case of negligence against the UK Police. No evidence to back up this allegation has been...

Kourosh Ziabari - openDemocracy: Nowruz has always been a very special occasion for me; a time of year when my heart beats faster than usual, when I'm more inclined to see everything through more romantic eyes. It is a time when I think about the importance of nature and why it should be preserved at the dawn of spring, while food packaging companies, nuclear power plants, oil tankers and coal mines don't agree with me; why families entrap themselves in unnecessary clashes and skirmishes throughout the year to finally use Nowruz as an opportunity for reconciliation. Nowruz, for me is an opportunity to contemplate, to ask unanswered questions and sometimes create some of my best works of journalism and writing. It is also a chance to...

Courtesy of Laura Garcia Rodriguez Blancas. Taylor Mulcahey | February 28, 2018 Each month, IJNet features an international journalist who exemplifies the profession and has used the site to further his or her career. If you would like to be featured, click here. Kourosh Ziabari grew up in the newsroom of a small, weekly magazine — Hatef — which was one of the first local magazines established in northern Iran following the 1979 revolution. His father currently works as the managing editor, and his mother is the editor-in-chief. It was in this magazine that Ziabari published his first piece when he was just 8 years old. “It opened my eyes to a world full of papers, magazines, books and stationery, and I realized...

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: A Canterbury Tale is arguably a typical example of 20th century British cinema. The 1944 film co-directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger tells the story of three young people who are in search of their destiny on separate journeys. Their paths cross in a small Kent town on the road to Canterbury. They include a British Army Sergeant called Peter Gibbs, a US Army Sergeant named Bob Johnson and a Land Girl, Miss Alison Smith. Inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s collection of stories The Canterbury Tales, the film revolves around the theme of pilgrimage, promoting Anglo-American wartime friendship and collaboration. The coming May marks the 73rd anniversary of the screening of the...

Kourosh Ziabari - Centre For Journalim: Latvia is an independent republic in the Baltic region, bordered by Estonia, Lithuania, Russia and Belarus. It became a member of the European Union in 2004 and signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007. Its capital Riga was named the European Capital of Culture in 2014 and the recent UN Human Rights Development Index categorises it as one of the countries with a "very high human development" score. Surpassing Argentina, Croatia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Russia, Romania and Kuwait, it's the world's 44th country in the list. The Baltic state was ruled by the Soviets for centuries (1710-1918) and World War I and World War II became motives for Latvia to fight for independence and a better international...

I must remember Not to say something that ruffles any feathers Not to give any look that shakes any heart Not to take a route, which is a detour Not to write a line, which causes offence I must remember that The days and daytime are all happy Everything is okay and fine It’s only my heart, which is not actually a heart Parviz Parastui (Photo: Cineplex.com / the man whose front view is not visible) 1- the terrible world we live in is full of irregularities. What’s the point in me complaining about them all the time when I can’t change anything, when I simply fail to correct myself, and I’m full of errors? I stopped complaining long ago, as quickly as I realised that the world is too hectic, too strange and too...

I've done my compulsory military service (conscription) in the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, acronymed NEDAJA. In an internationally-recognised military force, you learn certain values, including how to respect the commander, and how to follow his advice word by word, which occasionally turn out to be crude and uncompromising, but at the same time in your best interests. In the recent days, I've been asked many questions by many people, including some Tehran-based "journalist"s, on what I think about the imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian national who was detained in Iran in April 2016. In September 2016, she was sentenced by Iran's judiciary to five years imprisonment for plotting to overthrow the...

"China's Media Go Global" is the latest book by the University of Westminster's Daya Thussu, which has just been published and is out now. Co-edited with Professor Hugo De Burgh and Professor Anbin Shi of Tsinghua University, the collection "brings together distinguished scholars from China and those with deep interest and knowledge of the country, to examine how the emergence of Chinese media will impact on global media and communication." The book is published by the Routledge. Daya Thussu is a Professor of International Communication and Co-Director of the India Media Centre based at the University of Westminster. His previous publications include the 2015 book "Mapping BRICS Media" and the 2013 book "Communicating India's...

It's the International Women's Day (#IWD2018). It's an important occasion, recognised by the United Nations and gives all those who enshrine this occasion or celebrate it some reasons to think of certain dynamics. There are many brilliant women across the world who are working hard to overcome certain difficulties to make their societies better and have their voice heard: fighting myopia being emitted by those who think confining a dynamic, entrepreneurial and creative population in their ability to make positive, useful contribution to their society makes them unable to make more positive contributions to the kitchen, in household; fighting intolerance by the inflexible, uneducated and undemocratic leaders who need women when it...

1- Admittedly, I'm not holding a press conference to announce the discovery of pulsating radio source. Jocelyn Bell did the task on such a day in 1967. I didn't have the chance to chat with her so far. However, in my old young days, I interviewed her supervisor, Prof. Antony Hewish, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974. Don't judge me based on that interview. The entire experience of approaching him, getting the interview, eliciting some of his unpublished photos and having it released by the Daneshmand Magazine , started on 30 September 2011 and came to a closure on 24 October 2012! Well, I'm confident serious journalism is not really such a struggle. The thing is that when you don't have the right editor...

Kourosh Ziabari - Organisation for Defending Victims of Violence: A mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on 14th February this year claimed seventeen lives, making the tragedy one of the world's deadliest school massacres. The suspect, 19-year-old Nikolas Jacob Cruz, who was the school's former student, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. An Associated Press report reveals the Broward County Sheriff's Office received a number of tips in 2016 and 2017 about Cruz's threats to carry out a school shooting, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation had received information about his threats and concerning behavior in September 2017 and January 2018. Although this tragedy revived a...

Girls walking in front of walls of the former US embassy on Taleghani street, Tehran. Picture by Kamyar Adl / Flickr.com. Kourosh Ziabari - openDemocracy NAWA: Iranians are discussing many important and crucial things these days: things that the government might not be able to find an answer to in the foreseeable future. The Iranian government is not determined enough to implement change, nor does it have the authority and resources to embrace the reforms people are demanding. Meanwhile, in restaurants, coffee shops, streets, schools, newspapers and sometimes even on state TV, people are discussing and talking about reform. People ask valid questions that rarely find viable answers by those who are supposed to find answers: will...