Behind the scenes stories from a Canadian Journalist overseas
Ever since the “Two Michaels” episode, its been virtually impossible for Canadian journalists to report on China from inside China. The detention of Meng Wanzhou in 2018 by Canadian authorities, on behalf of the US Justice Department, and the subsequent imprisonment of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor by Chinese authorities sent bilateral relations into…
Our CBC team of Adrian Di Virgilio, Angela Johnston and myself were in the great position of being able to report from Taiwan a few months back. People, including the two girls in the photo, seemed very happy to talk about politics and the island’s future. Taipei was an impressive city, easy going and well…
In February, our team from CBC News spent just over a week in Nuuk, Greenland, reporting on the response of Greenlanders to the threats from the United States to “take over” the world’s largest island. Even though Donald Trump’s rhetoric peaked and then receded, what was striking is how shaken people there continue to be…
Our London-based CBC Newsgathering team is just back from the Middle East, after staying for a couple of weeks in Israel and the occupied West Bank to report on the implementation of the ceasefire. We were in Ramallah, Sderot, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. Our local producer Joey Kuzar took some interesting black and white photos…
We are preparing for yet another trip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories, hopefully this time as a ceasefire sets in. We spent several weeks there in January, with much of our files done from the West Bank. We met a family who’s (unarmed) 17 year old son was shot to death by Israeli…
This has been a difficult few weeks. On October 7th, Hamas terrorists invaded Israeli settlements near Gaza and committed atrocities that we are still trying to process. My team from London was dispatched to Jerusalem within a few hours and we spent two weeks in Israel and the West Bank trying to convey the enormity…
We spent a difficult, intense week in South Sudan, a country deeply mired in conflict that is now serving as a sanctuary for tens of thousands escaping from a new war. We made it to Renk, one of the hardest-to-get-to places I’ve ever been, which is eight hours south of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, and the…
The new King and Queen are on their thrones and the Coronation already seems like a distant memory. Britain knows how to throw a party and after a Platinum Jubilee, a Queen’s funeral, and now a King’s Coronation, the royal planners have had their triple crown. Does Britain need the Royals ? Not for me…
We’ve been back from the Middle East for a few weeks now, with an opportunity to reflect on all we experienced. My main takeaways: Israelis are on the brink of a civil war over the meaning of their democracy, while Palestinians shrug. For them, the occupation has deprived generations of hope and futures. The most…
Dubai isn’t for everyone’s taste but it is clearly heaven for many Russians. Denied entry into Europe, the United Arab Emirates is instead capitalizing with enormous numbers of visitors from RU. Some fled at the start of Putin’s war on Ukraine; others came after the mass mobilization call up; and yet others simply arrive for…