CNN in Yemen & Syria

CNN is the ONLY U.S. television network in Yemen at this time. This is ahead of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh reportedly making his first media appearance some time in the next 48 hours, since being seriously wounded in an attack on a mosque in his compound in June. Sr. Intl Correspondent Nic Robertson (@nicrobertsoncnn) and Mohammed Jamjoom (@jamjoomcnn) are in Sanaa, Yemen.

Arwa Damon (@arwacnn) and Hala Gorani (@halagorani) have been reporting live from inside Syria since last week.

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A Very Scary Day To Be A Journalist in Egypt

Brooke Baldwin narrated a summary of the harrowing experiences some of the CNN journalists who were covering the violence that erupted in Cairo today experienced.

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i-List on CNN International

CNN has announced a new series that air on CNN International:

CNN’s new monthly series i-List takes you to countries that are changing the way we live and look at the world around us.

The i-List will highlight innovation and influence in industry, business, technology, culture and more. It showcases a nation’s people and places – those having an impact inside and outside their borders.

From 8th February, CNN International turns its cameras on France in i-List: France, a special week of prime time programming and reports from the country that will uncover some of the economic, social, cultural and political developments currently shaping France and positioning the nation for the future. Throughout 2010, i-List is set to come from a number of Asian countries.

Mike McCarthy, CNN International’s Vice President of coverage and feature programming commented: “With i-List, we wanted to give our viewers and users insightful and intelligent programming about countries that are changing the way we think and how we live in an Interconnected world.

“It will highlight the inventive people, innovative businesses and inspirational cultural trends in nations that directly impact the way we live and do business in the future.

“We are delighted to launch our showpiece series in France. It’s a country that fascinates and intrigues our audience and we are looking forward to a week of compelling programming”.

CNN will anchor two of its signature European prime time shows from France. Hala Gorani will be in Paris with ‘I-Desk’ and Fionnuala Sweeney in Lyon with ‘World One’. As well there will be a series of specially commissioned reports by correspondents Jim Bittermann and Atika Schubert.

CNN’s Paris-based Senior Correspondent Jim Bittermann – recently awarded the Legion of Honour for his 30 years of distinguished reporting on France – examines how France is leveraging long established ties with China and India through the entrepreneurial spirit of business leaders such as the legendary Pierre Cardin, former French Prime Minister and Senator Pierre Rafferin and inspirational Club Med chairman Henri Giscard d’Estaing.

Atika Shubert begins our week at the Lyon Library which has joined up with Google Books to post 500,000 ancient manuscripts online. French officials fear that the scanning project by Google will put the country's national literary treasures in the control of corporate hands. Lyon's Library Director shows CNN the rare document he believes need to be scanned by Google.

Atika Shubert then travels to Marseilles – the nation’s third largest city, a standard bearer for cultural integration and set to be Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2013. Two Islamic leaders give viewers an insight into the “Muslim Marseilles” in a report that highlights how immigration and integration in the city can set an example, not just for other French cities, but for cities beyond its borders.

The high energy rappers Fonky Family offer an intriguing insight into what the accolade “Capital of Culture” could mean for the future of this historical port city in 2013 and a day spent with the superstars of the Olympic Marseilles explains what makes this Mediterranean city so special for football fans around France.

The special week of coverage will culminate with a 30 minute debate hosted by CNN’s Hala Gorani with a panel of French personalities including Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon.

Online users will be able to visit the i-List microsite, www.cnn.com/ilist for video packages and more.

Program schedule (subject to change) :

Airtimes: Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Taipei (minus 1 hr for Bangkok & Jakarta)

Feb 9 – 12 : Fionnuala Sweeney anchors ‘World One’ live at 0430 from Lyon (Feb 9, 10) and Paris (Feb 11, 12)

Feb 9 – 13: Hala Gorani anchors “I-Desk” live at 0200 from Paris

Feb 9 – 12:Reports and live interviews across Europe prime time programming, from 0000 to 0500

Source: CNN Press release

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Michael Ware: Back in Baghdad

Well, it's been awhile since I've been able to do an all-Michael Ware post, but here we have one. Michael is back in Baghdad in the run-up to the beginning of the end of the American-led war in Iraq -- per the SOFA signed by the Bush administration, as of June 30th US troops are required to pull out of the cities and can only re-enter them at the invitation of the Iraqi government.

Monday, Michael spoke with International's Hala Gorani about the latest rash of bombings:

A few hours later he spoke with Hala again with the latest death tolls:

On Tuesday, Michael Holmes interviewed Michael for BackStory. It was 8pm in Baghdad, and things were a bit casual; however, Michael apparently felt that if he was going to be interviewed he ought to at least be shod. (I'd say "Crikey!" but he'd probably hurl one of those shoes at me... so instead I'll just quietly grumble about his pesky journalistic ethics.) This very short clip teased the interview (and yes, for you Tommy Evans fans, there he is in the background at his familiar post):

Due to some technical glitches, the interview itself was split into two segments, running Tuesday and Wednesday. This is the full clip as posted to CNN.com:

Wednesday and back on Hala's program after another heartbreaking major bombing:

Domestic finally got some airtime with Michael, as Wolf Blitzer talked to him about the bombings and the increase in tensions. Jack Cafferty also had a comment:

And this morning, John Roberts talked to him briefly as well:

It's always good to hear Michael's perspective on what's going on in Iraq, even though we seem to be heading into yet another very dangerous time there; nobody knows the players and reads the currents as well as he does. (We're also looking forward to the AC360 special that he and Tommy were working on in Pakistan recently, which is slated to air next month.)

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Can't Stop the Signal

The demonstrations and violence in Iran continues, and the ability for international media to cover the events became more difficult, with authorities first limiting reports to one per day and then enforcing a rule that everything must be cleared by the state prior to broadcast. Friday, Reza Sayah was able to do his single report, in which he spoke first with Hala Gorani and then Wolf Blitzer. Both portions were carried on Domestic:

Reza has not been on the air since Friday, presumably because the monitors are not approving his reports. Iranians are bravely risking imprisonment and worse to get information out to the rest of the world.

On NewsRoom yesterday, they showed a clip of Michael Holmes talking to Ivan Watson about how Iranian police and the offical thug-squad known as the Basij deal with unrest:

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There is also news from other international fronts -- Phil Black reported Sunday on the massive bomb set off in Kirkuk which created the largest death toll so far this year in Iraq:

And this morning he had a report on the situation in Mosul, where there are serious concerns about whether the lid can be kept on the violence when US troops are required to leave Iraqi cities next week:

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Nic Robertson reported this morning on a campaign by the Pakistani army to retake Buner from the Taliban:

Nic also has been reporting on the escape of a New York Times reporter who has been held captive by the Taliban for the past seven months. Media outlets had not publicized David Rohde's abduction in Kabul last November for fear of putting him in increased danger from his captors, but when Nic met with the spokesman for Mullah Omar recently, he did ask about him:

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Where in the World...?

MONDAY: TJ Holmes was in for John Roberts; Kitty Pilgrim was in for Lou Dobbs.

TUESDAY: Reza Sayah was in Tehran; Christiane Amanpour was in London; Ivan Watson was in Istanbul. TJ was in for Rick Sanchez.

WEDNESDAY: John King was in Cleveland. Wolf Blitzer was in for Larry King.

THURSDAY: Ivan was in Atlanta; Gary Tuchman blogged while on vacation in Morocco; Anderson Cooper tried to get to Washington for an interview but his flight was unable to land there and went back to New York. Don Lemon was in for Heidi Collins; Wolf was in for Larry, who was in Dallas to interview the Jonas Brothers. Campbell Brown's program was bumped for a Money & Main Stspecial. Domestic took the International feed overnight to cover Ayatollah Khamenei's speech.

FRIDAY: Carol Costello was in for Kiran Chetry; Betty Nguyen was in for Heidi; Wolf was in for Larry; Erica Hill was in for Anderson. Domestic took the International feed overnight to cover the Iranian protests.

SATURDAY: Betty and TJ were on an hour early to cover the Iranian protests; Nic Robertson reported from Islamabad. Domestic took the International feed overnight to cover the Iranian protests.

SUNDAY: Phil Black was in Baghdad and Mosul (above).

(Also, it seems like Ivan Watson and Josh Levs were on nearly constantly all weekend, they really did an incredible job.)

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Gaza update

Here is a sampling of some of the reporting from this weekend...

Nic Robertson talks to Fredricka Whitfield Saturday afternoon:

...and with Wolf Blitzer as the latter sat in for Larry King Saturday night:

Hala Gorani introduces a Ben Wedeman piece that looks at the training site where the IDF prepared for the ground incursion:

Wolf talks to Christiane Amanpour during Late Edition yesterday:

Rob Marciano talks to Ben this morning:

An interesting interview from Sunday's GPS: Fareed Zakaria speaks with Michael Oren, an author (and teacher) who is also a reservist in the IDF. During the interview, a beeping can be heard which would seem to possibly have been a warning that the satellite feed was about to be lost...:

And here is the resumption of the interview:

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Beyond These Borders

Hala Gorani -- someone we don't see enough of on Domestic -- covered Senator Obama's Middle East tour for International, and on Tuesday filed a report from Jordan. (And may I just say how impressive it is to see her on-air with absolutely no makeup? Of course, it helps to have flawless skin, killer cheekbones, etc etc...)

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On Monday, Frederik Pleitgen updated the latest in the SoFA talks; namely, dead in the water. (Or desert, as it happens.) I fear that Malaki's new stance in favor of a withdrawal timeline and apparent belief in his ability to kick ass has more to do with Iran's prowess at political maneuvering than anything else, but since we are running out of troops to send into the breach, I'm not sure what we have left to counter that influence:

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On Friday, Morgan Neill filed a report about the IOC banning the Iraqi Olympic team because of "governmental interference." I first read about this on line, and my initial reaction had to do with questioning IOC sanity and why they never batted an eye over what was done to Iraqi athletes back in Saddam's day by his sadistic nutjob son Uday, so I'm glad Morgan brought it up and I don't have to do a soapbox rant about it:

Morgan also did an update on the story this morning:

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Another clip from Monday, when Wilf Dinnick showed us a tour of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for most of the oil that is shipped out of the Middle East:

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And I bet you never thought you'd see Jamie McIntyre in prison? Well, he's been down at Gitmo this week, and got an exclusive look inside the prison cells:

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Where in the World...?

SATURDAY: Christiane Amanpour reported from Geneva on the nuke talks with Iran; Reza Sayah and Peter Bergen both reported from Kabul on Senator Obama's visit.

SUNDAY: Frederik Pleitgen reported on Obama's visit to Baghdad; Candy Crowley was on from Chicago as she prepared to leave for Amman; Ali Velshi called in from Endicott Island, Beaufort Sea, Alaska, where he spent the week looking into the "other" Issue #1, how (and where) to get more oil.

MONDAY: Frederik reported on the latest developments in the SoFA talks, while Morgan Neill reported the latest on the Obama visit; Candy reported from Amman (above); Peter was back in Washington DC; Betty Nguyen was back in Atlanta (after entering Myanmar and reporting from Bangkok last week); Dana Bash was in Kennebunkport, Maine with the McCain campaign; Jamie McIntyre reported from Guantanamo Bay, covering the Hamdan trial; Wilf Dinnick filed a report about the Strait of Hormuz; and TJ Holmes filled in for Ali on Issue #1, as he would for the next couple of days.

TUESDAY: Dana was in Rochecter, New Hampshire with the McCain campaign.

WEDNESDAY: Candy reported on Obama's stops in Sderot, Israel as well as Jerusalem. Also, Hurricane Dolly made landfall and found Reynolds Wolf and Gary Tuchman in South Padre Island, Texas; Susan Roesgen and Ed Lavendera in Brownsville, Texas; and Harris Whitbeck in Matamoros, Mexico.

THURSDAY: Candy and Christiane covered Obama's speech in Berlin; John King visited The Situation Room to discuss it as well; Sanjay Gupta reported from the LiveStrong Summit in Columbus, Ohio; Miles O'Brien filled in for Ali on Issue #1, as he would Friday as well.

FRIDAY: Christiane reported on Obama's stop in Paris; Candy was in Paris for the morning shows and London by afternoon; John King visited TSR again, to discuss McCain's plans for OBL, and then hosted AC360; Dana was in Denver with McCain.

That's a wrap for today...

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Wars and Rumors of War

As the natural disaster in Burma turned into a man-made catastrophe, CNN's Dan Rivers traveled deep inside the country to bring us the true story that the repressive military junta was trying to hide. His harrowing story of avoiding capture could not be told until he was once again outside of the country:

On Sunday, Howard Kurtz interviewed Dan on Reliable Sources:

Dan's experiences were also written up for a Behind The Scenes article on CNN.com titled "Escaping cyclone-ravaged Myanmar." 

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Beirut Bureau Chief Brent Sadler posted an article about the ongoing fighting in Lebanon: Hezbollah-led forces take revolt to mountains above Beirut.

Beirut, May 12, 2008. 

International reporter Hala Gorani & her producer "standing in part of the offices of Future television, the pro-government network torched by opposition supporters two days ago. There is still smoke curling from the debris."

For more on what is happening in Beirut, keep an eye on the blog for Hala's program Inside the Middle East.

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As I mentioned Saturday, Michael Ware is back in Baghdad, and on Saturday filed a report on the situation in Sadr City:

So far, the cease-fire seems shaky at best, but that's a step up from the way things have been going there, so we can hope for improvement.

By the way, General Colin Powell gave a speech last week in which he addressed the proposed updates to the GI Bill that are currently being debated. The fact that they are even being debated rather than just approved is very, very sad:

That's it for me today. The earthquake in China adds yet another humanitarian nightmare to the world's woes. CNN, of course, has the Impact Your World page to assist you in donating if you can. Maybe we should stop funding the political ads and start sending our money to someplace where it will really do some good...

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