Word: localism
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Most Afghan reporters know the prevailing reality. "We know that the chances are greater we might be killed if we are taken by the Taliban," says an Afghan photographer working part time for a Western news agency. He and his local colleagues trust that their employers will support them "to a point," he says, but they accept that insurgents are likely to punish them as "traitors" for working with foreigners, absent the prospect of a hefty ransom. "They won't think too much about what to do with us. That's something we have to accept," says the photographer. (Ransom...
...other lawless elements in the country are often motivated by the potential ransoms - sometimes worth several million dollars - they believe foreigners can bring them. Afghan journalists who fall into their hands generally do not offer the same moneymaking possibilities. And so the escape of Ludin, who like some other local journalists acts as a "fixer" for foreign correspondents, was particularly welcome. (See pictures of Afghanistan's dangerous Korengal Valley...
Meanwhile, as dramatic as Rohde's escape was, the story is not yet complete. The young Afghan driver, Asadullah Mangal, who drove Rohde and Ludin to the unlucky assignment, was apparently too afraid to make a break. Now he is alone. If local journalists have little market value for the Taliban, how much will the group value a driver...
...keen to reproduce cultural scenes they experienced while working or studying abroad. "When I came back to the city, I noticed no one was doing anything with the talent that existed here," says Sunny Rahbar, co-director of the Third Line gallery, one of the first spaces to exhibit local and regional artists. Within months of the gallery's September 2005 inaugural show, Christie's held its first auction in Dubai - bringing in $8.5 million - and the Art Dubai fair was established. (See 10 things to do in Dubai...
...exhibit of up-and-coming Emirati artists. She quickly discovered that nearly all those featured were working in isolation. "I felt a space that brought them together and created a community was needed in the U.A.E.," she says. The success of the Third Line gallery's growing roster of local artists served to underscore the need for Maktoum's initiative. "All of a sudden, there was a shift. People started looking at art as a commodity...