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A scam on the roof of the world

Annabel Symington Tuesday 18 September 2018

"It started with rumours and numbers that didn’t add up," writes Annabel Symington, Nepal bureau chief on how she began work that eventually led to uncovering a massive helicopter rescue scam in the lucrative tourist industry in the Himalayas.

"It led to hours scanning reviews on TripAdvisor and weeks hiking around Mount Everest. But when I started looking into insurance fraud linked to helicopter rescues in Nepal, I didn’t think it would end with a government probe and an ultimatum from global insurers that could be a death knell for the Himalayan nation’s vital tourism industry."

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AFP / Andrew Caballero-reynolds

Of snakes and faith

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds Wednesday 12 September 2018

"I have always found it fascinating to learn what people will do for their religion," writes Washington DC-based photographer Andrew Caballero-Reynolds.

"The passion that people will bring and the length they will go to prove their devotion to a higher power."

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The Brazilian flag flys at sunrise on the Botafojo beach in Rio de Janeiro during the 2014 FIFA World Cup football tournament on June 25, 2014 AFP / Rodrigo Buendia

“Arigato gozaimasu, Brazil”

Sebastian Smith Friday 7 September 2018

"This is the story of how, in order to grasp what makes Brazilians tick, I first had to learn Japanese," writes journalist Sebastian Smith at the end of a three-year posting to Brazil.

"And how in the process I broke a toe, dislocated a finger, sprained most things, bruised the others, made friends, and still ended up with questions about this enchanting, confounding country."

"But then things are never simple in Brazil."

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Rohingya refugee cries as she walks after crossing the Naf river from Myanmar into Bangladesh in Whaikhyang on October 9, 2017. AFP / Fred Dufour

The year of living desperately

Nick Perry Tuesday 4 September 2018

"It started with one man sobbing, then another choked up, then another. Soon, the whole hillside was shuddering in a unified, haunting cry -- hundreds of Rohingya refugees, their palms upturned to the monsoon sky in prayer, wailing for their dead and mourning a homeland they may never see again," writes Nick Perry, a journalist based in New Delhi. "The sudden outpouring of grief caught me completely off guard, and my eyes quickly stung."

"After twelve months covering the Rohingya crisis from the refugee frontline, I couldn’t help but quietly cheer along as these beleaguered people -- so hated in Myanmar, and unwanted in Bangladesh -- clawed back some dignity."

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  • AFP / Schneyder Mendoza
  • AFP / Rodrigo Buendia
  • AFP / Isac Dantes

A sign of worse to come?

Johannes Myburgh Monday 3 September 2018

"It was like we were living a crime thriller," writes Johannes Myburgh, a journalist based in Brazil. "We were at the northernmost extreme end of Brazil (it felt like the end of the world) finding out what happened in attacks against Venezuelan migrants."

"Tensions boiled over on August 25, when residents of this border town destroyed makeshift camps, burned tents and possessions, and chased migrants back over the border. Over the next few days we slowly discovered the chain of misunderstandings, prejudices and frustration that led to those attacks."

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