Wow. Um, OK: Associated Press announced today that, in an agreement with the eerie and truthiness-riddled Korea Central News Agency, they will open a news bureau in Pyongyang. Interesting. And... odd. Maybe AP wants to get attention for having arrested employees, too? And what's AP in North Korea actually going to put out? Government-written press releases, we reckon. This should prove, at best, a fascinating partnership. And with that, we now present Korean Central Television's jarring 1994 news report on Eternal President Kim Il-sung funeral. You're welcome. more ›

Current TV journalist Laura Ling, who was arrested in North Korea for (accidentally?) crossing the border, will appear on Oprah today. Among other things, according to Gawker who already saw the show (damned time zones!), Ling will chat about not being able to take a proper shower and stinking up the place. Ick. Why would one ever admit to such a thing? more ›

After almost five months of being held in North Korea for "hostile acts," San Francisco-based journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee arrived back in the U.S. just 24 hours after Bill Clinton negotiated their release with Kim Jong Il. The two flew into Bob Hope Airport in Burbank early this morning, "dressed in short-sleeved shirts and jeans" and appearing "healthy." more ›

Breaking news, folks. "North Korean media say leader Kim Jong Il has pardoned two American journalists and ordered their release during the visit of former U.S. President Bill Clinton," reports the Associated Press. more ›

In an effort to get North Korea to release Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, former President Bill Clinton arrived in Pyongyang today to meet with Kim Jong Il. This "surprise" visit. Accordind to , "North and South Korean news outlets reported Clinton arrived in the capital of Pyongyang by charter jet after receiving word through back channels that Laura Ling and Euna Lee might be released to the former President after nearly five months in captivity. No word yet if Clinton managed the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee. After crossing the border into North Korea, Ling and Lee have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, "was among the official greeters on the tarmac," which could perhaps signal "that the Communist nation was also seeking a breakthrough on the standoff with the U.S. over nuclear disarmament." Update: Clinton will meet this morning with Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Fingers crossed. (An ABC source claims that they could come home tonight.) more ›

Last night. before a vigil for Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who are currently serving a 12-year jail sentence in North Korea for illegally crossing the border, the inmates' husbands spoke out about their conditions. The news was disheartening. more ›

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Concerned that today's sentencing will land, if all goes horribly wrong, Current TV journos Laura Ling and Euna Lee 12 years of hard labor inside a North Korean jail, we asked formerly-jailed journalist Josh Wolf for his thoughts on the brouhaha. more ›

While many chin-scratching political commentators claim that Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two Current TV journalists who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea, are bargaining chips in a high stakes poker game who will be set free once negotiations begin (what, no chess metaphors? oh wait, that's just for the Middle East), you should know that North Korean prisons are no Martha Stewart-insider-trading spa retreats. Lee and Ling will not wax poetic to the media about the taste of lemon or monochromatic home accents during their incarcerations. North Korean hard labor prisons make Midnight Express look like after-school detention. The gulags of North Korea can involve torture, rape, beatings, and much worse. According to San Diego Union Tribune, "Grandsons are condemned to life-long terms as slave laborers alongside their grandfathers, both equally helpless in the brutal surroundings. Prisoners are arbitrarily murdered by security guards. Women suffer from forced abortions at the hands of unlicensed doctors. Newborn babies are beaten to death. And sons and daughters are publicly executed in front of their mothers." If their sentences are carried out, Ling and Lee could face these conditions in North Korea's gulag system. Our hearts go out to the two journos and their families. Seriously. more ›

Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two Current TV reporters nabbed by North Korean border guards while they were doing a story about human trafficking on the Chinese-North Korean border, have been sentenced to 12 years hard labor in what former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson has called a "high-stakes poker game" that has more to do with our nuclear relations than it does with these women and their alleged crimes. A Korean-language TV station has reported that the women were convicted of "hostility toward the Korean people." more ›

Scene from yesterday's rally at Civic Center to free Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Both are on trial in North Korea for something ridiculous, facing 10 years of hard labor. more ›

In an effort to raise awareness about the plight of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two CurrentTV journalists detained in North Korea, there will be a vigil tonight on the front steps of City Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. The women, who are likely being used as pawns in the volatile relations between North Korea and the United States, go on trial tomorrow and have been assigned a North Korean attorney. more ›

CurrentTV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were detained for illegally crossing the North Korean border and accused of "hostile acts," are set to go on trial on Thursday. They were working on a documentary about the sad stories about North Korean refugees fleeing to China. If convicted, they could spend up to ten years in a North Korean boot camp. Al Gore, a partner at Current, has been working closely with the State Department to get the women released, and the Swedish Mission at the United Nations has been serving as an intermediary. more ›

It's been over two weeks since Current TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested at the North Korean border. The two journalist sit in jail, waiting to be tried for "hostile acts" against the Communist country. They could each receive up to 10 years in jail of hard labor, or worse. more ›

The two CurrentTV journalists detained in North Korea, reporter Laura Ling photographer Euna Kim, are under investigation by authorities for espionage. While allegedly being treated well in captivity (at least according to North Korea), the two SF-based journalists are facing "intense interrogation" in Pyongyang. If convicted of spying, according to reports, "the women face at least five years in prison under North Korean law." more ›

Two Current TV journalists, reporter Laura Ling photographer Euna Kim, were detained by soldiers while on assignment near the North Korea's border with China. The journalists were taken into custody by border guards near the Tumen River. While there's no word yet as to the exact reason for Ling and Kim's detainment, State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside tells ABC News that "We are working with the Chinese government in the area to get information on the whereabouts and welfare of the Americans in question. We have also been in touch with North Korean authorities to express our deep concern about this situation. We have also been in touch with our protecting power, the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang." (Here's a recent report by Ling about the fate of deported gang members in Mexico.) more ›

A photo of a shooting star more ›

We have a few morsels for you this week, and stay tuned, because there’s more to come this month. more ›

It looks like Larry & Sergey have themselves a nice new pet as they went and bought YouTube today for $1.65 billion in stock. And it's even housebroken too. You could look at it a couple of ways-- two great tastes in one or the Borg about to assimilate somebody. All this for a company that has yet to turn a profit. more ›

There was a lot of gentle sobbing, some out and out bawling and lots of grown men surreptitiously wiping their eyes at the Kabuki Theatre on Tuesday night. At one point we were distracted from our own sniveling by the sound of low-level keening coming from the row behind us and the realization the whole theatre was erupting in choked-back sobs and loud sniffles. more ›