Julia Davis

On the heels of North Korea’s fury about “The Interview,” other countries are now attempting to influence American film and television productions. On Dec. 27, 2014, Pakistani diplomats told the New York Post that the fourth season of Showtime’s hit show “Homeland” portrays their country as a “grimy hellhole.” Disgruntled officials complained directly to the show’s producers, to no avail. Now they’ve decided to go to the press. “Maligning a country that has been a close partner and ally of the US … is a disservice not only to the security interests of the US but also to the people of the US,” said Pakistan Embassy spokesman Nadeem Hotiana. The diplomats were displeased with the lack of greenery in the depiction of the nation’s capital. The show’s Islamabad-based scenes were actually filmed in Cape Town, South Africa. Pakistani officials were also appalled at the portrayal of their homeland as a perpetual war zone, with constant shootouts and bombings. Pakistani diplomats were also...

On November 26, 2014, North Korea fired another salvo against the United States, blaming the US for shutting down its Internet services and expressing outrage at the release of Sony Pictures film, “The Interview.” North Korea’s National Defense Commission, led by the country’s leader Kim Jong-un, stated: "Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest." The commission threatened "inescapable deadly blows" to the United States as the consequence of America’s “arrogant, high-handed and gangster-like arbitrary practices despite (North Korea's) repeated warnings.” In Putin’s Russia, similar insults, threats and comparisons are not uncommon. Russia joined North Korea’s Stalinist comrade regime in its outrage against the controversial feature. "The very idea of the film is so aggressive and scandalous that the reaction of the North Korean side ... is completely understandable,"said Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman Al...

  Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit Moscow in 2015, the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Dec. 19, 2014. North Korea’s reclusive leader would be celebrating the anniversary of the former Soviet Union's World War Two victory on May 9, 2015. Last month, Kim Jong Un sent his personal envoy to Moscow to further deepening ties between Russia and North Korea. If Kim accepts Putin’s offer, this will be his first public foreign visit since coming to power in December 2011. Russia’s Gazprom wants to build a gas pipeline through North Korea, to provide natural gas exports to South Korea. Russia also seeks leverage in dealing with the West, by offering help in resuming stalled international talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. The talks were suspended after Pyongyang tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009. Russia’s leading mad-hatter ideologue Alexander Dugin advocated that Russia should be providing nuclear weaponry to ...

On November 17, 2014, the Walk Free Foundation, an Australian-based human rights group, released its latest slavery index . Estimated number of people in modern slavery globally is 35.8 million, with 61% of them living in India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. For the second year in a row, India was found to have the greatest number of slaves in the world , at 14.3 million people. Top five countries with the biggest numbers of people living in conditions tantamount to slavery: India (an estimated 14.29 million enslaved people) China (3.24 million enslaved people) Pakistan (2.06 million enslaved people) Uzbekistan (1.2 million enslaved people) Russia (1.05 million enslaved people) The criteria used by the Walk Free Foundation takes into account the number of people born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, trapped in debt bondage or exploited for forced labor. The index defines slavery as the control or possession of people in such a way as to deprive them of their ...