The Frontline Club

Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan, lies at a crossroads. Bordering Iran and Afghanistan and boasting huge reserves of gold, gas, oil and uranium, it is a land of enormous strategic importance and great natural beauty and yet it remains all but inaccessible to the outside world.

Currently barred from Pakistan due to his work in the region, journalist Willem Marx joins award-winning photographer Marc Wattrelot to discuss their project Balochistan at a Crossroads.

With access to foreign journalists all but non-existent, and permanent expulsion or physical intimidation often the price for transgressing its boundaries, Marx and Wattrelot offer a rare insight into an area that has become one of the most hermetic and dangerous on earth; in the process uncovering a conflict so often ignored or misunderstood by the world’s media, an unparalleled landscape without an audience to view it and a people who long for recognition whilst engaged in a constant fight for survival.

Chaired by Declan Walsh, The New York Times bureau chief for Pakistan. He started his career in foreign correspondence in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was based for five years covering sub-Saharan Africa for The Independent and a number of other outlets. He moved to Islamabad in 2004 as Pakistan/Afghanistan correspondent for The Guardian, and moved to The New York Times in January 2012.

Willem Marx has reported from more than 40 countries and has been published by Harpers Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph. He is currently a correspondent for Bloomberg TV, based in New York, having previously worked as a television journalist for ABC News, Al Jazeera and CBS News.

Marc Wattrelot has exhibited internationally and has previously been based in New Delhi, where he worked as a journalist for several French television channels. He is currently based in Beirut and works as a documentary filmmaker throughout the Arab world.

Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan, lies at a crossroads. Bordering Iran and Afghanistan and boasting huge reserves of gold, gas, oil and uranium, it is a land of enormous strategic importance and great natural beauty and yet it remains all but inaccessible to the outside world.

Currently barred from Pakistan due to his work in the region, journalist Willem Marx joins award-winning photographer Marc Wattrelot to discuss their project Balochistan at a Crossroads.

With access to foreign journalists all but non-existent, and permanent expulsion or physical intimidation often the price for transgressing its boundaries, Marx and Wattrelot offer a rare insight into an area that has become one of the most hermetic and dangerous on earth; in the process uncovering a conflict so often ignored or misunderstood by the world’s media, an unparalleled landscape without an audience to view it and a people who long for recognition whilst engaged in a constant fight for survival.

Chaired by Declan Walsh, The New York Times bureau chief for Pakistan. He started his career in foreign correspondence in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was based for five years covering sub-Saharan Africa for The Independent and a number of other outlets. He moved to Islamabad in 2004 as Pakistan/Afghanistan correspondent for The Guardian, and moved to The New York Times in January 2012.

Willem Marx has reported from more than 40 countries and has been published by Harpers Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph. He is currently a correspondent for Bloomberg TV, based in New York, having previously worked as a television journalist for ABC News, Al Jazeera and CBS News.

Marc Wattrelot has exhibited internationally and has previously been based in New Delhi, where he worked as a journalist for several French television channels. He is currently based in Beirut and works as a documentary filmmaker throughout the Arab world.

Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan, lies at a crossroads. Bordering Iran and Afghanistan and boasting huge reserves of gold, gas, oil and uranium, it is a land of enormous strategic importance and great natural beauty and yet it remains all but inaccessible to the outside world.

Currently barred from Pakistan due to his work in the region, journalist Willem Marx joins award-winning photographer Marc Wattrelot to discuss their project Balochistan at a Crossroads.

With access to foreign journalists all but non-existent, and permanent expulsion or physical intimidation often the price for transgressing its boundaries, Marx and Wattrelot offer a rare insight into an area that has become one of the most hermetic and dangerous on earth; in the process uncovering a conflict so often ignored or misunderstood by the world’s media, an unparalleled landscape without an audience to view it and a people who long for recognition whilst engaged in a constant fight for survival.

Chaired by Declan Walsh, The New York Times bureau chief for Pakistan. He started his career in foreign correspondence in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was based for five years covering sub-Saharan Africa for The Independent and a number of other outlets. He moved to Islamabad in 2004 as Pakistan/Afghanistan correspondent for The Guardian, and moved to The New York Times in January 2012.

Willem Marx has reported from more than 40 countries and has been published by Harpers Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph. He is currently a correspondent for Bloomberg TV, based in New York, having previously worked as a television journalist for ABC News, Al Jazeera and CBS News.

Marc Wattrelot has exhibited internationally and has previously been based in New Delhi, where he worked as a journalist for several French television channels. He is currently based in Beirut and works as a documentary filmmaker throughout the Arab world.

Join The Guardian’s Liz Ford and members of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch in a discussion about their work and the challenges they face in working to protect the rights and improve the lives of women and girls around the world.

The event will be an opportunity to hear about some of Human Rights Watch’s latest work on combating violence against women, promoting gender equality and tackling issues such as child marriage, sexual violence in conflict and the abuse of domestic workers.

Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organisations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

Chair by Liz Ford, deputy editor of The Guardian‘s Global Development website.

The panel:

Liesl Gerntholtz is director of the women’s rights division.

Samer Muscati is a researcher for women’s rights in emergencies.

Rothna Begum is a researcher for women’s rights in MENA.

Agnes Odhiambo is a researcher for women’s rights in Africa.

Gauri van Gulik is the global advocate in the women’s rights division.

Join The Guardian’s Liz Ford and members of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch in a discussion about their work and the challenges they face in working to protect the rights and improve the lives of women and girls around the world.

The event will be an opportunity to hear about some of Human Rights Watch’s latest work on combating violence against women, promoting gender equality and tackling issues such as child marriage, sexual violence in conflict and the abuse of domestic workers.

Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organisations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

Chair by Liz Ford, deputy editor of The Guardian‘s Global Development website.

The panel:

Liesl Gerntholtz is director of the women’s rights division.

Samer Muscati is a researcher for women’s rights in emergencies.

Rothna Begum is a researcher for women’s rights in MENA.

Agnes Odhiambo is a researcher for women’s rights in Africa.

Gauri van Gulik is the global advocate in the women’s rights division.

Join The Guardian’s Liz Ford and members of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch in a discussion about their work and the challenges they face in working to protect the rights and improve the lives of women and girls around the world.

The event will be an opportunity to hear about some of Human Rights Watch’s latest work on combating violence against women, promoting gender equality and tackling issues such as child marriage, sexual violence in conflict and the abuse of domestic workers.

Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organisations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

Chair by Liz Ford, deputy editor of The Guardian‘s Global Development website.

The panel:

Liesl Gerntholtz is director of the women’s rights division.

Samer Muscati is a researcher for women’s rights in emergencies.

Rothna Begum is a researcher for women’s rights in MENA.

Agnes Odhiambo is a researcher for women’s rights in Africa.

Gauri van Gulik is the global advocate in the women’s rights division.

Jang Jin-sung, a poet laureate for North Korea, led a privileged life unaware of the suffering of his fellow countrymen. He was a cadre in Section 5 (Literature), Division 19 (Poetry) of Office 101 and was personally endorsed by Kim Jong-il for a triumphalist poem he’d penned glorifying the Kim dynasty and the state.

It was only following a visit to his home town, where he witnessed suffering, starvation and unimaginable poverty, that he began to question the system in which he lived. What followed is an extraordinary story of awakening, terror and escape.

Jang Jin-sung will be joining us to share his story and give us an insight in to the circles of power and privilege in North Korea. We will also be joined by experts to reflect on Jang Jin-sung’s story and explore what it reveals about the inner workings of North Korea’s elite.

Chaired by John Everard, a retired British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to North Korea. He is author of Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea.

The panel:

Jang Jin-sung is a former court poet for North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. Since leaving the country he has become a bestselling author and poet. He has been awarded the Rex Warner Literary Prize and read his poetry at London’s Cultural Olympiad in 2012. He now lives in South Korea and is editor-in-chief of New Focus International. He is author of Dear Leader.

Paul French is an author and a widely published analyst and commentator on Asia, Asian politics and current affairs. He is author of North Korea: State of Paranoia and the international bestseller Midnight in Peking. He has lived and worked in Shanghai for many years and has visited North Korea on a number of occasions.

Jang Jin-sung, a poet laureate for North Korea, led a privileged life unaware of the suffering of his fellow countrymen. He was a cadre in Section 5 (Literature), Division 19 (Poetry) of Office 101 and was personally endorsed by Kim Jong-il for a triumphalist poem he’d penned glorifying the Kim dynasty and the state.

It was only following a visit to his home town, where he witnessed suffering, starvation and unimaginable poverty, that he began to question the system in which he lived. What followed is an extraordinary story of awakening, terror and escape.

Jang Jin-sung will be joining us to share his story and give us an insight in to the circles of power and privilege in North Korea. We will also be joined by experts to reflect on Jang Jin-sung’s story and explore what it reveals about the inner workings of North Korea’s elite.

Chaired by John Everard, a retired British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to North Korea. He is author of Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea.

The panel:

Jang Jin-sung is a former court poet for North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. Since leaving the country he has become a bestselling author and poet. He has been awarded the Rex Warner Literary Prize and read his poetry at London’s Cultural Olympiad in 2012. He now lives in South Korea and is editor-in-chief of New Focus International. He is author of Dear Leader.

Paul French is an author and a widely published analyst and commentator on Asia, Asian politics and current affairs. He is author of North Korea: State of Paranoia and the international bestseller Midnight in Peking. He has lived and worked in Shanghai for many years and has visited North Korea on a number of occasions.

Jang Jin-sung, a poet laureate for North Korea, led a privileged life unaware of the suffering of his fellow countrymen. He was a cadre in Section 5 (Literature), Division 19 (Poetry) of Office 101 and was personally endorsed by Kim Jong-il for a triumphalist poem he’d penned glorifying the Kim dynasty and the state.

It was only following a visit to his home town, where he witnessed suffering, starvation and unimaginable poverty, that he began to question the system in which he lived. What followed is an extraordinary story of awakening, terror and escape.

Jang Jin-sung will be joining us to share his story and give us an insight in to the circles of power and privilege in North Korea. We will also be joined by experts to reflect on Jang Jin-sung’s story and explore what it reveals about the inner workings of North Korea’s elite.

Chaired by John Everard, a retired British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to North Korea. He is author of Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea.

The panel:

Jang Jin-sung is a former court poet for North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. Since leaving the country he has become a bestselling author and poet. He has been awarded the Rex Warner Literary Prize and read his poetry at London’s Cultural Olympiad in 2012. He now lives in South Korea and is editor-in-chief of New Focus International. He is author of Dear Leader.

Paul French is an author and a widely published analyst and commentator on Asia, Asian politics and current affairs. He is author of North Korea: State of Paranoia and the international bestseller Midnight in Peking. He has lived and worked in Shanghai for many years and has visited North Korea on a number of occasions.

This event is organised by Standpoint magazine.

David Cameron has subsequently agreed to EU sanctions and travel bans have been imposed on Russian officials. But would our response have been stronger were it not for the importance of Russian money to London?

Russians are granted more investor visas than any other nationality; Russians buy London property, send their children to British schools and hire British lawyers and bankers. For some, Britain has become a shamelessly mercenary country, putting financial gain before morality.

Others argue that the government is right to put growth first; its obligations are to the British people, who are interested in their livelihoods, not the legality of a referendum in Crimea. Are sanctions even the best approach? With them comes the risk of isolating Putin, making a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis less likely.

Standpoint magazine brings together a distinguished panel to debate Britain’s response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Chaired by Daniel Johnson, the founding editor of Standpoint. He covered the end of the Cold War for The Daily Telegraph and is the author of White King and Red Queen: How the Cold War was Fought on a Chess Board.

The panel:

Ben Judah has reported for Standpoint from Russia and Ukraine. He is the author of Fragile Empire: How Russian Fell In And Out Of Love With Vladimir Putin.

Tony Brenton worked for 30 years for the Foreign Office and was British Ambassador in Russia from 2004 to 2008. In 2007 he was awarded a KCMG. He is now extraordinary fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge.

Roger Boyes is diplomatic editor at The Times. Previously he has worked as a foreign correspondent in Eastern Europe, Berlin and Rome.

Peter Hitchens is a journalist, broadcaster and author. He is a columnist on the Mail on Sunday and has worked as a foreign correspondent in Moscow and Washington.