A blog devoted to on-the-ground reporting around the world.

Charles M. SennottApril 19, 2013 20:42

A deeper look at the Tsarnaev brothers

Details emerge about the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, their family, and their relationship.

A massive manhunt intensified at dusk as police closed in on the 19-year-old Marathon bombing suspect who was holed up in a residential neighborhood of Watertown, Massachusetts.

[At 8:44 p.m., the Boston Police Department confirmed that the suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, had been taken into custody. Residents of the neighborhood cheered as he was transported from the scene and a tense standoff came to a close.]

It was just moments after a press conference in which city, state and federal officials called off an all-day lock-down of the city of Boston that a burst of automatic gunfire erupted in Watertown and, according to live television reports from the scene, the intensity of the operation shifted suddenly and dramatically.

Charles M. SennottApril 18, 2013 15:57

Service in Boston brings faith to the forefront

An interfaith ceremony organized in the wake of Monday's bombings provided a collective meditation on faith in a time of crisis.

BOSTON — With sunshine streaming through the stained-glass of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, a shaken city gathered today in faith to remember three young lives lost, to pray for 174 injured, to salute the ranks of brave first responders and to thank so many selfless citizens who helped after the Patriots’ Day bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Charles M. SennottApril 18, 2013 06:29

Investigators ID as many as 2 potential suspects in Boston Marathon bombing

Increased police and medical preparedness offer a grim 'silver lining' of the post-9/11 era.

FBI working Boston Marathon attack scene 2013

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FBI crime scene investigators search a truck left on Boylston Street just past Berkeley Street April 17, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. Investigators continue to work the scene of two bomb explosions at the finish line of the marathon that killed 3 people and injured over one hundred more. (Darren McCollester/AFP/Getty Images)

BOSTON — Federal investigators have images of at least one and possibly two potential suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, GlobalPost has learned.

The images depict a male dressed in black with a white baseball cap, who was captured on video with a heavy black backpack and seen leaving it where one of the bombs was detonated near the finish line, according to an official knowledgeable of the investigation and who has seen the images.

Charles M. SennottApril 17, 2013 06:22

Boston Marathon attack: When home is the target

After years of covering terrorist attacks around the world, GlobalPost executive editor Charles Sennott reflects on what the marathon bombing means for his hometown.

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A woman cries during a candlelight interfaith service at Arlington Street Church April 16, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts, in the aftermath of two explosions that struck near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

BOSTON — On Boylston Street, crowds gathered to stare in disbelief at a city that may never be the same.

An armored personnel carrier idled on a nearby street corner and armed National Guard troops flanked the sidewalks. The police barricades marked a 12-block crime scene. Makeshift vigils of flowers and heartfelt messages of prayer and remembrance were clustered here and there. And the sound of birds chirping on a glorious spring day seemed incongruous for a city so stunned it was as if the blast was still ringing in its collective ears.

Michael MoranApril 13, 2013 07:53

Sweden's lessons on inequality

The most equal country in the developed world, Sweden survived the collapse of socialism to become a capitalist model.

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Karl-Johan Persson, chief executive of Swedish clothing retailer H&M, arrives to give a press conference on January 30, 2013 in Stockholm. Fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB said that its net profit rose by 6.6 percent in 2012 and that it increased its market share despite a difficult operating environment. (Janerik Henriksson/AFP/Getty Images)

The most equal country in the developed world, Sweden survived the collapse of socialism to become a capitalist model.

Michael MoranApril 11, 2013 06:18

America's tax reform moment

For the first time in a generation, serious tax reform that addresses one for the causes of income inequality is possible. But will the fringes derail it?

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US President Barack Obama (R) is greeted by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (C) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) as he arrives at the US Capitol for his third day of meetings with members of Congress on March 14, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama met with Senate Republicans and House Democrats, with tax reform on the agenda. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — As the lights burn late and bright this week in American households striving to meet Monday’s federal income tax deadline, signs suggest it may be possible for America’s warring ideological tribes to agree on the first major reform in a generation of the overcomplicated, loophole-ridden and highly regressive tax system.

Ben BrodyApril 9, 2013 11:45

How to stalk elusive truths as a correspondent in Afghanistan

Misinformation is common among military leaders and truth is based on what you can see and who you can trust.

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Staff Sgt. Daniel Peters, 1-41 Field Artillery, takes cover behind a stone wall in Zabul Province, Afghanistan after shots rang out in the mountains. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Truth is elusive in Afghanistan. You have to stalk it with stealth and energetic enterprise.

Benjamin CarlsonApril 2, 2013 06:22

Hong Kong's surging real estate prices shed light on rising inequality

In the world's most expensive place to own a home, almost half of the population lives in public housing.

Editor's Note: This story is part of a GlobalPost Special Report on income inequality around the world, "The Great Divide."

HONG KONG — There are few places for ordinary people to escape the mobs of tourists, touts and handbag hawkers in Tsim Sha Tsui — Hong Kong’s commercial hub — but for members of the city’s upper crust, there’s always the Platinum Lounge.

Tucked away in the perfume section of luxury retailer Lane Crawford, the Platinum Lounge is available to cardholders who spend more than $10,000 a year at the department store. Inside this opulent oasis, uniformed attendants bring free drinks and mushroom quiche on silver trays. An original Andy Warhol screen print hangs from the wall.

I am here on the invitation of Don, 30, for whom the platinum membership is an afterthought. A member of the city’s elite, Don said that in a typical month, he spends around $13,000 on his credit cards, though in December the total came to $65,000. The free miles he earns on these sums have taken him to Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Morocco, Germany, and Malaysia in the last year alone.

Ben BrodyApril 1, 2013 12:22

Reflections from Afghanistan: What ending the war looks like

Correspondent Ben Brody has photographed the American military at war both as a soldier and a civilian. He reflects on his recent return to Afghanistan, and what has changed since the war has ended.

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A French soldier shoulders his rucksack for his flight home from Kabul. (Ben Brody/GlobalPost)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — When I arrived in Afghanistan in July of 2010, as the troop surge was ramping up, the first flightline I saw was packed with newly arrived soldiers. The mood was alternately hopeful and grim, depending on where you looked.

I spoke with a group of privates fresh out of basic training and eager to prove themselves, as well as some seasoned leaders on their fifth and sixth combat tours. In ten years of service, one sergeant first class said he had seen six years of combat duty. He said he thought that ratio would continue until he retired.

Jacob KushnerMarch 28, 2013 08:01

Congo's subsistence miners dig for their livelihoods

'Artisanal' mining is now the country's leading profession — attracting adults and children alike. Chinese investment is driving its growth.

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A man digs in muddy water for copper ore as part of an artisanal mining operation in Kolwezi, Congo. (Jacob Kushner/GlobalPost)

Editor's Note: This story is part of GlobalPost Special Reports' continuing coverage of labor rights around the world.

KOLWEZI, Congo — One day while he was watching TV, farmer Emmanuel Tshiteta saw a news segment about people digging.

With shovels and picks, they forged deep holes, then packed the rocks they uncovered into plastic mesh bags. They carried the bags to a river to wash away the dirt, revealing handfuls of aqua-colored ore. The next day, they sold it for quick cash.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

This blog is all about "ground truth." The observations, analysis, notes and musings posted here are based on facts gathered in the field from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. We highlight the work of GlobalPost’s team of correspondents and other journalists, bloggers, photographers and videographers around the globe who are out there getting at the “ground truth.”

The term is actually a scientific concept defined by NASA as part of the calibration process of satellite imagery. When NASA measures something with a satellite, an employee on the ground takes the same measurement. That human measurement is known as “ground truth.” If the results differ, the "ground truth" has greater credibility than the satellite does.

In the digital age, as we are bombarded with so much information from afar, GlobalPost takes a similar approach in its journalism, valuing the idea that being there on the ground and calibrating events in human terms is the key to getting it right. We believe in “ground truth.” And this blog is dedicated to that belief.

Read the GroundTruth archive.

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Correspondents

Charles M. Sennott

Co-Founder and Executive Editor, GlobalPost. read more

Kevin Douglas Grant

GlobalPost's Deputy Editor for Special Reports. read more