Rob Gifford
Rob Gifford is the NPR foreign correspondent based in Shanghai.
For five years prior to his assignment in Shanghai in 2010, Gifford reported from NPR's London Bureau. From 1999 to 2005, he was NPR's Beijing correspondent.
Gifford has reported from around the world for NPR, especially in Asia and Europe. Two days after the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, Gifford flew to Pakistan for the first of many reporting trips to the Muslim world.
Born and raised in the UK, Gifford worked for three years at the BBC World Service, before moving to the US in 1994 to attend graduate school. He also spent two years at NPR member station WGBH in Boston.
His first book, CHINA ROAD: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power was published in 2007 by Random House. CHINA ROAD tells of his 3,000 mile odyssey across China, following the country's equivalent of the US Route 66--called Route 312--all the way from Shanghai to the Kazakh border. The book is based upon a seven-part radio series that Gifford filed for Morning Edition.
Gifford holds a BA in Chinese Studies from Durham University, UK, and an MA in Regional Studies (East Asia) from Harvard University.
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Friday's ceremony in Norway will be most notable for who isn't there: This year's laureate, Liu Xiaobo, languishes in jail amid China's crackdown on dissent. It will be the first time a peace prize winner or representative hasn't been allowed to attend since Nazi Germany barred the recipient in 1935. -
Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was immediately condemned Friday after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. China also accused the Norwegian Nobel Committee of violating its own principles by honoring "a criminal."
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With the bursting of the economic bubble in Iceland at the end of 2008, many people have been thrown out of work. Lines now form every week at a soup kitchen that hands out free food, and there is a growing acknowledgment that Icelanders need to get back to their core industries such as fishing and agriculture.
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World leaders have urged President Obama to seize the surprise award of the Nobel Peace Prize as a chance to increase diplomatic efforts to forge peace in the globe's trouble spots. The announcement is being interpreted by many in Europe as a bid to encourage Obama's diplomatic overtures toward America's enemies.
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A British publisher launched an unusual book Monday — an authorized history of MI5, the British domestic intelligence agency. It's the first authorized history of any Western intelligence agency, and allowing an academic to write it and comb through the agency's files has raised some questions about why the agency's secrets shouldn't be kept secret.
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An amateur treasure hunter in England has stumbled upon the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered. Using a metal detector, 55-year-old Terry Herbert found silver, gold and gems in the English countryside. The find is being called the biggest Anglo-Saxon treasure trove discovered.
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The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland bills itself as the world's biggest arts festival. The Fringe is the place where comedians, actors and playwrights go to be discovered. Each year, one play tends to grab the headlines and awards. This year it's Precious Little Talent by 24-year-old Ella Hickson. Last year, her play Eight got her noticed.
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The only man ever convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, is being released from prison. The Scottish government says terminally-ill Abdel Baset al-Megrahi will be allowed to return to his home country of Libya on compassionate grounds. All 259 people aboard the flight were killed as well as 11 on the ground
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The National Theatre on the South Bank in London is broadcasting its first live play out to the world from Iceland to South Africa. Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren stars in the 17th century play Phedre, written in Alexandrine verse. At an ordinary movie theatre in the London suburb of Brixton, locals give their thoughts on the play.
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The global economic crisis tops the agenda as President Barack Obama meets with Britain's prime minister Tuesday. Gordon Brown is the first European leader to visit the new president. Brown will also address Congress during his U.S. visit.
