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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The London Stock Exchange has been digesting news that the British government will inject some $65 billion into three of the country's main banks. Stocks are up sharply in London, and elsewhere in Europe, as other European Union countries followed suit. President Bush announced Tuesday that the U.S. government will purchase shares in ailing American banks.
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The Federal Reserve has tried another step to calm financial markets. It cut a key lending rate in a coordinated move with other central banks. Is the action enough to move markets higher, and stop the global financial crisis?
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Europe is engaged in its own bank rescue bailouts. The governments of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg rescued financial firm Fortis over the weekend to prevent a domino-like spread of failure. Britain is nationalizing mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley.
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is visiting the United States this week. Brown will meet with President Bush and all three U.S. presidential candidates, but he has also focused his trip on the current economic downturn.
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Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, Sam Nunn and William Perry argue the only way to stop nuclear weapons from falling into terrorist hands is to get rid of all of them. This week the former statesmen and their supporters convened in Oslo, Norway, for a conference.
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Despite her troubles with addiction, British singer Amy Winehouse has soared to popularity and inspired a new generation of female singer-songwriters in the U.K. Young, female artists like Adele and Duffy have found success on the charts.
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The British army's operation in Northern Ireland ends after nearly 40 years. Operation Banner was the army's longest continuous campaign, with more than 300,000 personnel. A garrison of 5,000 troops will remain in the province, but security will be in the hands of the police.
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The British army in Northern Ireland officially withdraws Tuesday, marking the end of an era and the final success of the peace process in the province. As of Wednesday, there will be no regular military presence in Northern Ireland.
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Intense rainfall in England has caused rivers to burst banks and streets to become like rivers. More than a month's worth of rain doused England and Wales in just hours Friday, forcing evacuation and threatening the water supply. More rain is forecast.
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Four men have been convicted in London of trying to bomb the city's transport system in July 2005. The attempted bombings came just two weeks after Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people on a bus and three trains on the underground rail system.