Julie McCarthy

Julie McCarthy has traveled the world as a foreign correspondent for NPR, heading NPR's Tokyo bureau, reporting from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and covering the news and issues of South America. McCarthy is currently NPR's correspondent based in New Delhi, India.

In April 2009, McCarthy moved to Islamabad to open NPR's first permanent bureau in Pakistan. Before moving to Islamabad, McCarthy was NPR's South America correspondent based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. McCarthy covered the Middle East for NPR from 2002 to 2005, when she was dispatched to report on the Israeli incursion into the West Bank.

Previously, McCarthy was the London Bureau Chief for NPR, a position that frequently took her far from her post to cover stories that span the globe. She spent five weeks in Iran during the war in Afghanistan, covered the re-election of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and traveled to the Indian island nation of Madagascar to report on the political and ecological developments there. Following the terror attacks on the United States, McCarthy was the lead reporter assigned to investigate al Qaeda in Europe.

In 1994, McCarthy became the first staff correspondent to head NPR's Tokyo bureau. She covered a range of stories in Japan with distinction, including the Kobe earthquake of 1995, the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and the turmoil over U.S. troops on Okinawa. Her coverage of Japan won the East-West Center's Mary Morgan Hewett Award for the Advancement of Journalism.

McCarthy has also traveled extensively throughout Asia. Her coverage of the Asian economic crisis earned her the 1998 Overseas Press Club of America Award. She arrived in Indonesia weeks before the fall of Asia's longest-running ruler and chronicled a nation in chaos as President Suharto stepped from power.

Prior to her assignment in Asia, McCarthy was the foreign editor for Europe and Africa. She served as the Senior Washington Editor during the Persian Gulf War; NPR was honored with a Silver Baton in the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for its coverage of that conflict. McCarthy was awarded a Peabody, two additional Overseas Press Club Awards and the Ohio State Award in her capacity as European and African Editor.

McCarthy was selected to spend the 2002-2003 academic year at Stanford University, winning a place in the Knight Journalism Fellowship Program. In 1994, she was a Jefferson Fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii.

Pages

The Two-Way
9:19 am
Fri March 1, 2013

Violent Street Clashes In Bangladesh Leave Dozens Dead

Credit AFP/Getty Images
A truck burns on a street outside Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, on Thursday. Violence erupted, and dozens have been killed, after a court sentenced an Islamist leader to the death penalty for crimes dating to the country's 1971 war of independence.

Originally published on Fri March 1, 2013 10:34 am

A wave of violence has rocked Bangladesh after a special war crimes tribunal Thursday imposed the death penalty on an Islamist leader for his role in the country's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Demonstrators for and against the convicted leader clashed with security forces, leaving dozens of people dead, including police.

The violence demonstrates the deep sensitivities that remain over the war of independence that played out more than 40 years ago.

Read more
The Two-Way
7:43 am
Thu February 21, 2013

In A Swirl Of Humanity, A Chance Encounter With A Saint

Originally published on Fri February 22, 2013 3:49 am

Kurt Vonnegut once said, "What makes life worth living are the saints. ... They can be longtime friends or someone I meet on a street. They find a way to behave decently in an indecent society."

And so it is with Gyanesh Kamal, a man I met at India's Kumbh Mela, one of the oldest festivals on Earth. To the uninitiated, this spiritual spectacle is a discombobulating din of prayers, loudspeakers and pilgrims so ceaseless it disorients the senses.

Read more
Asia
3:59 pm
Tue February 12, 2013

In The Waters Of India's Holy Rivers, Seeking A Glimpse Of Immortality

Originally published on Mon February 25, 2013 10:19 am

The Hindu gathering known as Kumbh Mela is on a scale difficult to fathom: The world's largest religious festival is millions of feet shuffling, millions of mantras chanted, countless sales of firewood to ward off the night cold. Millions of incense sticks will be burned and bells rung in devotional rituals called aartis.

Jet-setting swamis, naked holy men and foreigners fascinated by Eastern mysticism joined tens of millions of pilgrims for a dip in river waters believed to be holy.

Read more
Asia
12:20 am
Fri February 8, 2013

Outside The Big City, A Harrowing Sexual Assault In Rural India

Originally published on Fri February 8, 2013 5:58 pm

It began as an innocent Sunday outing to see the movie The Life of Pi. By the time the night was over, it had become a grisly gang rape that shocked the world.

Five men went on trial this week, charged with the rape and killing of a 23-year-old woman who died of the injuries she suffered when she was attacked on a bus as it moved through the streets of Delhi — an assault that ignited public outrage over the violence against women in the Indian capital.

Read more
The Two-Way
8:05 am
Tue January 22, 2013

India's Supreme Court To Hear Venue Appeal In Notorious Rape And Murder Case

Credit Harish Tyagi / EPA /LANDOV
The scene at a candle light vigil earlier this month in New Delhi. Those gathered want the men accused in a brutal rape and murder to be punished, and they want violence against women in India to stop.

Originally published on Tue January 22, 2013 3:55 pm

India's Supreme Court will hear a petition Wednesday on behalf of one of the defendants in the New Delhi rape and murder case that has provoked mass protests in that nation. One of the accused, Mukesh Singh, has asked to remove the case from the capital on the grounds that the atmosphere is too charged to ensure a fair trial.

Read more
The Two-Way
6:28 am
Wed January 9, 2013

India, Pakistan Trade Accusations Over Border Killings

India reacted angrily today at what it called the "inhumane treatment" of one of two soldiers killed Tuesday in a skirmish along the de facto border with Pakistan.

Pakistan challenged the Indian army's allegations and said it is prepared to hold an investigation through the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) into recent ceasefire violations along what is known as the Line of Control (LOC).

Read more
The Two-Way
8:08 am
Mon January 7, 2013

Amid Pandemonium, Court In Indian Rape Case Is Closed To Public

Credit Sajjad Hussain / AFP/Getty Images
Inside the courthouse in New Delhi today, there were chaotic scenes leading up to a hearing for men accused in the rape and death of a young woman. Outside, Indian police stood watch.

The five men accused in the rape case that has reverberated around the world were brought before a New Delhi magistrate for the first time today — but only after she sealed the proceedings.

Read more
The Two-Way
7:02 am
Thu January 3, 2013

In India, Five Charged With Rape And Murder In Crime That Shocked Nation

Credit Prakash Singh / AFP/Getty Images
Protests continue, such as in New Delhi today.

Originally published on Thu January 3, 2013 1:27 pm

NPR Story
2:43 am
Mon December 31, 2012

Sex Men Charged In India's Fatal Gang-Rape

Originally published on Fri January 4, 2013 6:55 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In India, protestors are vowing to keep up their fight until there is justice for the young victim of a gang rape. The young woman died this weekend after injuries she suffered in the vicious attack. The incident has renewed demands for action against sexual violence. Delhi police say the accused will be formally charged with murder. From New Delhi, here's NPR's Julie McCarthy.

Read more
The Two-Way
12:10 pm
Sat December 29, 2012

Anger Swells As Indians Mourn For Rape Victim

Originally published on Sun December 30, 2012 5:49 pm

By Saturday evening, more than 1,000 candles glowed at a somber scene in a central Delhi park as India mourned the death of the young woman whose gang rape two weeks ago shocked the country.

What began 13 days ago with a handful of well-wishers holding a hospital vigil for the rape victim swelled into thousands as a young generation of Indians demanded an end to the culture of violence that produced more than 24,000 cases of rape last year alone.

Read more

Pages