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Vietnam

Eddie Adams' Iconic Saigon Shot, 50 Years Later (Video)

Detail of the iconic Saigon shot, Feb. 1, 1968
Detail of the iconic Saigon shot, Feb. 1, 1968
Eddie Adams/AP Photo
Worldcrunch

Even in a pre-internet era, the impact was almost immediate.

Eddie Adams' Feb. 1, 1968 photograph of Lt. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a North Vietnamese prisoner hit the Associated Press wires, and would soon appear in newspapers in the United States and around the world. The graphic image stunned the public and politicians alike, quickly adding to the mounting opposition to the war in Vietnam. Some historians say it may have changed the course of the war itself.

Adams, who would win the Pulitzer Prize for the image, had mixed feelings about the work. For a seasoned AP war photographer, witnessing death and killing was part of daily life. You may be surprised to find out what he did right after photographing the execution. (Note: The audio featured below is from an interview before Adams' death, in 2004.)

In the 50 years since it was taken, the single frame has become an icon of photojournalism. And while it is readily recognizable, not only for photography buffs and for many who keep up with current events, we have found a way to retell its story. And see the image. Do you have 58 seconds?

To discover the stories behind the best photography, follow OneShot on Instagram , Facebook or Twitter.

OneShot — Execution Of Viet Cong Prisoner, 1968 (©Eddie Adams/AP Photo)

OneShot is a new digital format to tell the story of a single photograph in an immersive one-minute video.

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Geopolitics

Saudi Ambitions: Is MBS A New Nasser For The Middle East?

Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS, is positioning the Saudi kingdom to be a global force of diplomacy in a way that challenges a longstanding alliance with Washington. But does the young prince have a singular vision for the interests of both his nation and the world?

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sitting with hands crossed

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on April 14, 2023

Piere Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — In the Lebanese daily L'Orient-le-Jour, which has no particular attachment to the Saudi government, Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's Crown Prince, was recently described as a man "who is taking on an importance that no Arab leader has had since Nasser."

That's right: this is the very same Mohamed bin Salman who had been considered an international pariah for ordering the sordid murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

So what has "MBS," as he calls himself, done to be compared to the greatest Arab nationalist leader of the 20th century, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who died in 1970? The Crown Prince has taken advantage of the shockwaves of the war in Ukraine to emancipate himself from any oversight, and to develop a diplomacy which, it must be admitted, is hard to keep up with.

Saudi Arabia thus embodies those mid-level powers that defy all the codes of international alliances, and do as they please – for better or for worse.

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