The Overseas Press Club announced the winners of its 67th annual awards this morning, and the New York Times led the list with three.

While Iraq was a focus, it wasn't the only one, as the release announcing the award winners points out:

This year, Iraq and the war on terror accounted for several awards but they did not dominate. The growing importance of Asia drew winning entries from Cambodia, India, Japan, North Korea and Pakistan. Others came from the Congo, Russia, Beslan and Siberia.

The awards will be presented on Thursday during a black tie dinner hosted by NBC News anchor Brian Williams. Ted Koppel is slated to be honored with the President's Award for his dedicated and continued support of foreign news coverage. The family of the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings will light the "Press Freedom Candle."

The full release:

EMBARGOED for release 12:01 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 18, 2006

The New York Times Leads Winners at 67th Overseas Press Club Awards; Posthumous Honor for Yasser Salihee; Ted Koppel Receives the OPC President's Award as Most-Honored OPC Journalist

NEW YORK, April 18 — The New York Times won three Overseas Press Club Awards to lead all news organizations in the 67th annual competition honoring the finest international journalism.

The OPC awards will be presented by NBC News anchor Brian Williams at an April 20 dinner in New York where the late Knight-Ridder journalist Yasser Salihee will be honored posthumously, Ted Koppel will accept the President's Award for his dedicated and continued support of foreign news coverage and the family of the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings will light the Press Freedom Candle.

The Times' winners include Dexter Filkins, who shared the award for best magazine reporting from abroad with Julian Barnes of U.S. News & World Report. They both covered the agonizing choices facing American soldiers during the Iraqi counter-insurgency.

Amy Waldman, then of The New York Times, won for best business reporting in newspapers for her series on India's program to pave 40,000 miles of highways as the country embraces capitalism. Times' photographer Rina Castelnuovo captured the prize for best photographic reporting from abroad in newspapers in a series called "Leaving Gaza."

Knight-Ridder's team of Salihee, Hannah Allam and Tom Lasseter won the coveted Hal Boyle Award for best newspaper reporting from abroad for "Iraq: America's Failing War." The judging committee said the team was "way ahead of other news organizations in recognizing that the deadly infighting between Shiites and Sunnis could turn into civil war." Salihee, who was killed in Iraq, is the first journalist to be honored posthumously by the OPC since 1960.

"The elements of courage and creativity are represented by these 21 awards." says OPC President Dick Stolley. "These journalists have exemplified the bravery involved in war reporting."

This year, Iraq and the war on terror accounted for several awards but they did not dominate. The growing importance of Asia drew winning entries from Cambodia, India, Japan, North Korea and Pakistan. Others came from the Congo, Russia, Beslan and Siberia.

CBS News and publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux each earned two awards as the only other multiple winners. The network won for a 48 Hours story on Beslan, the Russian city that was the scene of a brutal showdown between Russian troops and Chechen guerrillas, and for CBS Evening News' coverage of the earthquake in Pakistan.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux won for books by George Packer ("The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq") and Alan Burdick ("Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion").

The Sacramento Bee took the initial award for best web coverage of international affairs by focusing on the abuse of Latin American migrants working in the Californian timber forests.

Stolley will present Koppel, the managing editor at the Discovery Channel, with the OPC President's Award for distinguished service in the field of journalism. Koppel owns a career record 10 OPC awards. "Ted could have been forgiven if he retired to his study after 25 years of Nightline. But he has moved on and we can expect more examples of his persistence and creativity," said Stolley.

The OPC Awards were founded in 1940 to recognize excellence for foreign coverage in the categories of print, broadcast and photography. There were 536 entries in this year's competition. The winners include:

Newspaper and wire sources

THE HAL BOYLE AWARD
Best newspaper or wire service reporting from abroad
HANNAH ALLAM, TOM LASSETER and the late YASSER SALIHEE, Knight Ridder, "Iraq: America's Failing War."

THE BOB CONSIDINE AWARD
Best newspaper or wire service interpretation of international affairs
DANA PRIEST, The Washington Post, "The CIA's Secret War"

THE MALCOLM FORBES AWARD
Best business reporting from abroad in newspapers or wire services
AMY WALDMAN, The New York Times, "India Accelerating"

THE MADELINE DANE ROSS AWARD
Best international reporting in the print medium showing a concern for the human condition
CAM SIMPSON, Chicago Tribune, "Pipeline to Peril"

THE JOE and LAURIE DINE AWARD
Best international reporting in any medium dealing with human rights
BARBARA DEMICK, Los Angeles Times, "Glimpses of a Hermit Nation"

THE ROBERT SPIERS BENJAMIN AWARD
Best reporting in any medium on Latin America
BOB DAVIS, MATT MOFFETT, DAVID LUHNOW, GERALDO SAMOR, JOHN LYONS, JOHN D. MCKINNON, The Wall Street Journal, "The Failure of Reform"

Cartoons

THE THOMAS NAST AWARD
Best cartoons on international affairs
CLAY BENNETT, The Christian Science Monitor and MIKE LUCKOVICH, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Photography

THE ROBERT CAPA GOLD MEDAL AWARD
Best published photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise
CHRIS HONDROS, Getty Images, "One Night in Tal Afar"

THE OLIVIER REBBOT AWARD
Best photographic reporting from abroad in magazines and books
MARCUS BLEASDALE, American Photo, "The Rape of a Nation"

THE JOHN FABER AWARD
Best photographic reporting from abroad in newspapers and wire services
RINA CASTELNUOVO, The New York Times, "Leaving Gaza"

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
Best feature photography published in any medium on an international theme
CHRISTOPHER MORRIS, VII for Time/Asia, "Inside the Hermit Kingdom"

Radio and television

THE LOWELL THOMAS AWARD
Best radio news or interpretation of international affairs
RACHEL LOUISE SNYDER, SARAH KOENIG, IRA GLASS, WBEZ; Public Radio International, "This American Life: Dreams of Distant Factories"

THE DAVID KAPLAN AWARD
Best TV spot news reporting from abroad
RICHARD ROTH, ANDY CLARKE, NICK TURNER, JAMES BROLAN
CBS News — Evening News, "Pakistan Earthquake"

THE EDWARD R. MURROW AWARD

Best TV interpretation or documentary on international affairs
PETER VAN SANT, SUSAN ZIRINSKY, PETER SCHWEITZER, JOE HALDERMAN, JONATHAN SANDERS, MICHAEL MCHUGH, MICHAEL VELE
CBS News — 48 Hours, "Hostage: The Seige of Beslan"

THE CARL SPIELVOGEL AWARD
Best international reporting in the broadcast media showing a concern for the human condition
BRENT and CRAIG RENAUD, Discovery Times Channel, "Off to War"

THE ARTYOM BOROVIK AWARD
For outstanding reporting by a Russian journalist who displays courage, insight, balanced yet aggressive reporting, and independence of thought
MARINA DOBROVOLSKAYA, Krasnoyarsk TV, "Fight for Justice"

Web sources

THE WEBSITE AWARD
Best web coverage of international affairs
TOM KNUDSON, HECTOR AMEZCUA, SETH VANBOOVEN, The Sacramento Bee, "The Pineros: Men of the Pines"

Magazines and books

THE ED CUNNINGHAM AWARD
Best magazine reporting from abroad
JULIAN BARNES, U.S. News & World Report, "Cracking an Insurgent Cell," and DEXTER FILKINS, The New York Times Magazine, "The Fall of the Warrior King"

THE MORTON FRANK AWARD
Best business reporting from abroad in magazines
NEIL WEINBERG, KIYOE MINAMI, Forbes Asia, "The Front Line: Japan Sheds Pacifism"

THE CORNELIUS RYAN AWARD
Best nonfiction book on international affairs
GEORGE PACKER, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq"

THE WHITMAN BASSOW AWARD
Best reporting in any medium on international environmental issues
ALAN BURDICK, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, "Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion"

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