In The News

Merck Seeks Wider Coalition on Aids

James Lamont September 12, 2002
US pharmaceutical Merck is following in the foot steps of other multi-national corporations like Anglo-American and DeBeers, who have decided to provide anti-retroviral drugs used to combat HIV/Aids to their workers. While Merck has partnered with Botswana and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to provide treatment, the company’s chief executive is calling for a “larger coalition” of UN...

Chinese Communists Set for Policy Shift

James Kynge August 26, 2002
China plans to initiate several wealthy entrepreneurs into the central committee of the Communist Party on November 8. Because the Communist Party outranks all other governmental structures, its new members may be able to wield significant power. China’s president is spearheading the move; he believes, “The party should represent advanced productive forces, advanced culture and the broad...

Boeing, Airbus Competition Puts Pakistan in a Fix

Masood Anwar August 22, 2002
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) must decide on more than which airplane to buy; it must also find a way to appease the country which produces that airplane. In an effort to help the ailing airline industry, the U.S. and France are using diplomatic power to force PIA to make a decision in favor of either Boeing (U.S.) or Airbus (France). For the moment, PIA has yet to make a final decision,...

Brazil Relief Rests on Hopefuls' IMF Stances

Raymond Colitt August 14, 2002
After the 1998 Russian financial crisis and Argentina's economic collapse, the International Monetary Fund's latest target for support is Brazil’s struggling economy, lending that country 30 billion US dollars last week. This seemed like good news for Brazil which hoped that the IMF loan would attract international investment. However, despite the IMF's support, international...

Exxon Bigger than Pakistan: Survey

August 14, 2002
Some multi-national corporations are now larger economically and growing faster than many nations, a UN report says. The report was filed to answer the debate whether corporations were over-shadowing countries in economic stature. Among the corporations, Exxon Mobil Corp, an oil company, topped the list, and the next highest were automobile manufacturers. The rest of the list was a diverse group...

Aids to slash South African savings funds

James Lamont August 5, 2002
The Aids crisis in South Africa is presenting new challenges to the pension fund industry. As death rates increase – life expectancy for males is expected to fall to age 38 by 2010 – the costs of death benefits and taxes will halve many pension funds. These predictions have led some portfolio managers to limit contributions to death benefits. South African companies still don’t see Aids as...

Cybercafe Crackdown May Trip up Leering Boys

Ian Fisher August 1, 2002
In the name of fighting terrorism, the Government of Pakistan has imposed new regulations that would keep track of cybercafe users. The new rules require cybercafes to register with the government and to ask every customer for proof of identity so as to track terrorists and deny them access to public computers. However, like the rest of the world, porn sites, email accounts and chat sites are...