In The News

Gendercide: The World Wide War on Baby Girls

March 5, 2010
In ten years, China will have more boys than girls. Skewed sex ratios, a result of infanticide and sex-selective abortions, have become a huge problem not only in China, but also in India, South Korea, Singapore, and even some ex-Soviet states. Reasons for preference for boys include a desire to avoid the cost of dowries to be paid on the daughter’s wedding, a woman’s adoption into her husband’s...

Broad New Hacking Attack Detected

Siobhan Gorman February 22, 2010
A spate of cyber attacks over the last year and a half has affected around 75,000 computers belonging to 2,500 companies in 196 countries. NetWitness, the firm that discovered the security breaches, revealed that the attacks were directed at both companies – such as Cardinal Health and Merck – and government agencies to steal contact databases, passwords, credit-card data and other sensitive...

Immigration in Italy: Southern Misery

January 15, 2010
Rosarno, Italy has recently experienced a wave of anti-immigrant violence targeted at Africans, many of whom work as crop-pickers. Causes of such violence are multi-faceted. An influx of immigrants, many of whom entered illegally, created tensions with the existing population over employment and race. Worsening the situation, cheap citrus imports from countries like Spain and Brazil left Italian...

Kenya Fishermen See Upside To Pirates: More Fish

Jason Straziuso January 13, 2010
In a weird twist of fate, Somali pirates have helped Kenya’s fishing improve. The threat posed by these pirates in the western Indian Ocean has discouraged foreign vessels from fishing in the region. This sudden drop in fishing has allowed fish stocks to replenish – especially varieties that had all but disappeared such as red snapper and barracuda – providing Kenyan fisherman with better catches...

How Europe's Discarded Computers Are Poisoning Africa's Kids

Clemens Höges December 9, 2009
Twenty years ago, the international community drew up the Basel Convention in order to prevent developed nations from dumping their computer scraps in the developing world. Yet, the last two decades have shown that enforcing such a treaty is difficult. Some countries, such as the US, still haven't ratified the treaty; meanwhile, those who have, such as Germany, still struggle to abide by it...

Global Crime Networks Cooperate Better Than Police

October 13, 2009
Despite being one of the world's biggest international organizations, Interpol has struggled to rein in global crime syndicates. While police forces and intelligence organizations –both locally and internationally – hesitate to share information, fearing another's potential for corruption, criminals have capitalized on tech-savvy forms of global communication to build links across...

China Spreads Aid in Africa, With a Catch

Sharon Lafraniere, John Grobler September 23, 2009
In recent years, China has greatly increased its presence throughout the developing world by offering loans below market-rates, championing such efforts as win-win for both China and the receiving countries. Whereas Western nations have often attached political and economic reforms as conditions to their aid, China instead offered “no strings attached” assistance, disregarding human rights...