In The News

The GM Mirage Will Not Help the Poor

Alex Wijeratna June 4, 2003
It is profits and not an altruistic desire to end world hunger that is behind the emergence of the genetically modified (GM) agriculture industry, argues Alex Wijeratna of the UK based international development agency, ActionAid. Wijeratna's essay adds to the US's concern over export restrictions on GM treated food from the US to countries in the European Union. Recently, US President...

America's War on Terror Goes Awry in Pakistan

Ahmed Rashid June 4, 2003
Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia and Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, offers a scathing indictment of US foreign policy in South Asia, post-September 11. Rashid argues that US-led military action and victory in Afghanistan did not eradicate the Islamic fundamentalist ideology of the Taliban. Rather, Taliban's...

Globalization with Few Discontents?

June 3, 2003
As a sub-section of the Pew Global Attitudes Project survey, "View of a Changing World," this article examines the global public's attitudes towards globalization in the past five years. Generally, peoples of the world agree - albeit to different degrees - that after experiencing globalization through trade, finance, travel, communication and culture, they favor an interconnected...

In Africa, Pricking the West's Conscience

Somini Sengupta June 2, 2003
A French-led peacekeeping force of 1,400 is expected to arrive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo later this week. The recent surge of violence in the Congo has raised fears that, unless action is taken immediately, another peacekeeping fiasco like the one in Rwanda might take place. The violence that plagues the DRC has made the delivery of aid (in food and medicine) very difficult, making...

Water Tap Often Shut to South Africa's Poor

Ginger Thompson May 29, 2003
In an attempt to lessen the government's financial burden from household utilities, the South African government has decided to privatize public water operations and start cutoff standards and water-pricing. According to some government officials, this new policy can give people the incentive to lower their consumption and not to waste resources. However, many people in low-income families...

An Exodus Grows in Brooklyn

Michael Powell May 28, 2003
By all accounts, life as one knew it is over in New York City's Little Pakistan. Little Pakistan formed as an ethnic residential and business neighborhood of Pakistani immigrants in the early 1960s. In the decades that followed, the neighborhood transformed into a bustling center of Pakistani-ness, adding to the vitality of multicultural New York. As reported in this Washington Post...

Shop Online? Security’s Still a Worry for S'poreans

Natalie Soh May 28, 2003
According to Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), less than 25% of Internet users in Singapore shop online. The need to touch and fee are important reasons why consumers prefer to shop at stores. Online security and the relatively long period it takes for products to ship to Singapore also deter consumers looking for instant gratification. However, IDA anticipates that as...