In The News

Our Moral Superiority About Sex Is Proving Deadly

Saral Boseley November 28, 2006
Western nations like the US and the UK have split personalities when it comes to sex. Western cultures are obsessed with the topic, allowing it to dominate the media, consumer products and everyday life – yet their politicians and professionals are quick to criticize or advise developing nations about high rate of AIDS or promiscuity. A series published in the journal “Lancet” suggests that the...

A Clash of Civilizations in Europe?

Patrick Sabatier October 17, 2006
Secular Europe and some of its Muslims citizens continue to clash – not in direct battle but over cartoons, operas, newspaper essays and school customs. The clashes are a product of a globalized media system, according to French journalist Patrick Sabatier, with instant information about any perceived slight to faith over satellite television or internet obscuring complex issues and provoking...

Micro-credit Pioneer Gets Nobel for Peace

Amelia Gentleman October 13, 2006
The Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and Muhammad Yunus, its founder, have won the latest Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for their work using microcredit loans to lift millions of women out of poverty. In the past, banks in the developing world rarely lent to the poor, trapping farmers in a cycle of poverty and depriving economies of small businesses. Yunus realized that even poor borrowers could...

Family Tree of Chinese Sage Branches Out to Include Women

Jonathan Watts October 9, 2006
The Chinese philosopher Confucius lived more than 2500 years ago, and his teachings about how to live a life of purpose still resonate today. As a code of ethics, Confucianism emphasizes peaceful relationships and benevolent dictatorships through hierarchy, requiring women to obey men, the young to obey old, and subjects to obey rulers. China’s government is promoting Confucius values –...

In Teeming India, Water Crisis Means Dry Pipes and Foul Sludge

Somini Sengupta October 3, 2006
Some middle-class neighborhoods in India’s wealthiest cities have ample plumbing and the infrastructure for supplying water, but not the actual liquid itself. India’s major cities fail to provide reliable tap water throughout the day, and this article from “The New York Times” describes how some women devote entire days planning to secure extra water. In terms of industry and technology,...

Industrialization in Saudi Arabia: A New Paradigm

Jean-Francois Seznec October 2, 2006
In the 20th century, Saudi Arabia embraced crude oil and the Western powers demanding it. For the 21st century, Riyadh is turning away from both, as the government hopes to translate its wealth of raw resources into lasting industrial development. The plan is for the Saudis to use their cheap energy and become the world’s leading producer of petrochemicals. The emphasis on manufacturing over...

S. Koreans Search Far and Wide for a Wife

Barbara Demick September 25, 2006
Tens of thousands of South Korean men look to China, Vietnam and beyond for wives, in response to a shortage of brides caused by a generation of gender-selective births. Since ultrasounds became widely available in the 1980s, parents in South Korea could screen out undesirable daughters, resulting in a gender imbalance of 113 males for every 100 females. The countryside’s shortage of marriage-...