In The News

Brussels Blocks Austrian Attempt to Create GM-Free Zone

Andrew Osborn September 3, 2003
A movement against genetically-modified crops in Europe appears to be no match for the powerful US biotechnology lobby. The European Union, bowing to pressure from the US representatives to the World Trade Organization, is well on its way to lifting its 5-year old moratorium on GM crop approvals. The latest battle was won by pro-GM forces this week when the EU Commission told Upper Austria that...

Think Again: The United Nations

Madeleine K. Albright September 2, 2003
Is the United Nations really horribly bureaucratic, ineffective, undemocratic, and anti-American? Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright doesn't think so. In this Foreign Policy article, she argues that even after the recent US-led Iraq War, which failed to garner the support of the UN Security Council, the United Nations retains its position as the preeminent forum for...

SARS: Down but Still a Threat

August 31, 2003
In a recently released report on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) the Central Intelligence Agency says that although the Sars wave has been overcome it has not been eradicated. Despite the announcement by the World Health Organization that on 5 July the disease was contained, the agency says that many health experts fear it could return again in the fall when cooler temperatures return...

Sharon is Now a Danger to US Troops and Hopes in Iraq

Martin Woollacott August 22, 2003
Complicated and tenuous as America's hold on Iraq is, the more urgent crisis is in Israel and Palestine, this opinion piece in The Guardian contends. The cease-fire America has worked so hard to produce and which had created a period of tentative peace between Palestinian factions and the Israeli government, is now in danger of collapse. And, although a settlement in the Holy Land will not...

Australia Plays Down Pacific Union

August 14, 2003
A recent report by the Australian Senate suggested that Pacific micro states should move towards political and economic integration, similar to the European Union. Australian Prime Minister John Howard acknowledged that the report made many important points but denies that the Pacific region is ready or willing to relinquish much national sovereignty. "Let's crawl before we walk,...

Timetabling Elections

Jihan El-Alaily August 12, 2003
The UN’s senior political advisor on Iraq, Ghassan Salame, is supportive of Iraq’s Interim Governing Council (IGC) and optimistic about US efforts to establish a democracy in the country. In an interview with the prominent Egyptian weekly, Al-Ahram, Salame admonishes Arab nations that criticize the US run interim government, saying they should not pass judgment without "first hand knowledge...

US Courts' Role in Foreign Feuds Comes Under Fire

Adam Liptak August 3, 2003
Courts in the United States are increasingly being used to adjudicate disputes occurring beyond US orders, explains the New York Times. Some cases involve human rights concerns and also financial compensation: A Scottish woman sued in New York to stop construction of a proposed holocaust memorial in Poland, relatives of Venezuelans killed in Caracas sues the Venezuelan president in a Miami court...