In The News

Mattel Recalls About 9 Million Toys

Nicholas Casey August 15, 2007
Ingesting lead, even small amounts, can cause irreparable brain damage in young children. So the news that major toy company Mattel has embarked on yet another major recall of toys made in China, because some contain lead paint and others contain small magnets, disturbs both consumers in the West and workers in China. Manufacturers based in China, where speech is censored, are unaccustomed to...

Why Africa Fears Western Medicine

Harriet A. Washington August 14, 2007
Africa has a history of Western doctors who claim to provide health care while in reality “administrating deadly agents.” The most infamous example is Wouter Basson, who killed hundreds through injecting poisons, but was never convicted. More recently, a Libyan court convicted a foreign physician and five nurses of infecting children with AIDS, before releasing the providers to Bulgaria. Many...

The New Economy – Medical Tourism

Sushma Ramachandran August 14, 2007
India anticipates the medical-tourism sector to expand, with patients around the world seeking low-cost, high-quality treatment. The industry could be worth $2 billion in 2012, about six times its worth in 2004, a study from Ernst and Young projects. Depending on the medical procedure, treatment in India can cost about 12 to 20 percent what the same operation might cost in developed nations. As a...

Huge Dust Plumes From China Cause Changes in Climate

Robert Lee Hotz August 13, 2007
Nations can impose the strictest of environmental standards – but that does not stop the pollution seeping in from other nations. Plumes of “man-made sulfates, smog, industrial fumes, carbon grit and nitrates” collect over manufacturing powerhouse China and then move with prevailing winds around the globe. On some days, almost one third of the air pollution in cities like Los Angeles can be...

Food That Travels Well

James E. McWilliams August 8, 2007
In the US, some fruits and vegetables travel thousands of miles before reaching the dinner table. It would seem logical that food products grown close to home require less energy than those from far away. Environmentalists tout domestic products, farm markets and labels that promise reduced consumption of carbon fuel. But the carbon print of vegetables should not be measured in miles alone....

The Cutting Edge

Margot Cohen August 8, 2007
Framing the face, hair contributes to human appearance, so much so that European religious leader Martin Luther once observed that “The hair is the richest ornament of women.” Men and women, young and old, pursue wigs, hair extensions toupees and other products. Real human hair offers the most authentic look, and hair collection, sorting, dying and crafting have become a big business in Asia....

Africa Struggles to Get on the Internet

Ron Nixon August 6, 2007
Four years ago, the firm Terracom signed a contract with the Rwandan government to provide 300 schools with internet access. Rwandan officials had planned on equipping schools with the internet as a way to modernize the rural economy. But as of mid-July, only one third of the schools had been connected. That rate is better than that for Africa as a whole, with only 4 percent of the continent...