In The News

For Its Own Reasons, Singapore Is Getting Rather Gay-Friendly

Gordon Fairclough October 26, 2004
Singapore today remains a conservative culture where the government retains the right to censorship, but a combination of international media and economic factors have led to a wider acceptance of homosexuality. While open organization and public demonstration may still be off limits for gay activists, the internet and other international news sources have allowed for an influx of gay awareness,...

Making Innocents Pay for Other's Sins

October 6, 2004
The continually fragile security situation in Iraq has bred a climate of fear for most foreigners present there. Soldiers, journalists, and independent civilian workers have all been the victims of kidnappings by insurgent groups in Iraq. Some of the kidnapped make it back to their countries or families, but many abductions have ended in execution, complete with grisly recordings. In light of the...

Where Did All the Jobs Go? Nowhere

Daniel W. Drezner September 29, 2004
The issue of outsourcing has figured quite prominently in US electoral politics this year. Despite the headlines and political rhetoric, points out political scientist Daniel Drezner, outsourcing is really a minor issue, accounting for less than one percent of mass layoffs last year. Technological innovation has a far larger impact on the American job market, though few pundits argue that...

Even Near Home, a New Front Is Opening in the Terror Battle

Eric Lipton September 23, 2004
Website hosting companies in the US have become the unwitting carriers of terrorist information. Since web postings are hard to trace and can be removed at will, many terrorist groups now use the internet to disseminate information, including specific instructions for carrying out kidnappings and bombings. US prosecutors have begun a controversial campaign to track down - via hosting companies...

Nagging Doubts About the Benefits of Globalization, and a Look at the Evidence

September 20, 2004
The phenomenon of "outsourcing" still fans the flames of much heated debate in both Europe and North America. At once praised and vilified, it has crept into all levels of discourse and political rhetoric. Some economists, led by Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson, have argued that by facilitating business and technological growth abroad, outsourcing companies may be sowing the seeds of...

Report Reveals London's Sex Slaves

Simon Jeffery August 19, 2004
A recent report provides a snapshot of London's off-street prostitution, claiming that more than 8,000 women are working in brothels, saunas and massage parlors across the city, as well as businesses that put up ads in newspapers and websites. A closer look at the nationalities of these women, however, finds that three quarters of them are non-British, coming mostly from eastern Europe and...

'Bad Press' Causing Headaches for Beijing

Paul Mooney July 22, 2004
Although SARS may have served as a wake-up call to China's leaders on the importance of free speech and openness, over the past year and a half Beijing seems to have been backsliding. Writing from Beijing, Paul Mooney notes that one newspaper was shut down in March 2003 for criticizing Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin for being autocratic. Another paper's editors were...