In The News

The World’s Drinking Problem

May 19, 2015
Widespread alcohol abuse is disruptive for economies, suggests a report from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. Alcohol consumption and related health issues rise with increased wealth, and China and emerging economies are wrestling with growing alcohol consumption: “While more than half of the Chinese population aged 15 years and older do not drink at all, 42 percent of...

Muslims in Texas Walk a Fine Line After Garland Shooting

Manny Fernandez and Laurie Goodstein May 18, 2015
Muslim leaders in Texas pointedly ignored plans for a Dallas exhibition of Prophet Mohammed cartoons, but worried how free speech could devolve into hate speech that incites violence. Sure enough, two men storming the event with guns were shot and killed. An article in the New York Times describes how one leader pondered a “response that would walk a fine line: clearly condemning the extremists...

UN Credibility on Trial in Cambodia

John D. Ciorciari May 14, 2015
The Khmer Rouge controlled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, killing more than two million, displacing and ruining the lives of millions more. A hybrid tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, organized by the United Nations, was established for trying those most responsible for atrocities committed during the China-backed Pol Pot era. Cambodia's Hun Sen embraced the hybrid...

Major Companies Threaten to End Relationships With Indiana Over “License to Discriminate” Law

Louis Weisberg April 2, 2015
A storm of criticism from multinational corporations and human-rights groups has convinced lawmakers in Indiana to backtrack on a vague law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, suggesting that governments could not “substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion” and individuals or businesses could assert such claims in legal proceedings. The law was crafted soon after courts required...

Why “India’s Daughter” Should Be Seen in India

Salil Tripathi March 6, 2015
Indian courts tried blocking “India’s Daughter,” the BBC film on the 2012 gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy student on a city bus, from a global showing. “As Indian government officials drummed up publicity for the film in a way that was beyond the wildest imagination of any marketing executive – calling for its global ban, complaining about defaming India, worrying about impact on tourist...

Only Net Neutrality Can Protect the Internet From Becoming Like TV

Malkia Cyril February 27, 2015
The US Federal Communications Commission ruled 3 to 2 that the internet is a utility and should be regulated as such. The rules have yet to be written; appeals and litigation are expected. “Internet Service Providers want to break the internet into fast and slow lanes that sell public voice to the highest bidder,” writes Malkia Cyril in an opinion essay for the Guardian. A multi-tier system could...

To Eradicate Measles, Destroy Vaccine Myths

Paula Kavathas February 17, 2015
In a globalized world, contagious diseases like measles quickly hop borders. A measles outbreak started in December at California’s Disneyland, and the disease quickly spread to 17 states in the US. “While people do not shudder upon hearing the word ‘measles’ as they do with ‘smallpox’ or ‘Ebola,’ this does little to lessen the heartache of the thousands of parents who lose their children to...