In The News

New Zealand Oil Spill Ship Captain Charged

October 13, 2011
The cargo ship Rena ran aground off the port of Tauranga in New Zealand, and its captain has been charged with taking unnecessary risks. The accident is New Zealand’s worse environmental disaster in decades, with leaking oil hitting popular beaches and marine wildlife areas over the course of a week. The ship ran aground 5 October. Heavy swells continue to batter the grounded vessel, hampering...

Coptic Christians Rage Against Egypt’s Army

October 12, 2011
Egypt’s revolution demanding human rights and just representation could be high-jacked by special interests. Tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians, the latter making up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 80 million, are on the rise. The military took brutal measures on Coptic Christians protesting the burning of a church by Muslim extremists, and at least 25 people died. The...

SEC Seeks Offshore Cash Disclosure

Helen Thomas September 26, 2011
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is “pushing” companies to disclose to investors their offshore cash holdings, reports Helen Thomas for the Financial Times. Such disclosures could “be relevant and material to understanding a company’s liquidity,” Thomas adds. US regulations require companies to pay taxes of up to 35 percent on income earned overseas and repatriated to the US, providing...

After the Arab Spring – Part II

Daniel Bethlehem September 23, 2011
Statehood for Palestine in name only won’t ensure peace, equal footing with Israel and policies that serve the people living within those borders. A three-part series explores the aftermath of the Arab Spring including the motivations behind the Palestinian quest for statehood and consequences. “A balance of dignity between the parties is a necessary step towards a more durable accommodation,”...

Pakistan to Ban Encryption Software

Josh Halliday, Saeed Shah September 1, 2011
Protecting privacy is good for business. Yet the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has ordered internet providers in the world’s sixth largest nation to report any customers using virtual private networks to browse the web. The directive could disrupt the work of investors, entrepreneurs and researchers who routinely rely on virtual private networks, including encrypted emails, for secure...

The War on Web Anonymity

Marcel Rosenbach, Hilmar Schmundt August 11, 2011
Internet users, like patrons at a library or a grocery store, value privacy and cringe about how reporting even a few choices may influence advertisers, insurers or creditors to make incorrect assumptions about an individual’s health or career prospects. Internet companies, politicians and law-enforcement agencies, even in democratic societies, though express concerns that anonymity leads to...

Cambodia Seeks to Rein in the NGOs

July 26, 2011
Cambodia struggles to recover from US bombing during the 1960s and the genocide and destruction of the Pol Pot regime. “The Khmer Rouge wrecked virtually all of the social institutions in the country and substituted nothing in their place,” explains the Asia Sentinel. Hundreds of local and international NGOs, funded by international donations, have the goal of restoring a viable social...