In The News

US Products Help Block Mideast Web

Paul Sonne, Steve Stecklow March 31, 2011
As protests rage in the Middle East, some software companies help the young protesters in circumventing censorship and others assist the dictators in exerting control. Global media reports show forces in Bahrain, Libya, Syria and Yemen arresting and attacking unarmed protesters with teargas, while outspoken bloggers are jailed. This Wall Street Journal article identifes the Western firms that...

China Considers Relaxing One-Child Policy

Tania Branigan March 24, 2011
Human-rights advocates have long railed against China’s one-child policy – and exemptions have gradually been granted to a limited number of families, allowing them two children. Warned about population imbalances and young adults overwhelmed with caring for aging parents without sibling support, officials quietly ponder how to extend a two-child policy gradually for all Chinese. One out of six...

America Should Not Prosecute Julian Assange

Joseph Nye March 9, 2011
US efforts to prosecute the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, for espionage and exposing confidential US State Department cables are not in line with democratic values or support for a free and open internet, argues Joseph Nye, author and a former US assistant secretary of defense. Around the globe, news organizations, both big and small, review and disseminate the leaked cables. US...

Political Doubt Hits Zimbabwe Investors

Farai Mutsaka, Peter Wonacott March 7, 2011
Investments in struggling Zimbabwe have long carried risk, but new threats add to business uncertainty. A law promoting “indigenization” – companies with net asset value of more than $500,000 must transfer majority shares to local control – has been on the books since March 2010, report Farai Mutsaka and Peter Wonacott for the Wall Street Journal.. For enforcement, government officials target...

Apple Report Reveals Child Labor Increase

Tania Branigan February 15, 2011
Apple, which relies heavily on outsourcing, uses a portion of its record profits to audit suppliers for labor violations. “Apple said it had strengthened its checks on age because of concerns about the falsification of ages by such schools and labour agencies,” reports Tania Branigan for the Guardian. In an annual report on its manufacturers, the company reports that less than a third of audited...

Calls Mount Everywhere for Deportation of Illegal Immigrants

Joseph Chamie, Barry Mirkin December 20, 2010
Rags-to-riches tales of traders and adventurers who provided skills and innovations during their wanderings are among the more charming parts of world history. But such globalization could go into reverse in the modern era, even in democratic nations, as political parties rile voter anger over rising unemployment and security concerns, and make immigrants a scapegoat for economic crises, The top...

Christians of the Levant on the Brink of Extinction

May Akl December 10, 2010
Christianity emerged in the Middle East some 2000 years ago, spreading rapidly throughout the Levant countries along the Mediterranean, then beyond, to become a global force. But in the Middle East, the numbers of Christians dwindle, with rights of Levant Christians trampled since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies, explains May Akl, 2010 Yale University World Fellow and...