In The News

Holocaust Memories Hover Over Refugees

Peter Hirschberg June 20, 2006
Sudanese refugees who have illegally crossed the border into Israel are either forced back into Egypt or arrested and detained. Some of those arrested are released by the courts and taken in by kibbutzim, while others remain in prison waiting to be charged. The refugees pose a moral dilemma to the citizens and government of Israel; the chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum, wrote in...

Web Ads Present New Front in Hacker Wars

Riva Richmond June 15, 2006
“Pay-per-click” online advertising, how many websites charge customers, is a new target for computer hackers. Illegal software, which can be surreptitiously attached to private PCs, generates false clicks in massive numbers. The potential for false accounting could place advertisers in financial conflict with servers like Google and Yahoo and could be used by rival companies to attack one...

US Warms to Hague Tribunal New Stance

Jess Bravin June 14, 2006
Critics of the US suggest that the country considers itself to be above international law. To counter the complaints, the Bush administration is gradually recognizing the International Criminal Court. Washington strongly opposed the move to create the ICC – but has come to realize that the US simply cannot ignore a court that has the support of 100 countries, including key allies such as the UK....

UK Fears Record Afghan Heroin Output

Declan Walsh June 13, 2006
Despite 3,300 British troops deployed to the Helmand, Afghanistan, the province is on track to produce a record heroin crop. There are numerous reasons for the inability of British soldiers to control the trade. The UK government accused the Afghan minister in charge of counter-narcotics of having ties to smuggling. While the UK has not yet provided concrete proof, the allegation has strained...

In Praise of Migration

Kofi A. Annan June 8, 2006
UN secretary general Kofi Annan not only suggests that borders are meant to be crossed, but also that those crossing national borders “have always been the motors of human progress.” Migration offers myriad benefits, including an increased menial and skilled labor force comprised of incoming migrants, as well as the high level of remittances that migrants send home, which totaled around $232...

Somalis Brave a Sea of Perils for Jobs Abroad

Marc Lacey June 5, 2006
For individuals seeking an escape from the crushing drought, poverty and violence of Somalia, the width of the Gulf of Aden between the African coast and that of Yemen is tantalizingly narrow. The two-day journey, however, is deadly for the migrants who cram onto rickety fishing boats, waiting to be smuggled across the divide. Conservative estimates suggest that since September 2005, about 1000...

Going Dutch Has New Meaning in Corporate Takeover Battles

Adam Cohen May 30, 2006
The Netherlands, a country long known for its tolerance and openness to outsiders, has found itself in the center of an EU-wide debate between protectionism and consolidation of industry. Luxembourg steelmaker Arcelor SA recently formed a “stichting” in the Netherlands in an attempt to keep its Canadian unit, Dofasco, out of the hands of Mittal. Dutch law, endorsed by the EU, allows for the...