In The News

Traditional Korean Marriage Meets Match on the Internet

Choe Sang-Hun June 6, 2007
Those embarking on traditional marriages in South Korea have rarely relied solely on the whims of parents in selecting spouses – and modern families can now turn to the research capabilities of the internet to locate the perfect mate. With South Korea enjoying higher incomes, combined with more work opportunities, young people are choosy about marriage partners. South Korean customs discourage...

Univision Gives Citizenship Drive an Unusual Lift

Miriam Jordan May 15, 2007
More than 8 million legal permanent residents are eligible for citizenship in the US. Univision Communications is working with activists to encourage such green-card holders to collect their citizenship papers and participate in the 2008 presidential election. Such a large voting bloc could help Latino candidates and also influence the ongoing debate on immigration reform. The largest Spanish-...

The Islamist Mouseketeers: Hamas Mickey Mouse Teaches Jihad

May 10, 2007
Clips from the Palestinian show “Tomorrow’s Pioneers,” feature a bright-colored set and a human-sized mouse with big black ears. But resemblance to the cartoon character of Mickey Mouse stops there. The voice of this Disney look-alike, Farfur, is shrill – more urgent than happy – as he rattles off vocabulary that goes beyond the understanding of most young children: world leadership, liberation,...

Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death

Noah Shachtman May 9, 2007
Since the invasion of Iraq, the US is managing the first war in which cell phones, laptops, e-mail connections and digital cameras are plentiful, allowing troops to send instant messages and images. With the war in its fifth year, the US Army has ordered troops to clear all blog and e-mail content with supervisors before sending. Failure to obtain supervision can result in court marital or...

A Nationalist United States of America

Terence Chong April 20, 2007
Nation states should have more power than ever before in history. But global problems, from climate change to poverty, challenge the abilities of nation-states. Groups that despise nation-state control take advantage of any vacuum. Leaders of the nation-state no longer have exclusive control of mass communication, and the internet has shifted more power to anyone who can capture mass attention....

In Washington: Gutsy New House Speaker

M.J. Rosenberg April 12, 2007
Floundering with its own Middle East policy, the Bush administration targets criticism on Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives and third highest ranking public official in the US, for her visit to Syria. Critics suggest that she interfered with presidential authority by meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. In Syria, Pelosi reiterated US support for negotiations with Israel...

History 1980-2000 Has Disappeared Into the Ether. Sorry

Ben Macintyre March 23, 2007
Computers, CDs, digital files and scanning have allowed vast amounts of information to be collected. But digital information can vanish with a keystroke, warns Ben Macintyre, columnist with “The Times” of London. Too many administrators and researchers take digital storage for granted and do not understand that CDs, electronic tapes and other storage modes have limited life spans. Part of the...