In The News

U.S. Business Leaders Demand Won's Rise, Screen Quota Cut

Kim Sung-mi September 25, 2003
Several major obstacles to a bilateral trade agreement between South Korea and the United States were challenged during a meeting this week in Washington. US and Korean business leaders called on Korea to grant greater access to foreign films by lowering its quota of domestic films from 40% to 20%, an issue which some called the "principal obstacle" to a bilateral trade deal....

SARS Proved Health is Global Public Good

Michael Merson September 24, 2003
When SARS was first reported by China to the World Health Organization last February, the world was little prepared for the consequences that were to follow from that pneumonia-like disease. We are only now beginning to understand the toll the disease took on individuals as well as entire economies and societies. Dr. Michael Merson, dean of Yale University's School of Public Health, says...

Whatever Will Be Will Be Free on Internet

Steve Lohr September 20, 2003
After Napster, the first Internet music sharing network, was closed down by the recording industry three years ago, people in the industry were expecting some peace, but they were wrong – new software such as KaZaA and Morpheus, even better designed, emerged and were soon on computers across the globe. Now the recording industry has decided to make individual file sharers its targets. This has...

Al-Azhar on Air

Rania Khallaf September 8, 2003
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Washington invested money and resources in trying to improve the image of the US in the Middle East. Now, it seems, the Middle East may be ready to launch its own media offensive. Egypt's venerable Al-Azhar University is considering launching its own satellite channel "to refute people's misconceptions about Islam and confront the...

Reality TV Rivets Africa, to the Churches' Dismay

Marc Lacey September 4, 2003
“Big Brother”, the reality television show that gained success in the Western world, has found a new audience in Africa. The African version has become the most popular show on the continent, with 30 million Africans tuning in to watch 12 young professionals from a diverse group of countries live together as housemates, sharing disagreements and romantic entanglements. While some religious and...

Coping With the Newest Threat to Global Health - Fat

Derek Yach August 26, 2003
Obesity is as great a threat to global health as malnutrition, says Derek Yach, the Representative of the Director-General of the WHO. One billion people -or one out of six --are overweight worldwide - the same number as are malnourished - and some 300 million of those are clinically obese, leading to a global rise in chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes....

A Head Trip: Indian Hair Finds Parts in Hollywood

Julia Angwin August 21, 2003
After the birth of a long-awaited son or the recovery of an ill spouse, Hindu women often visit a temple and shave their long locks as a gesture of thanks. Few suspect that their sacrificed hair may end up on the head of a European or American woman, possibly even a Hollywood actress. Yet temples across India make tidy profits selling the hair of pilgrims to foreign companies that make hair...