In The News

Norway vs. the Glass Ceiling

Lizette Alvarez July 14, 2003
Women could soon find themselves much more at home in boardrooms across Norway. Part of a legislative trend spreading across Europe, at summer's end Norway's parliament is expected to reconfigure the sex ratio of corporate boardrooms so that women will occupy 40 percent of board seats by 2007. The bill is drawing concern from domestic business groups but arrives at a time when the...

Critical of U.S. Policies, Africans Are Giving Bush Chilly Reception

Dana Milbank July 10, 2003
African commentators refuse to tip-toe around the tough topics. Though US President Bush and South African President Mbeki carefully avoided contentious issues at their meeting, newspapers refused to muffle criticism of America's foreign policies and continued to express doubt about the sincerity of the superpower's interest in Africa. In general, says this Washington Post article,...

Al-Jazeera, A Channel To Another World

Ken Ringle July 10, 2003
In the minds of most Americans, the Arab news station, al-Jazeera, is associated with tapes of Osama Bin Laden and therefore with extremist Muslims. However, as this Washington Post article points out, al-Jazeera's reporters "aren't the problem in the Middle East: They may be the start of the solution." Citing a new documentary by film-maker Ben Anthony, the article reveals...

There is More to Transatlantic Relations Than Security

Jeffrey E. Garten July 9, 2003
Residual anger about the Iraq War needn’t impede economic cooperation between the US and Europe, maintains Jeffrey Garten, dean of the Yale School of Management. According to Garten, accusations of continued American unilateralism are largely exaggerated. US President Bush is currently engaged in multilateral global trade negotiations, regional economic discussions, and anti-AIDS efforts that...

African Pundits Heckle Bush for ‘Safari’

Jefferson Morley July 8, 2003
Africa’s online media has been attacking US President Bush’s agenda even before his five-day trip around the continent got under way.. Journalists in each of the countries he is visiting – as well as in some that he’s not – doubt Bush’s sincerity and motivations vocally or tacitly. Concern over American hegemony figured prominently in the South African and Zambian press, which maintained Bush...

Free Press Essential for Hong Kong's Success

Zhiwu Chen July 2, 2003
In the largest demonstration since Hong Kong passed over to Chinese control in 1997, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the street on July 1. While the protesters are against a planned anti-subversion law, the issue at stake is more than simply free speech - it is also about the continued economic prosperity of Hong Kong. Over the last few decades, Hong Kong has transformed itself into...

Mass Protests Held in Hong Kong over Rights

Angela Mackay July 1, 2003
In scorching heat, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong demonstrating against a pending anti-subversion law. The proposed 'Article 23' legislation would give the government the power to ban organizations deemed unfriendly to China or Hong Kong, permit police to search without a court warrant, and give a life sentence to those convicted of treason or...