In The News

India's City of Contrasts May Really Need Two Names

Anand Giridharadas February 28, 2005
Ten years ago, in seeking to escape its colonial legacy, India's wealthiest state re-named its flagship city, and Bombay became Mumbai. To this day, however, there is still confusion over what to call the city; the Times of India writes "Mumbai" on front-page news, but calls its entertainment insert the Bombay Times. Increasingly – and much to the confusion of outsiders – the...

Don't Blame Wal-Mart

Robert B. Reich February 28, 2005
Multinational giant Wal-Mart is notorious for its anti-union stance and questionable labor practices. But, as Robert B. Reich opines, "Isn't Wal-Mart really being punished for our sins?" Reich suggests that US consumers, in their quest for bottom-dollar bargains, continue to shop at low-price retailers – thereby enabling their practices. In the competition to stay afloat,...

A Pageant with a Purpose

Simon Robinson February 28, 2005
Last week, Botswana played host to a unique type of beauty pageant. Twelve competitors from around the nation danced, smiled, and glamorized in the 5th annual Miss HIV Stigma Free Pageant, designed to showcase the fact that even with the AIDS virus, life goes on. Botswana, regarded as one of the most progressive African nations in its handling of the AIDS crisis, views the culture of shame and...

Foreign Hoopsters Get a Crucial Assist

Chanel White February 17, 2005
In recent decades, sport has become a globalized and globalizing force. Sport provides the financial impetus for seemingly unlikely migrations. Nigerian soccer players ply their trade in snow-swept Donetsk in Ukraine, Brazilians play in Japan, and even Iraqis find themselves mired in the muddy soccer fields of Calcutta. Sport brings disparate parts of the world into touch. Though soccer continues...

Iranian Cleric Blogs for Free Expression

Reuters February 16, 2005
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, like so many politically conscious world citizens today, writes an internet web log, or "blog." Abtahi's story seems ordinary – except that he is an Iranian presidential adviser and a Muslim cleric. This revolutionary action, undertaken by a very senior member of the Iranian government, is aimed at promoting an open discourse for expression, political or...

Asia-Pacific Travel Set for Strong Growth in 2005

Ven Sreenivasan February 16, 2005
High fuel prices, the avian flu, and Indian Ocean tsunami disasters don't seem to have negatively affected Asia's tourist industry, says a report issued by a major ticketing and distribution company. In fact, "the trials of the past few years had taught the industry to better manage crises." The 40 percent growth rate in Asia's tourism is the fastest of any region in the...

Beijing Counts Cost of Supporting an Embarrassing Old Friend

Hamish McDonald February 14, 2005
During the Korean War, hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers came to the aid of North Korea in battling US forces. Over fifty years later, it is clear that history will not repeat itself: China is not prepared to make sacrifices for a regime that has become a political embarrassment and a possible threat to China's own economic development. Observers of Chinese policy now say that...