In The News

Mixing Sushi and Samba

Milena Veselinovic June 19, 2013
Brazil is home to 1.8 million people of Japanese descent, the largest Japanese immigrant population in the world. The first Japanese immigrants came to Brazil in 1908 to work as coffee laborers after the abolition of slavery, and most had the opportunity to achieve an education and relative wealth within one or two generations. Nowadays, Japanese Brazilians have had an influence on Brazilian...

Will Brazil Be Left Counting the Cost of Hosting the World Cup and Olympics?

Jonathan Watts June 18, 2013
After hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2008 Olympics, South Africa and China were left with expensive facilities with few alternative uses. Analysts are debating whether the same happens to Brazil when it hosts these same events in 2014 and 2016: Some say that the public-relations value of hosting these events is worth the investment for developing countries, while others say the money...

Europe’s Double Jeopardy

Nayan Chanda May 24, 2013
Reliance on austerity measures could still push Europe into recession. But political leaders are responding to criticism from the International Monetary Fund and others – that austerity failed to deliver economic relief. An end to belt-tightening could improve consumer demand, increasing hiring and government revenues, but an aging population and large numbers of unemployed youth pose challenges...

140 Countries Ranked on Openness to Foreigners

Katka Lapelosa April 11, 2013
A warm welcome depends on the place – and the visitor. The World Economic Forum released the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report for 2013, and the Washington Post prepared a GIS map based on data collected from a single-question survey: “How welcome are foreign visitors in your country?” The question may be too broad, vague and subjective, suggests Katka Lapelosa for Matador Network....

The World Wants Vancouverism – Shouldn’t Canada?

Doug Saunders March 5, 2013
The city of Vancouver touts its diversity, green initiatives, parks and mass transit and remains a popular destination for immigrants, who account for 40 percent of the metropolitan population. Vancouver has managed fast-growing urbanization with good planning that includes eliminating vast parking lots. “Vancouver has been remade dramatically, rendered into a thickly vertical city jammed with...

The Choice: More Immigrants or Fewer Citizens?

Joseph Chamie March 4, 2013
Low fertility rates among countries lead to population decline and higher proportions of older citizens. So the countries with such demographics face a choice: allowing more immigrants, along with the revenue, services and cultural influences they bring or accepting the population decline and economic contraction. “Currently, about 76 countries, including Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Iran, Sweden...

Soap Opera Diplomacy: Turkish TV in Greece

Robbie Moore February 27, 2013
Greece’s high rate of unemployment allows ample leisure time for watching television. Yet the economic crisis has also meant that Greek television producers can no longer afford to write, shoot and broadcast television shows. So stations have turned to affordable Turkish shows, which are gaining in popularity among Greeks, explains Robbie Moore for the International, adding that “Some in the...