In The News

Iran Is Trying to Curb Porn and Politics on Web

Neil MacFarquhar June 29, 2003
The Iranian government is attempting to control the internet, the last refuge of unadulterated information – and pornography – in the country. Newspapers, television, and other forms of media have long been censored by the government, prevented from printing sexually explicit pictures and from criticizing the regime. Thus far, the internet has remained immune to such controls, with student...

American Missionaries Pitch Baseball in India’s Cricket Citadel

Phil Reeves June 28, 2003
Is America's favorite pastime destined to become Asia's favorite as well? Maybe. Two American envoys are currently touring India in an effort to introduce baseball into India, a country where cricket is a national obsession and baseball is relatively unknown. In recent decades, baseball leagues have found a foot-hold in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, and opened doors for profitable...

Citizenship Doesn't Entitle You to a Job

Chua Lee Hoong June 25, 2003
In recent years, more and more multinational companies have relocated their factories to countries that provide cheap blue-collar labor. However, as the competition for jobs becomes fiercer in countries experiencing recession, white-collar jobs are also being exported. In Singapore, those affected by this new trend include airline pilots, lawyers, engineers, and accountants. In this article in...

China Closes Beijing Newspaper in Media Crackdown

John Pomfret June 20, 2003
The cover-up of the SARS epidemic in China at its initial stage has caused many foreign governments and international organizations to blame the Chinese government. Following the criticism China has enjoyed a period of relative openness and freedom in the news media. It was reinforced by China’s new president and premier who ordered accuracy and transparency in SARS reporting. However,...

Left to Their Own Devices

Amr Elchoubaki June 20, 2003
The United States has frequently criticized Arab governments for suppressing freedom of expression and pluralism. Yet, when popular movements such as student protests in Iran belie such criticism, the author argues, the US does not see the protests as manifestations of an existing democracy but as expressions of popular revolt,. In Iran, the religious Supreme Guide and democratically elected...

Women’s Fate

Rasha Saad June 19, 2003
After decades of dictatorship, sanctions, and war, Iraqis are infused with a feeling of hopelessness. The current chaos after the US-led war against Saddam Hussein’s regime has only exacerbated the sense of despair. With the country’s infrastructure in shambles and uncertainty about Iraq’s political destiny, the sole goal of many young people is to leave the country. However, seeing the chaos...

Gay Bombay Comes Out

Zubair Ahmed June 19, 2003
In the last decade, Indian gay men in cosmopolitan cities like New Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta have established international social networks, organizations and Internet forums to create a modern and global gay community. The publication of The Boyfriend, a love story between two men, one openly gay and the other unable to accept his homosexuality, typifies the increasingly unapologetic public...