In The News

The Guardian: Egypt to Fine People Who Pester Tourists

Ruth Michaelson May 7, 2018
The Egyptian parliament has approved a law ahead of the summer tourism season seeking to clamp down on alleged harassers. As Ruth Michaelson observes for the Guardian, the law allows “authorities to fine up to EGP 10,000 (about £405) anyone found to be pestering tourists ‘with the intention of begging or promoting, offering or selling a good or service.’” Ultimately, this measure intends to...

The Guardian: Demise of the Nation State

Rana Dasgupta April 6, 2018
Nation states are losing influence, contends Rana Dasgupta for the Guardian, and the political systems are obsolete for confronting modern challenges that are either focused and local or global in nature. Systems based on borders struggle to deal with complex companies, technologies, immense wealth and social movements that no longer respect borders. “Exhaustion, hopelessness, the dwindling...

Japan Times: Japan and Fourth Industrial Revolution

Heizo Takenaka April 2, 2018
Big data, artificial intelligence and robotics are revolutionizing business, both increasing efficiency and reducing labor requirements. Japan, the world’s third largest economy, confronts two challenges, slow government response for labor and other reforms and the need for stronger corporate governance, explains Heizo Takenaka, a former fiscal policy minister for the country. Japan also has two...

Guardian: Indigenous Women Confront Ecuador's President

Dan Collyns March 28, 2018
Amazon indigenous women are protesting oil drilling and mining in their territories, urging Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno to combat not only environmental exploitation but also the sexual and psychic violence “they claim accompany the industries.” A delegation of indigenous women met with Moreno after 100 protested by camping in Quito’s plaza near the Carondelet government palace for five days...

The Guardian: Gazans Rush as Egypt Opens Crossing

Hazem Balousha and Oliver Holmes February 26, 2018
Egypt opened its Rafah border, a rare occurrence since 2013. Gazans in need of medical treatment or refuge from Israeli military incursions hope to leave. Hazem Balousha and Oliver Holmes report for the Guardian: “Some 30,000 Gazans including medical patients, students and businesspeople are on a waiting list to travel through Rafah. But not all are guaranteed.” Under the joint control of the...

The Guardian: Israeli Military Chief Wants Closer Saudi Ties as Iran Tensions Rise

Peter Beaumont November 23, 2017
Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot affirmed his nation’s commitment to a regional US-backed axis against Iran during an interview with the Saudi newspaper Elaph. Eisenkot described Iran as the major threat for a region destabilized by extremism, autocracies, wars and lack of economic opportunities. According to Eisenkot, Israel could share intelligence with what he called “moderate” Arab states...

The Guardian: Mugabe's Fall and China

Simon Tisdall November 21, 2017
A recent visit to Beijing by Zimbabwe’s General Constantino Chiwenga is fueling speculation about Chinese involvement in Harare – à la the US Central Intelligence Agency in Iran in 1953. Simon Tisdall observes for the Guardian: “If so, the world may just have witnessed the first example of a covert coup d’état of the kind once favoured by the CIA and Britain’s MI6, but conceived and executed with...