In The News

Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie

Jennifer 8. Lee January 18, 2008
Fortune cookies are popular in Chinese restaurants the world over, everywhere but China. Japanese researcher Yasuko Nakamachi theorizes the absence is because the cookies originated in Japan, as evidenced by references in Japanese literature and art decades before the early 1900s. California restaurants with Japanese owners introduced the dessert between 1907 and 1914, reports author Jennifer Lee...

Where Boys Were Kings, A Shift Toward Baby Girls

Choe Sang-Hun January 9, 2008
For centuries, parents in the agrarian economy of South Korea favored male children. But government campaigns and increasing work opportunities have led to a gender ratio that demonstrates a reversal in the preference for males and perhaps even a new appreciation for female children. Adult males, with the help of their wives, were once expected to care for aging parents. In recent decades, women...

Modern Globalization

Nayan Chanda January 5, 2008
This column for Businessworld in India explores the many facets of globalization manifested in all aspects of life. By exploring the interconnections of the globalization forces, columnist and YaleGlobal's editor Nayan Chanda hopes to build better understanding, pointing to the dangers and opportunities. Like it or not, humanity is bound together by invisible threads of connections born of...

Covering the World

Sherry Ricchiardi December 21, 2007
The Associated Press is making inroads around the globe, reporting international news, at the same time that foreign bureaus of major newspapers are closing. With 243 foreign bureaus, the AP is the world’s largest news organization. It is the first Western newsgroup to open an office in North Korea and has more than 200 staffers in Iraq. By maintaining reporters throughout the globe, the AP...

“Silent Night” in China

Peter Kwong December 20, 2007
During the 1980s, Christmas in China was a quiet affair, celebrated only by foreigners, as the atheist Communist Party did not endorse such celebrations. But much has changed for the factory to the world: China not only manufactures about 80 percent of all Christmas paraphernalia, but also purchases the items as well. Authors Peter Kwong and Dušanka Miščević point out that if orders on Christmas...

The UN's Death Blow

Louise Arbour December 19, 2007
Global citizens expect the United Nations to be relevant in a modern world by taking stands on difficult issues. A call from the UN General Assembly for a worldwide moratorium on the application of the death penalty is a step in protecting human rights, according to Louise Arbour, UN high commissioner for human rights. More than 130 nations have abolished the death penalty with six – Iran, Iraq,...

Restored

December 13, 2007
After World War II, Korea was divided into two nations, north and south. The Korean War began after forces from the north invaded the south in 1950, after rival factions could not agree on a system of governance. Train service crossing the border ended in 1951 and did not resume after the 1953 ceasefire. Since then, South Korea has flourished, now the 11th largest economy in the world, while...