In The News

Broadcast Media in China Put On Notice

Edward Cody February 27, 2007
Communist Party leaders in China have issued strict guidelines for broadcasters that require praise for the nation's socialist system of governance rather than protection of individual leaders. Still, officials in power often rely on such controls to prevent negative coverage that could be linked to them individually. The controls could also squash complaints of party conservatives who...

Muslim Alienation Risk in Europe

February 26, 2007
Integrating Muslims into European society has proven difficult for many EU member states. Fears of stereotypical extremism run rampant in non-Muslim populations, and Islamophobic incidents are on the rise in the EU, though still under-reported. A report from the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia details statistics and discriminatory practices against Muslims in the areas of...

Polio Cases Jump in Pakistan as Clerics Declare Vaccination an American Plot

Declan Walsh February 22, 2007
Pakistan’s remote northwestern frontier, one of the few remaining hotspots of polio in the world, has been a major focus of efforts to eradicate the disease. Now, however, health workers in Pakistan face a new obstacle: political fallout from the US-led war on terror. Local tribal and religious leaders have convinced thousands to refuse polio vaccinations in the belief that the vaccine is an...

India Eyes Riches at Poor's Expense

Amelia Gentleman February 19, 2007
India presents a triumphant stance as it boasts growing financial success in the global sphere. While skyscrapers loom and information-technology professionals prosper in Dehli and Mumbai, hundreds of millions of others live in poverty, perform backbreaking labor and struggling to provide adequate nutrition for their children. This contradiction troubles Indian Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss...

Internet Users Transformed Into News Reporters

February 16, 2007
Cell-phone cameras and digital cameras are ubiquitous tools that provide immediate images of any news happening. Websites like NowPublic and YouWitnessNews now offer a public platform for news reports, videos, photos and commentary supplied by amateurs all over the world. NowPublic.com claims more than 60,000 contributors in more than 140 countries. The new websites work with traditional news...

A Desert Louvre?

Heiko Klaas February 13, 2007
When Dubai announced that it was building a series of islands representing “The World,” a real estate deal in which Rod Stewart is rumored to have purchased “Great Britain,” many commentators thought that the emirate had gone too, hilariously, far in its pursuit of luxury. But last month, the art world stood aghast at another announcement: The rulers of Abu Dhabi offered to buy a large share of...

You’ve Never Had it So Good

February 12, 2007
Although there have been some costs, Britain has gained overall from the globalization of the last decade. Perhaps because of its colonial past, “The Economist” argues, Great Britain has embraced the economic shift in the developed world from manufacturing to services brought on by globalization. The country has seen a decade of solid economic growth and per-capita GDP levels surpassing those of...