In The News

Indo-Iranian Ties: Thicker Than Oil

C. Christine Fair June 14, 2007
Both India and Iran have ambitions to be major powers in Asia. With Iran and the US at odds over Iranian nuclear development and conflict in Iraq, India must balance its ties with both. Even though both Iran and India express concern about unipolarity and US attempts to display power throughout Asia, the Bush administration in the US has not regarded the India-Iran alliance as a matter of great...

Traditional Korean Marriage Meets Match on the Internet

Choe Sang-Hun June 6, 2007
Those embarking on traditional marriages in South Korea have rarely relied solely on the whims of parents in selecting spouses – and modern families can now turn to the research capabilities of the internet to locate the perfect mate. With South Korea enjoying higher incomes, combined with more work opportunities, young people are choosy about marriage partners. South Korean customs discourage...

US Authorities Net “Top Spammer”

June 6, 2007
US authorities arrested a 27-year-old Seattle man, describing him as one of the world’s top 10 spammers, and charged him with 35 counts including mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Robert Soloway’s arrest marks the first time that officials have used identity-theft laws to prosecute a person for taking over another person’s internet domain name. “Prosecutors allege Mr....

Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death

Noah Shachtman May 9, 2007
Since the invasion of Iraq, the US is managing the first war in which cell phones, laptops, e-mail connections and digital cameras are plentiful, allowing troops to send instant messages and images. With the war in its fifth year, the US Army has ordered troops to clear all blog and e-mail content with supervisors before sending. Failure to obtain supervision can result in court marital or...

History 1980-2000 Has Disappeared Into the Ether. Sorry

Ben Macintyre March 23, 2007
Computers, CDs, digital files and scanning have allowed vast amounts of information to be collected. But digital information can vanish with a keystroke, warns Ben Macintyre, columnist with “The Times” of London. Too many administrators and researchers take digital storage for granted and do not understand that CDs, electronic tapes and other storage modes have limited life spans. Part of the...

Satellite Row Rich in Contradictions

Siriporn Sachamuneewongse February 28, 2007
Thailand bristles about the sale of telecommunications assets to a Singaporean state-owned firm by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. A few months after the sale, in September 2006, a group of military officers accused the prime minister of corruption and took control of the government. Still distraught about the sale of assets to a neighboring nation, the military officers suggest that...

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...