In The News

Chinese Tourists Touch Down in Germany

Hugh Williamson April 6, 2003
Until recently, the Chinese middle class was able to visit only a few countries due to strict travel regulations by the Chinese State. A recent bilateral agreement between China and Germany that gave Germany the "approved destination status" has implications for tourism industries in both countries. This is the first such agreement between China and a European Union State. The...

Mystery Ailment Watch Expands

Barbara Feder Ostrov April 4, 2003
With nine residents affected by SARS, Santa Clara County in California has the highest concentration of infected people in the United States. Though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control have published guidelines for American public health officials about how to deal with the illness, Santa Clara officials have broadened the CDC’s definition of the disease in order to quarantine more possible...

SARS Virus Begins to Take Toll on Global Economy

Jacqueline Thorpe March 31, 2003
Fears over the war in Iraq, aftereffects of September 11th, 2001 and high rates of unemployment in the US have already taken their toll on the global economy. Making matters worse, the recent outbreak of the SARS virus, an acute respiratory illness, is hitting hard at an already struggling travel industry. SARS has kept people at home in the worst-affected Asian countries. In Hong Kong, for...

China Bars W.H.O. Experts from Origin Site of Illness

Lawrence K. Altman March 26, 2003
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has now appeared in thirteen countries, with at least 487 known cases of infection. It is believed to have originated in China’s Guandong province, but Chinese officials are preventing World Health Organization (WHO) teams from investigating. There has thus been no independent verification of the number of SARS cases in China, whether cases have occurred...

Ultraman Copyright: Big Plans after Japan Court Win

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn March 5, 2003
After a seven-year Tokyo court battle, Sompote Saengduenchai, a Thai businessman, won rights to Ultraman in all international markets except Japan. Ultraman has long been considered one of Japan's quintessential superheroes, like America's Superman, but Sompote was involved in designing the character while a student in Japan in the early 1960s. Sompote is now planning Ultraman films,...

Stepping into a Burgeoning Gap

Amira Howeidy January 29, 2003
What effects would a UK- and US-led war on Iraq have on Egypt’s economy, society and political position? What effects are already taking place at the prospect of war? This article in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly says Egypt would suffer heavy economic losses, for not only would the war hurt its vital tourism industry, it would also disrupt trade with Iraq and destabilize jobs for Egyptian...

Will Travel, Wreak Havoc: How Invasive Species Affect Ecological Diversity

Michael Richardson January 14, 2003
Flora and fauna have long moved around the globe along with wandering human beings. As the native Indians in North America learned after the arrival of diseases from the Old World, not all these exchanges have been beneficial. In recent years this problem has become even more acute, as increased travel and commerce have enabled invasive organisms to spread with alarming speed. In the United...