In The News

Beijing Lights Up the Night

Dan Levin June 25, 2008
Money and instantly accessible foreign culture fuel Beijing’s vibrant nightlife, where young Chinese adults express themselves via impressive dance moves and access to exclusive nightclubs. Dance, alcohol and music blind patrons to dire poverty confronting most of China’s population. The increasing inequality on display could shatter national instability. Beijing Olympics organizers, intent on...

Bollywood Takes on the West

Dominic Rushe June 20, 2008
India’s film industry has a formula for success – flamboyant dancing, sexually charged scenes, and tension between traditional parents and rebellious offspring. Bollywood has long incorporated Western ideology in its films, yet only recently added English dialogue. Critics suggest the next step for Bollywood is to move beyond whimsical confections – and produce meaningful stories that resonate...

Grubs Up! Scientists Keen to Get Us Eating Bugs

Geoffrey Lean June 6, 2008
As food shortages emerge in some nations and prices climb, scientists offer a solution – eating insects, plentiful and diverse. Insects, with ample protein and nutrients, are on the menu for more than 100 countries of the world, reports Geoffrey Lean for the Independent. With their vegetarian diets, insects are a healthy choice for humans; bountiful in nature, insects are also healthy for the...

The Global Abortion Bind

Joseph Chamie May 29, 2008
Induced abortion has been practiced throughout recorded history in all societies. While legal restrictions do not affect incidence, governments continue to debate appropriate reasons, technology, limits and ethics. The result is dilemmas. Even the strongest supporters of a woman’s right to choose may find themselves opposed to procedures conducted for trivial reasons, including sex selection,...

Grand Designs Should Look to the Future

Chandran Nair May 28, 2008
Governments can spend today’s wealth on today’s luxuries or invest to ensure the comforts of tomorrow. The United Arab Emirates, rich with oil wealth, continues to invest in novel construction, including a sail-shaped hotel, an underwater hotel and a ski resort – all with the help of foreign designers and architects. But with fast-paced economic growth and per-capita carbon dioxide emissions...

Burma Victims Lose Aid Battle as Cash Flows Into China on a Flood of Sympathy

Rosemary Bennett May 22, 2008
An open society, one that allows photos during national disasters and the weakest moments, immediately invites world sympathy and offers of help. The contrast in media coverage of the May 2 cyclone in Burma and the May 12 earthquake in China could not be starker: The Chinese government and people instantly mobilized, and photos showed widespread devastation and earnest rescue efforts; Burma may...

The World Can't Wait for “Indy”? It Won't Have To

William Booth May 19, 2008
When it comes to the release of mega-hit films, the world is impatient. Films, like “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” are “released on the same day in cities around the world, in a mass moment of pop culture consumption,” writes William Booth for the Washington Post. Much has changed since 1981, when the first Indiana Jones film, “Raiders of the Lost Ark, was released to less...