In The News

New York Times: Pope Francis’ Gulf Tour

Jason Horowitz February 6, 2019
Seeking warmer relations with the Muslim world, Pope Francis established interfaith dialogue during his historic trip to the United Arab Emirates, the sole oasis in the Middle East that provides a somewhat permissive environment for Christianity, allowing worship in private. The UAE has a million Catholics, about 10 percent of the population, many migrants. Jason Horowitz, writing for the New...

New York Times: US Separated More Families

Miriam Jordan January 21, 2019
A US policy that separated more than 2700 children from parents seeking asylum at the border with Mexico shocked the world in 2018. A government inspector’s report reviewing the policies uggests thousands more separations may have occurred before the country’s zero-tolerance immigration policy was launched in spring 2018. With no explanations to parents, border agents placed children in shelters...

Al Jazeera: Indian Bill That Excludes Muslims

January 10, 2019
India’s lower house of parliament approved a bill granting citizenship rights to non-Muslim immigrants. The legislation would require approval of the upper house – unlikely because it’s not under the control of the Bharatiya Janata Party that devised the plan. India is host to numerous refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. “Critics have called the proposal, contained in the...

The Nation: Saudi Teen’s Fate Hangs in Balance

January 7, 2019
Saudi women resist the religious restrictions imposed in their homeland. In addition to clothing requirements and arranged marriages, women cannot study, travel or work without permission from male relatives. Women also lack full voting, property or inheritance rights. Globalization of travel and communications ensures that Saudi women assess freedoms for women around the globe, with some fleeing...

Conversation: Design Cities to Counter Loneliness

Tanzil Shafique December 24, 2018
Residents in the world’s wealthiest countries, including cosmopolitan centers complain about loneliness. The condition has health consequences, especially for the elderly. Community infrastructure and architecture can encourage or discourage human interactions, and Tanzil Shafique suggests that “architects and planners, albeit unwittingly, are complicit in producing an urban landscape that...

Wall Street Journal: Malaysia Charges Goldman Sachs

Tom Wright December 18, 2018
The Malaysia Development Berhad, known as 1MDB, was set up by Malaysia’s former prime minister in 2009 to improve the country through strategic investing. Reports soon emerged of missing finance payments and funds diverted into personal accounts. “Goldman arranged $6.5 billion in bonds for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013, of which $2.7 billion was allegedly stolen,” reports Tom Wright for the Wall Street...

Asia Sentinel: Curbing Asia’s Corrupt Governments

December 17, 2018
Civil society organizations from nine ASEAN member states are trying to fast-tract the UN Convention Against Corruption: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. Corruption wastes funding and weakens governments, and Transparency International reports that corruption is entrenched throughout Asia. Ending a culture of cheating and fraud...