In The News

Nepal Forces Mount Everest Climbers to Double as Trash Collectors

Mark Johanson March 7, 2014
Leave no trace is a motto for many hikers – but not for those who attempt the treacherous climb of Mount Everest. “There are empty oxygen cylinders, tent debris, batteries and climbing gear -- not to mention human refuse and the bodies of fallen climbers, whose corpses don’t decompose in the permanently frozen highlands,” reports Mark Johanson for International Business Times, adding that Nepal...

Women More Educated Than Men But Still Paid Less

Joseph Chamie March 6, 2014
Women now outnumber men in global university attendance and graduation rates. Most gains are in developed nations; in some countries, as many as two thirds of graduates are women, though discrimination still lingers. Globally, the ratio is 93 men to 100 women; men tend to concentrate in engineering and the sciences while women gravitate toward less lucrative degrees in humanities and arts. Women...

As Africans Surge to Europe’s Door, Spain Locks Down

Suzanne Daley March 3, 2014
Europe’s barricades and dangerous seas, beatings and insults, military police and rubber bullets, are not slowing the stream of immigrants attempting to flee poverty in Africa or war in Syria. “Ten years ago Spain spent more than 30 million euros building up the barriers around Melilla and Ceuta, its two enclaves surrounded by Morocco on the northern coast of Africa,” reports Suzanne Daley for...

Schism Between Sunni and Shia Has Poisoned Islam for 1,400 years – It’s Getting Worse

Paul Vallely February 27, 2014
So many nations are polarized with ongoing conflict, and one reason is religious intolerance. In Muslim nations, a sharp religious divide between Sunni and Shia Muslims – one that began over who would succeed the Prophet Mohammed after his death in the 7th century, still contributes to jihad and civil war. “In most countries these Shia are minorities in a Sunni homeland,” explains Paul Vallely...

Sochi Olympics Played Differently to Different Audiences

Liz Clarke February 24, 2014
As host of the Sochi Winter Olympics, Russia was on display. For the home audience, the games were a huge success in terms of infrastructure investment, dazzling athletic displays and details in showmanship that reflected national pride. Western media introduced global audiences to Russia with negative reports about extremism over Chechnya, warm weather that led to poor track and slope conditions...

Laos in Danger of Losing Jobs, Culture as Chinese Pour In

Ken Quimbach February 19, 2014
China is investing heavily in neighboring Laos, rapidly altering the landscape. “Across Laos, Chinese laborers are building huge malls, dams, factories, golf courses and airports, taking jobs that could easily done by Laotians,” reports Bangkok-based Ken Quimbach for the Global Times. The source of the critique is unusual in that Global Times is an international arm of the state-run, party-...

China Moves to End Its Codependency with US

Stephen S. Roach February 18, 2014
Global analysts fret about the resilience of emerging markets, including China’s. Yet economic managers in China know what needs to be done, already taking steps to rebalance, shifting from dependence on manufacturing and exports towards more services and consumer spending. The world is not prepared for the necessary slowdown in growth from China as its leaders focus on domestic spending,...