In The News

February 17, 2014
Free online content can be freely linked by others and does not violate copyright law, so rules the European Court of Justice. A Swedish court requested the ruling after disputes between journalists and a web company that posted links to online news articles, reports BBC News. “The journalists argued in the original case that users of Retriever Sverige's website would not know that they had...
David I. Steinberg February 13, 2014
The government in Burma (Myanmar) is loosening political controls, and welcoming more trade and interactions with the rest of the world. The strong culture has resisted waves of Indian, Chinese and Western influences in the past, suggests David I. Steinberg, distinguished professor of Asian Studies emeritus at Georgetown University, and new connections are introducing rapid change that could...
February 5, 2014
A major US sporting event is the football championship known as the Super Bowl. Many anticipate the television advertisements aired during the game more than the game itself. Coca-Cola’s ad celebrated multiculturalism by featuring the song “America the Beautiful” sung in eight languages from Arabic to Tagalog. Critics immediately blasted the ad, suggesting that the patriotic song should be sung...
February 3, 2014
Three out of five global citizens are Asian, and the continent’s growing middle class has wanderlust. “Rapid urbanisation, increased disposable income and a relaxing of travel restrictions have enabled more people to travel and budget airlines are opening up routes from India and other parts of Asia,” reports BBC News in an article rich with graphics. China in particular is both major destination...
Fabiola Sanchez January 28, 2014
Once the United States ended its love affair with late afternoon soap operas, a result of women joining the workforce and television turning to talk shows, South America filled the void with telenovelas. Some creators and analysts credit the popular long running storylines with reducing birthrates, increasing awareness of women’s rights and reflecting society’s increasing violence. Venezuelan...
Nayan Chanda January 27, 2014
Recently the Delhi law minister from the newly elected Aam Aadmi (Common People) Party led a mob to harass African women suspected of illegal activity. In the process he and his supporters uttered racist words. Video clips from a decade ago also show another leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, poet Kumar Vishwas, making racist remarks. Such racism is foolish and ignores the ancestry of Indians as of...
Max Fisher January 24, 2014
The gulf between Iran and the United States is wide. Iran’s Fars News Agency reports that US National Security Agency documents released by a former contract worker suggest that a shadow government of aliens ran Nazi Germany, intent on world domination, and now runs the United States, also intent on world domination. The report, labeled under the category of “space,” emerges as the United States...