In The News

African Art on the Move

Susan Froetschel November 7, 2013
Visitors to Africa have long been intrigued by the continent's art, eager to introduce the work to global markets. Stone sculpture was revived in Zimbabwe, the former British colony known as Southern Rhodesia, in the 1960s after a British art adviser, Frank McEwen, became director of the national museum. He hosted workshops for museum staff and visitors and relied on his network to display...

Art and the Asianization of Canada

November 6, 2013
Near half of Canada’s permanent resident immigrants are from China, Philippines, India and Pakistan, and more than half of the nation's international students are from China, India and Korea. The newcomers influence economics, politics, culture, and increasingly Canada’s art scene, reports the Asian Century Institute. Toronto’s East Gallery reflects the Asianization of Canada’s economy, and...

The Danger of High Home Ownership: Greater Unemployment

David G. Blanchflower and Andrew J. Oswald November 4, 2013
Home ownership is a common goal for societies and individuals. Yet statistical patterns suggest that a high rate of “home ownership weakens the vitality of the labour market and slowly grinds out greater rates of joblessness,” report economists David G. Blanchflower and Andrew J. Oswald in a paper for Chatham House. Home ownership may disrupt efficient functioning of the labor market by reducing...

The Banal Reality of Censoring Books in China

David Austin Walsh October 28, 2013
Once a publisher accepts a book – editors and translators polish manuscripts, make corrections and offer suggestions on conciseness, logic or word choice. Some writers suggest that Chinese publishers go too far. “More authors and publishers are willing to accept censorship because the Chinese market is increasingly lucrative, even for university presses and trade publishers,” explains David...

Emerging Challenges: What's In Store for the New Global Powers

Erich Follath October 23, 2013
The emerging economies are on track to be more influential and work as a united front against the West, notes Erich Follath for Spiegel Online: “For the first time in 150 years, the combined output of the developing world's three leading economies – Brazil, China and India – is about equal to the combined GDP of the longstanding industrial powers of the North[,] Canada, France, Germany,...

Malala’s Desire to Learn Shames Our Schools

Allison Pearson October 14, 2013
Education empowers individuals and their societies. When she was 15, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban extremists while traveling between school and home in Pakistan. She recovered from her wounds in England and has since been a determined global voice about education as a source of power and a right for all. She describes her lessons and the ability to read, write, calculate, and...

Reflections on Change: The Life of a Newspaper

Serge Schmemann October 14, 2013
The International Herald Tribune recorded history and now is part of history, as the paper becomes the International New York Times. For some, it’s a name change and, for others, an end of an era. Newspapers document change and must deal with change themselves, explains Serge Schmemann, the Tribune’s editorial page editor, in the final edition. The essay reads like an obituary, marking end and...