In The News

Obama Tries to Stop Execution in Texas of Mexican Killer

Chris McGreal July 6, 2011
Article VI, Paragraph II, of the US Constitution designates international treaties signed by the federal government as “the supreme Law of the Land,” which individual US states cannot override. The 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations provides that foreign nationals charged with crimes are entitled to meet with their consular officers and arrange for legal representation. That detail was...

Eastern Japan Edgy as Power Demand Soars

July 4, 2011
Japan has a tradition of conservation – and awareness about power usage – that serves the nation well through the current nuclear disaster. Households are accustomed to monitoring temperatures, generating capacity, power loads and comparing power supply and demand with a competitive spirit. A range of policy adjustments and public alerts are preventing severe power shortages. “Now that energy...

Dutch MPs Vote to Ban Religious Slaughter

June 29, 2011
The Dutch parliament approved a bill, 116 to 30, banning halal and kosher slaughter. The bill moves on to the Dutch Senate. Jewish and Muslim leaders contend the ban on slaughtering conscious animals limits religious freedom. The European Convention on Human Rights describes when limits can be applied: “Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations...

Saudis Behead an Indonesian Maid

June 26, 2011
Crimes and punishments that cut across borders provoke global judgments on differences in culture and legal systems. Individual players in the sensational dramas represent their nations. Poor nations send millions of workers, 75 percent of them women, overseas as unskilled labor. Given the power imbalance, contracts, if any, are unenforceable. The migrant workers have few protections and are...

Driving Campaign for Saudi Women Challenges Custom

Mohammed Jamjoom June 21, 2011
An Arab Spring may be coming to Saudi Arabia on wheels. Saudi women take to the streets, not for political protests but the right to drive. “Though there are no traffic laws that make it illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, religious edicts are often interpreted as a ban against female drivers,” reports Mohammed Jamjoom for CNN. In May, one female driver was detained for a week and had to...

People on the Move – Part II

Steven Borowiec June 16, 2011
Poorer nations drive the world’s population growth while developed nations with aging populations are in need of young labor. Strategic policies on immigration can fill the gaps, but social, economic and diplomatic challenges emerge when the immigrants are treated as less than equal partners. With a low birth rate, South Korea seeks immigrants to work in construction, manufacturing and agri-...

A European Generation Takes to the Streets

Mathieu von Rohr, Helene Zuber June 13, 2011
Europe’s youth are showing new awareness of the implications of deficit spending, a lack of jobs, widening gaps in income and social protections, and other systemic problems. Governments in Europe, like those in Arab states, must contend with discontent as increasing numbers of educated, yet unemployed youth analyze their plight, organize protests and develop policy proposals via social media....