In The News

Pope “Sorry” About Reaction to Islam Remark

Alan Cooperman September 18, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI issued a rare apology for comments that spurred angry reactions from Muslims around the world, but the Vatican reiterates its opposition to any violence in the name of religion. Extremists reacted to the comments with church bombings in the West Bank and Gaza and the murder of a nun who worked in a Somali children’s hospital. In his lecture, the pope had called attention to a...

WHO Calls for Spraying Controversial DDT to Fight Malaria

Betsy McKay September 15, 2006
Intent on eradicating malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced plans to use DDT to combat a disease that still infects about 500 million people per year, most in impoverished countries. Malaria was eradicated in the US more than 50 years ago through extensive outdoor spraying of DDT, but the chemical was later banned or restricted throughout much of the world. Alternatives to...

Wolfowitz Corruption Drive Rattles World Bank

Steven R. Weisman September 15, 2006
The World Bank’s goal is to alleviate poverty by providing low-interest loans to some of the poorest countries in the world. Yet those poorest countries also have high rates of corruption. Critics of World Bank leadership question whether the fight against corruption will take priority over the fight against poverty, eventually diminishing assistance to the countries most in need. Critics express...

Muslims Lash Out at Pope's Remarks

Tracy Wilkinson September 15, 2006
Muslim clerics and leaders have lashed out at criticism from Pope Benedict XVI about Islam and the concept of “jihad.” Some Muslim pundits suggest that the criticism was steeped in arrogance, considering that the Catholic Church sponsored ample bloodshed over the centuries. The Muslim Brotherhood expects an apology, and Pakistan’s parliament passed a resolution condemning the comments. The pope...

Rising Trade, Abundance Should Benefit All

David Crane September 12, 2006
Global competition provides the benefit of low-priced goods for the poorest citizens of the world and also has provided jobs that have lifted millions of people from poverty. But globalization has also meant lost jobs, benefits or security for other people. The challenge for policymakers throughout the world is to ensure that globalization’s benefits are widely shared, according to Ben Bernanke,...

Safe Passage

Geoff Brumfiel September 11, 2006
After the 9/11 attacks five years ago, the US was paranoid about attacks from any direction, including foreign scientists. Congress passed legislation requiring face-to-face interviews with every visa applicant and background checks were particularly onerous for the likes of physicists, engineers and chemists. It was not uncommon for scientists, even those renown in their fields, to undergo...

9/11: Historic Turning Point, or Bump in the Road?

Brendan Simms September 11, 2006
For many, 9/11 marked a turning point in history, for both the US and the world. Initially, the world came together in condemning the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But eventually, some analysts suggested the attacks resulted from the US ignoring the plight of marginalized people, and other analysts claimed that the US had appeased Islamic fundamentalism for too long and...