In The News

Edward Gresser July 27, 2006
Leaders of developing nations anticipated that negotiations of the Doha Round could lead to even-handed trade practices, particularly in agriculture. With the talks collapsed, the wealthiest nations will not suffer nearly as much as the developing nations, according to trade analyst Edward Gresser. The real losers, he says, will be cotton farmers in West Africa, textile workers in low-income...
David A. Shaywitz July 26, 2006
When US President Bush vetoed stem-cell legislation, he did not stop scientists from pursuing stem-cell research. The US creates hundreds of thousands of embryos for infertile couples, many of which are disposed of or frozen, but prohibits federal funding to study any new embryo lines created after August 2001. Researchers hope to use the cells to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s, diabetes and...
Alan Beattie July 25, 2006
While some anti-globalization activists and NGOs breathe a sigh of relief with the collapse of the Doha round talks, others frantically question how the talks could have gone awry. So ambitious, the Doha Round was destined for failure, suggests Alan Beattie, world trade editor with “The Financial Times.” Priorities of large agricultural exporters like the US, Australia and initially Brazil...
Douglas Brinkley July 25, 2006
As the largest US auto-makers cut jobs and close factories, foreign car companies expand production in the American heartland, and the expansion wins them friends in towns where not too long ago driving a Japanese car would have been anathema. Foreign firms steer clear of Detroit and head to communities that offer incentives for factories built in their towns; Indiana state officials, for example...
Joby Warrick July 25, 2006
In 2002, German-born molecular geneticist Eckard Wimmer created the first live and fully functioning virus in a lab. Built from scratch, this virus was a variation of one that causes polio. Wimmer points out that he didn’t invent the technology that made his experiment possible, but only drew attention to equipment that’s available at any well-funded university. Al Qaeda has sought biological...
Max Hastings July 24, 2006
Rigid British and US support of unrelenting Israeli attacks on Lebanon, and their refusal to pursue immediate ceasefire, contribute to views that the West is unjust, according to “Guardian” columnist Max Hastings. As a result, the West damages its global reputation. Military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the lack of intervention in Lebanon or other struggling nations, diminish...
Timothy Garton Ash July 24, 2006
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the US took on the role of world’s supreme power. In retrospect, the moment was brief. As the world’s leading power, the US invaded Iraq – and the notion of a world guided by the might and morals of a single nation unraveled. Attempts to manage conflicts such as the current explosion between Israel and Lebanon face a labyrinth of cause-and-effect...