In The News

Text: Alleged Bin Laden Tape

November 12, 2002
In an audio message purported to be of Osama bin Laden, the speaker promises to continue sending the sons of the Muslim nation to carry on jihad. Their goals: to rectify inequality and defeat injustice. The speaker lets it be known that as long as the sons have eyes that see and a heart that beats, jihad will continue. Most of the G8 nations share in the crimes that the speaker wishes to be...

McDonald’s to Close Restaurants Amid Restructuring

Associated Press November 8, 2002
Faced with falling profits, the US-based McDonald’s Corp. has found it necessary to restructure the corporation by slowing down expansion and overhauling U.S. restaurants. McDonald’s also plans to pull out of or restructure in at least seven nations, all located in the Middle East and Latin America. In addition, the corporation will cut individual struggling franchises in at least ten other...

After NATO's Year of Identity Crisis, a Defining Meeting

Steven Erlanger November 4, 2002
With expansion on the horizon, NATO will meet in November to redefine its purpose in response to the new threats of the twenty-first century. In a world where large-scale conventional defense may become obsolete, many are questioning the ability of NATO to adapt to the changing needs of its allies. Nato was originally founded to counter Soviet expansion during the Cold War. Realists have three...

Muslim-as-Apple-Pie Videos Are Greeted With Skepticism

Jane Perlez October 30, 2002
Four new videos showing American Muslims feeling happy and at home in the US are being pre-screened in Indonesia. The videos, paid for by the US State Department, feature a baker, a teacher, an emergency medic, and the head of the US National Institutes for Health, all offering glowing testimonials to American tolerance and acceptance of Muslims. The spots are intended to be shown in Muslim...

Gene-Mappers Take New Aim at Diseases

Nicholas Wade October 30, 2002
The human genome project, which mapped every gene in the body, will soon have a new and improved counterpart to guide genetic researchers. The International “HapMap” project will chart the location of large blocks of unchanged DNA in an attempt to track down variant genes that cause common diseases such as cancer, asthma, and diabetes. The global implications of the mapping project go beyond a...

A Damaged Brand

Moisés Naím October 27, 2002
Privatization, trade liberalization, and deregulation were the buzzwords of the early 1990s. Developing countries happily adopted these terms, but in many cases their actual economic policies differed sharply from the formula. Both the formula and the local policies used in its place have failed, and as a consequence, developing countries have renounced globalization completely. This is tragic...

One of the Worst Assaults Ever

October 24, 2002
One of the worst attacks on the internet ever recorded shut down seven of the 13 root servers that undergird internet service. The attack lasted for an hour on the servers that control domain names. However, most internet users were unaware of the attack as the slack from the seven effected servers was taken up by the remaining four. Two other servers were impaired. The US Federal Bureau of...