In The News

Filipino Nurses Losing Out to Chinese

August 6, 2002
Greater numbers of Chinese nurses are now finding employment in the UK and US, fast overtaking the demand for popular Filipino nurses. Chinese nurses have gained the upper hand as a result of their improved proficiency in English and their consent to pay higher placement fees as part of a salary reduction scheme. China helped the nurses by providing language instruction, prompting some in the...

Aids to slash South African savings funds

James Lamont August 5, 2002
The Aids crisis in South Africa is presenting new challenges to the pension fund industry. As death rates increase – life expectancy for males is expected to fall to age 38 by 2010 – the costs of death benefits and taxes will halve many pension funds. These predictions have led some portfolio managers to limit contributions to death benefits. South African companies still don’t see Aids as...

Easing Its Stance, U.S. Offers Loans to Uruguay

Richard A. Oppel, Jr. August 5, 2002
Although the Bush administration has been reluctant to give aid to Latin American countries in financial crisis, it recently agreed to bail out Uruguay, a country with a traditionally stable economy. Uruguay has been hit particularly hard by the ripple effects of Argentina and Brazil’s economic crashes. On those countries’ problems, Washington has been ambiguous, and Treasury Secretary Paul O’...

…And Click Here for China

Erik Eckholm August 4, 2002
Though the Chinese government is notorious for keeping tabs on the information its citizens can access, it is having a harder time now that the Internet’s popularity has surged in recent years. Surfing the web is cheap and fast at any of 200,000 cyber cafes around the country. Though many anticipated that the Internet would be primarily a forum for dissidents and a force for political change,...

A Step Forward

August 2, 2002
After a long period of intensive lobbying that spanned two administrations, President Bush won a key victory for his international trade platform when Congress granted him trade promotion authority. This authority means Congress must either accept or reject in full any international trade agreement the Bush administration proposes, rather than picking through it. But while this will certainly...

Cybercafe Crackdown May Trip up Leering Boys

Ian Fisher August 1, 2002
In the name of fighting terrorism, the Government of Pakistan has imposed new regulations that would keep track of cybercafe users. The new rules require cybercafes to register with the government and to ask every customer for proof of identity so as to track terrorists and deny them access to public computers. However, like the rest of the world, porn sites, email accounts and chat sites are...

Belgium Bans Gum, Tablets and Drops with Fluoride

Anon. July 31, 2002
In a move thought absurd by the Belgian Dentists Federation, the Belgium government will ban the sale of all products containing fluoride except for toothpaste. While this ban is the first of its kind for the EU, Belgian Health Minister Magda Aelvoet, a member of the Flemish Green Party, plans to discuss this move with other members of the union. The reason for the proposed ban is that a study...