A feast for the voters: Voters get their five-yearly treats in the poor and struggling Asian democracy of Papua New Guinea. A vicious racist crime by two UK police officers disgraced the whole force in 1968: A review of Nationality: Wog The Hounding of David Oluwale by Kester Aspden. A look at how Norway looks after its elderly - in Spain, as state-subsidised trips are just what the doctor orders. Great books and the Mexican cop's soul: The government's latest bid to clean up Mexico's police force saw the purging last week of 241 chiefs. But not all the efforts are so heavy-handed; at the rank-and-file level, an innovative program aims to counter corruption and discord through literature. Sex Slaves, Drug Trade and Rock n' Roll: In his quest to free slaves around the world, Aaron Cohen thought he’d seen it all. Then he went to Myanmar. From The Globalist, an article on Boeing vs. Airbus, the unwinnable WTO dispute.
Britain's Duke of Edinburgh may be planning a quiet birthday celebration at home, but there will be feasting and flag-waving in an isolated jungle village in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, where he is worshipped as a god. Carlos Slim's Fat Fortune: The Mexican telecom magnate may have surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the world's richest man. Irish stew: In the fledgling Stormont democracy, discovers Newton Emerson, some are more equal than others. Not only are global temperatures on the rise, but climate change is shifting the seasons too. Researchers in Greenland have found that the birds and the bees in the Arctic are active a full two weeks earlier than they were just a decade ago. A review of The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy by Sasha Issenberg and The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, From Samurai to Supermarket by Trevor Corson. Harvey Cox, Jonathan Steele and Timothy Garton Ash debate The Stasi on Our Minds.
The not-so-fair sex: Women may be more responsible for spreading HIV than has been suspected. The politicized arrest of leading Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani is part of a broader governmental campaign to clamp down not only on dissent, but also on information. Fit to govern? Nicolas Sarkozy is under attack from French intellectuals who regard jogging as rightwing? On 12 February, an 18-year-old Bosnian walked into a shopping mall in Utah carrying a pistol, a shotgun and more than 100 bullets. He killed five shoppers, before finally being shot by police. But what triggered his homicidal rampage? Ed Vulliamy charts Sulejmen Talovic's tragic journey from Srebrenica to Salt Lake City (and more).
The Invincible President: How the supposed "uniter" consolidated his power by fostering division. We're right to be outraged by Bush and Cheney, but we should also save a bit of outrage for when we look in the mirror. Why do politicians find it so easy to confide in "priest to the stars" Father Michael Seed? From OJR, an interview with Ted Anthony on reconceiving storytelling at the Associated Press. Counter Coulter: The L.A. Times and the so-called liberal media owe Bill Maher an apology. It feels a bit unseemly to see America, the world’s richest nation, entangled in a dispute with Navassa, the poorest nation in our hemisphere, over a remote rock that no one can live on. Kissing up to K Street: Democrats are selling out the economic populism that got them elected in the first place. Campaign Finance Reform’s war on political freedom: An ongoing danger, despite two recent court victories.
