Harvard introduces teaching reforms

Are universities neglecting teaching? Many critics think so. And now even Harvard is introducing reform.

By Lucy Hodges
Published: 10 May 2007

Harvard, the world's richest university, wants to improve its undergraduate teaching. Like other Ivy League universities in the United States, Harvard charges more than $30,000 (£15,000) a year in tuition but its academics concentrate on research rather than teaching because it confers status. continue...

Harvard's lesson

Published: 10 May 2007

It is good news that some universities in Britain have woken up to the need to put more effort into teaching as opposed to research. Many students feel short-changed by the lack of interest shown in them by academics, and by the passive nature of a lot of their learning. This feeling is likely to grow with top-up fees.

Universities that are sensitive to their students will take a leaf out of Harvard's book and think about how to make their teaching more interesting and relevant. If the University of Sydney, in Australia, can introduce reforms to reward good teaching, so, too, can British institutions. continue...

Leading Article: Virtual future

Published: 17 May 2007

Since the much-heralded E-university initiative collapsed and the Open University pulled out of its ambitious US venture, little has been heard about the amazing benefits of online learning. But now Essex University is launching a two-year foundation degree wholly online in partnership with the US education firm Kaplan. The first course, which will be in business studies, starts in July. All the teaching will be done by Kaplan Open Learning, a specially created affiliated college of Essex. It is undoubtedly sensible to go into business with a company that has experience in the field. This could work where previous initiatives failed. continue...

Finals countdown: How to avoid meltdown during exam season

Exam season at university is hugely stressful. But meltdown can be avoided

By Chris Green
Published: 17 May 2007

Testing times: Many students are filled with abject terror

The month of May is exam time in universities. Although the introduction of modular degrees and continuous assessment means that degree results no longer depend solely on final exams, students still approach the period with trepidation and, in some cases, abject terror.

"Exam stress is a problem that has always been there," says Alex Duncan, president of Durham University Students' Union. "Some people work far too hard, others not quite hard enough. University is a key stage in people's lives, and they do want it to benefit them in the long term." continue...

Trials and tribulations of picking a university

It's vital to choose the right university for you. So don't just rely on the prospectus, says Chris Green

Published: 24 May 2007

Choosing a university is a huge decision, and one which may well have a knock-on effect on your future career prospects. If studying the UCAS listings and reading every prospectus from cover to cover doesn't help you make your mind up, take the time to actually visit the places you're considering studying in. After all, you'll be spending at least three years there. continue...

Schools import China's teachers for lessons in 'language of tomorrow'

By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Published: 24 May 2007

All the country's 250 specialist language schools have been told by a government adviser that they should put Mandarin on the curriculum as "the language of tomorrow". continue...

Bosnia strips citizenship from Muslim fighters

By Peter Popham
Published: 24 May 2007

When Bosnia was being carved up between Serbian and Croatian militias and the West's involvement was limited to sending "peacekeepers" to watch it happen, volunteers from the Islamic world were the only force fighting alongside the Bosniacs to keep the Muslim-majority state intact. continue...

The Big Question: Why is there a shrine at Fatima, and what is its significance for Catholics?

By Paul Vallely
Published: 24 May 2007

Why are we asking this question now?
The shrine at Fatima is regarded as the holiest site in Portugal, and it was there yesterday that the parents of Madeleine McCann made a pilgrimage to pray for a miracle in the search for the missing four-year-old. Indeed it is one of the most celebrated sites in Roman Catholicism. continue...

After Liberia's war: 'Sometimes you wonder if peace is worthwhile'

When Liberia's 14-year civil conflict came to an end, its people looked forward to a better life. But the fragile peace means the aid organisations are packing up, leaving those who are sick without treatment.

By Kate Thomas
Published: 24 May 2007

Leaning back in a chair in his office, Dr Walter T Gwenigale looks tired. Liberia's Health Minister was out late on Saturday. "The theatre," he explains. He doesn't mean that he had front-row seats at a kora concert or tickets to see something by the West African playwright Wole Soyinka, however. There are no playhouses in Liberia. Instead he spent Saturday evening on duty in the operating theatre of Phebe Hospital, some 130km away in rural Bong county. continue...

Most Palestinians killed in Israeli raids were civilians, Amnesty says

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 24 May 2007

More than 320 civilians were among a threefold increase in the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces last year, according to Amnesty International. The human rights group's 2007 report says that over half of the more than 650 Palestinians killed in 2006 were civilians, 120 of them children and young people under 18. Amnesty defines civilians, "as people that are reasonably supposed never to have been involved in armed operations". continue...

UN troops traded guns for gold with militias, says report

By David Usborne in New York
Published: 24 May 2007

Scandal is engulfing the United Nations once again after allegations that peacekeepers stationed in Congo traded guns for gold with militia groups that they were meant to be disarming. Meanwhile, a trial got under way in New York of a former UN official accused of taking bribes. continue...

Islanders evicted for US base finally win right to return home

By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent
Published: 24 May 2007

Thousands of British citizens who were evicted from their paradise island home to make way for a giant US air base have won the right to return.

In a landmark legal judgment, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Chagos islanders could rebuild a life that they lost in the late 1960s.

Yesterday the islanders packed the court to witness their victory, and then called on the Government to pay for about 5,000 of them to return and rebuild the life that they lost 40 years ago. continue...

Robert Fisk: Innocent victims caught up in a war of endless revenge

Robert Fisk reports from the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, northern Lebanon
Published: 24 May 2007

It is a place of Palestinian fury - and almost as much Palestinian blood. The bandage-swaddled children whimpering in pain, frowning at the strange, unfatherly doctors, the middle-aged woman staring at us with one eye, a set of tubes running into her gashed-open stomach, a series of bleak-faced, angry, young men, their bodies and legs torn apart.

There was eight-year Youssef al-Radi who was cut open by shrapnel in the arm and back yesterday morning and brought to the Palestinian Safad hospital at Badawi, another refugee camp in Tripoli, his feet bleeding, a tiny figure on a huge stretcher. He hasn't been told that his mother died beside him. Nor that his father is still in the Nahr el-Bared camp. continue...

Democrats blink first in battle to force US Iraq withdrawal

By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 24 May 2007

Divided Democrats have dropped a planned timetable for a US troop withdrawal from a new Iraq funding bill that President Bush had vowed to veto. But the legislation, to be sent to George Bush tomorrow, probably only postpones until September the moment of political reckoning on an ever more unpopular war, as the administration itself tries to plot a new course. continue...

Former hostage McCarthy slams TV torture scenes

By Ian Burrell
Published: 24 May 2007

The former hostage John McCarthy has criticised the television industry and in particular the makers of the American show 24, for portraying torture as an "acceptable weapon" to obtain information that might avert a terrorist attack.

Writing for The Independent, Mr McCarthy, who was held hostage in Lebanon for more than five years and suffered physical and mental abuse from his captors, says television may be encouraging the use of torture techniques by US troops in Iraq.

"The biggest lie that has gained currency through television is torture is an acceptable weapon for the 'good guys' to use if the stakes are high enough," he writes. continue...

Blair commits to nuclear future as plans for five new power plants are revealed

By Colin Brown
Published: 24 May 2007

A blueprint for a new generation of power stations was revealed yesterday as Tony Blair committed Britain to a nuclear component in energy supply.

The Government announced a five-month consultation exercise on its plans for new nuclear plants by the private sector but a private consultants' report for the Department of Trade and Industry raised suspicions that the consultation is a sham.

Critics called the consultation a "farce" and nuclear power would be a "dangerous, dirty white elephant". The report says new nuclear plants should be built predominantly in the South-east where the main demand for energy exists. continue...

Google is watching you

'Big Brother' row over plans for personal database

By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor
Published: 24 May 2007

Google, the world's biggest search engine, is setting out to create the most comprehensive database of personal information ever assembled, one with the ability to tell people how to run their lives.

In a mission statement that raises the spectre of an internet Big Brother to rival Orwellian visions of the state, Google has revealed details of how it intends to organise and control the world's information. continue...

Global carbon emissions in overdrive

From 2000 to 2004, emissions grew at a rate of 3 percent a year – more than the highest rates used in recent key UN reports.

By Peter N. Spotts | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Global emissions of carbon dioxide are growing at a faster clip than the highest rates used in recent key UN reports.

CO2 emissions from cars, factories, and power plants grew at an annual rate of 1.1 percent during the 1990s, according to the Global Carbon Project, which is a data clearinghouse set up in 2001 as a cooperative effort among UN-related groups and other scientific organizations. But from 2000 to 2004, CO2 emissions rates almost tripled to 3 percent a year – higher than any rate used in emissions scenarios for the reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Click to enlarge

Source: Global Carbon Project, US Energy Information Agency/Rich Clabaugh – Staff

If the higher rate represents more than a blip, stabilizing emissions by 2100 will be more difficult than the latest UN reports indicate, some analysts say. And to avoid the most serious effects of global warming, significant cuts in CO2 emissions must begin sooner than the IPCC reports suggest. At the moment, no region of the world is "decarbonizing its energy supply," the analysis says.  continue...

Brazil: Too many bumps in the roads?

Finally: The Itaipu hydroelectic dam in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, was inaugurated Monday. The dam was started about 30 years ago. Jorge Adorno/Reuters

Its Growth Acceleration Project targets $252 billion in energy and infrastructure projects. Critics question if its goals are realistic

By Andrew Downie | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

RIO DE JANEIRO - It's tough getting around Brazil these days.

Go by plane, and the voyage might take days. Equipment failures and strikes or work slowdowns by air-traffic controllers have led to frequent delays over the past six months and caused havoc at airports.

Go by road, and you take your chances on the country's unpredictable highways. Many of Brazil's highways are unpaved, and the ones that are tarred are liable to open up in huge craters at any moment.

On several occasions over the past few months, main roads have washed away, taking cars, buses, and trucks with them.

Go by train – well, that's hardly a serious option because there aren't really any trains. continue...

As summer begins, trouble in the US airways

Picket: Outside United Airlines' shareholder meeting in Chicago earlier this month, pilots protested the pay packages for the company's top managers. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Labor dissatisfaction could be a key factor in how the summer travel season goes.

By Alexandra Marks | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

NEW YORK - Buckle those seat belts. The nation's airways are in position to create some not-so-friendly skies.

With airplanes packed with more passengers than ever before, forecasters predicting severe hurricane and thunderstorm seasons, and airline employee morale at what experts say is a record low, this summer could become one of the most chaotic. Some analysts are predicting it could even rival the summer of 2000, which was laden with work slowdowns, record flight delays, and passenger frustration.

"All of the pieces are in place," says Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition in Radnor, Pa. "There's so much dissatisfaction, and so many employees are burned out. They're working longer hours for less pay in a system that is jammed to the hilt." continue...

Fight against militants agitates Lebanon's troubled camps

Devastation: A boy played in the rubble of the Shatila refugee camp located in the outskirts of Beirut on Tuesday. Most of the refugee camps in Lebanon have housed generations of Palestinians since Israel declared independence in 1948. Jiro Ose / Special to The Christian Science Monitor

Poverty and hopelessness have helped foster the emergence of radical Islamist groups in Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps.

By Nicholas Blanford | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

We share the story behind the story.

NAHR AL-BARED PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP, Lebanon - As battles between the Lebanese Army and Islamic militants from Fatah al-Islam entered a third day, dozens of residents of this embattled Palestinian camp seized a chance Tuesday to flee.

They waved white sheets from cars as snipers still fired at them during a brief cease-fire. "The situation is very miserable," screamed Mouein Safadi as he reached an Army post. "There are many, many people dead under the rubble. We have no water, no food, no electricity."

Ahmad Afif, driving a battered red Renault filled with his family, said the militants "are not Palestinians. They are Syrians, Iraqis, Afghanis. What do they want from us?" continue...

Indian laws put Christian missionaries on defensive

Proponents of religious freedom are criticizing Indian laws against forced conversion.

By Mian Ridge | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Voluntary: A woman converted to Buddhism from Hinduism in Nagpur in 2006 as part of a mass ceremony to protest laws intended to deter conversions.

Prashanth Vishwanathan/Reuters/Newscom

Shimla, India - The walls of Lajja Devi's spartan house are plastered with Hindu images: blue-skinned Lord Krishna playing the flute; the warrior goddess Durga, brandishing a knife in each of her eight hands; barefoot, saffron-robed priests.

But only weeks before, every picture in the house was Christian. Ms. Devi, who lives in Shimla, the capital of the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, was born a Hindu but willingly converted to Christianity five years ago. She returned to Hinduism in a "ghar vapasi" – literally, homecoming – ritual with more than 100 others in February.

"I am back home now; I am much happier," says Devi, beaming.

Her especially noisy, colorful ceremony was held to generate publicity for a new law passed in Himachal Pradesh earlier in February, banning forced religious conversions. continue...

Timeless exposure: 100-year-old colour photos discovered in attic

By David Usborne in New York

Published: 23 May 2007

Just how much cash they might have raised no one can say, but for students of photography the three glass-plate images that Charlotte Albright found in her attic in Buffalo, New York state, last summer are little short of priceless. Happily, the pictures are not bound for an auction house but rather the venerable George Eastman House museum in Rochester, which will display them this autumn. They are remarkable in many ways, not least because they are by Edward Steichen and - though a century old - are in colour. continue...

David Howarth: These nonsensical arguments for nuclear power

The Government has been rushed into a bad decision by a clever public relations campaign

Published: 23 May 2007

Although today's White Paper on energy is accompanied by a "consultation" about nuclear power, pronouncements from both of Britain's prime ministers leave little room for doubt that the British Government believes that the country's energy problems cannot be solved without recourse to a new generation of nuclear power. continue...

Deborah Orr: A simple-minded politician, asylum-seekers and the complex realities of global politics

Critics of Margaret Hodge have failed to understand that 'need' is not an easy equation

Published: 23 May 2007

Refugees don't come to Britain any more, do they? We get asylum-seekers now instead. Refugees? Well we still see them, in camps, on television, driven from their homes by war, famine, pestilence or the other one, and they really do have nothing.

Asylum-seekers have something though, don't they? They have an agenda, and a list of rights.
They want something, and they want it from us. Not all of them, although much rhetoric implies that this is the case. The US committee for refugees and immigrants estimates that the current total of displaced persons is more than 34 million, a third of them seeking asylum outside their own borders. The latest figures, from 2005, confirm that we granted asylum to a not overwhelming 11,000 of those refugees. continue...

Mark Steel: Why nothing beats a good cup of tea

It's part of our complex history that we're surrounded by beauty that was funded by atrocity

Published: 23 May 2007

If the Cutty Sark was set on fire deliberately, it must be by the laziest saboteurs ever. Because they only had to go a mile up the road and do the Dome instead, and they'd have been the most popular arsonists in history. It would have been like the last scenes of The Wicker Man, with smiling children and delirious citizens holding hands and doing country dancing as the flames roared. Then the Government could have launched a fund in order that: "This valuable piece of our heritage can be fully restored to its former pointlessness." continue...

Robert Fisk: The road to Jerusalem (via Lebanon)

Inspired by al-Qa'ida, a hitherto little-known militant group is behind the outbreak of bloody violence which has left scores dead

Published: 23 May 2007

They came into Lebanon last summer when the world was watching Israel smash this small nation in a vain attempt to destroy the Hizbollah. But the men who set up their grubby little office in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, some of them fighters from the Iraq war, others from Yemen, Syria or Lebanon itself, were far more dangerous than America and Israel believed the Hizbollah to be. They had come, they told the few journalists who bothered to seek them out "to liberate" Jerusalem because "to free our territory is a sacred duty inscribed in the Koran". continue...

Nuclear power consultation launched

Published: 23 May 2007

A five-month consultation on the "significant role" new nuclear power stations could play in cutting emissions and diversifying energy supplies was launched by the Government today.

Ministers made clear they want new nuclear power stations to be built, sparking a fresh row with environmental campaigners who accused the Government of peddling a "failed policy".

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling said it was the Government's preliminary view that it was in the public interest to give private energy firms the option of investing in new nuclear building projects. continue...

Opium: Iraq's deadly new export

Amid the anarchy, farmers begin to grow opium poppies, raising fears that the country could become a major heroin supplier

By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
Published: 23 May 2007

Farmers in southern Iraq have started to grow opium poppies in their fields for the first time, sparking fears that Iraq might become a serious drugs producer along the lines of Afghanistan. continue...

Cheap Laptops Getting Tryouts in Small Pilot Projects

THAILAND: Students in a village in Thailand use XO laptop computers to take pictures of local vegetation, mushrooms, and herbs. The students in Samkha and their teacher are testing the technology to see how they can integrate it into their schoolwork. —Courtesy of laptop.org

Bold initiative still faces questions about worth.

By Andrew Trotter

The audacious plan to put $100 laptop computers into the hands of children and teachers in some of the world’s poorest countries has enjoyed a lengthy afterglow from its celebrated launch in 2005—without yet proving it is both workable and wise.

Since Nicholas Negroponte, the former head of the MIT Media Laboratory, first presented the plan to international leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, two years ago, many have questioned the initiative on both scores.

Craig Barrett, the chairman of Intel Corp., the computer-chip-making giant, argues the low-cost laptop lacks such essential features as sufficient data storage. And more recently, in an interview in the journal Foreign Policy, he said “the money would be more intelligently spent on creating the infrastructure—training teachers and creating the environment for education.” continue...

Seth's Blog: Yes!

So, how to overcome those that have a reflex to say no?

One way is to flood the zone with people who are likely to say yes.

Unless you're selling to just about everyone in the world, this is far easier than trying to persuade the nay sayers.

My school realizes this. They hold the spring concert the same night at the budget vote. 200 parents at a concert are only a few steps away from the voting booth in the gym. Starbucks realizes the same thing when they put their stores directly in the path of yuppies who like spending $4 for a cup of coffee. You don't find many Starbucks at bus stations.

Instead of focusing on arguing with people who say no, it might be easier to get near the people who like to say yes. continue YES?  NO!

Leading Article: A White Paper that should set alarm bells ringing

Published: 22 May 2007

Despite the imminent departure of Tony Blair, his government's centralising tendencies show no signs of going away. A White Paper on reforming the planning process was presented to Parliament yesterday by the Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly.

Planning is an inescapably controversial process. And "nimbyism" can indeed be a factor in holding up necessary infrastructure projects. Between October 2006 and February this year only a third of applications for onshore wind farms were approved, as compared with three-quarters of all major planning applications. But that does not mean that the present system is broken. Wind farms are being built. And it is quite right that the objections of local people are being taken into consideration where appropriate. continue...

Philip Hensher: Two-year degrees make a mockery of universities

Contrary to popular belief, vacations are not opportunities to disport oneself on an Aegean beach
Published: 22 May 2007

What are universities for? Or, to put it another and more fundamental way, what is a university? For most people who work in one, the answer has always been that they are institutions that balance direct learning and opportunities for original research. As students progress through the system, the direct instruction aspect tends to diminish, the research element increases; and a certain spirit of egalitarianism reflects the fact that the faculty are not just teachers, but engaged in the same search for knowledge as their PhD, MA or even BA students. continue...

Dominic Lawson: Nuclear has always been the best option

Blair's recent volte-face has nothing to do with climate change, whatever might be claimed
Published: 22 May 2007

Tony Blair once boasted that he has "no reverse gear". That's because he achieves the same direction of travel by performing spectacular U-turns. Tomorrow he will accomplish perhaps the most skilful of them all, with the publication of an Energy White Paper which endorses the building of a new generation of nuclear power stations. continue...

US festival in Paris axed after threats

By Jen Wainwright in Paris
Published: 22 May 2007

An American country music festival in Paris has been postponed after the organisers received several anti-American threats.

The festival, called Three Days in America, was supposed to take place next weekend in the Parc St Cloud, in a suburb to the west of Paris. An international event, which last year drew more than 15,000 people, the festival celebrates the American lifestyle with a mixture of live gospel and country music, line-dancing, tributes to Elvis Presley, exhibitions of American cars and spectacular fireworks. continue...

Blackstone details float as China takes $3bn stake

By Stephen Foley in New York
Published: 22 May 2007

Blackstone, the world's most powerful private equity firm, will raise $7.75bn (£3.93bn) from outside investors as part of its groundbreaking stock market flotation.

The company has been setting out the financial details of its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), including a $3bn investment from the Chinese government that Blackstone hopes will be the first chapter in a lucrative relationship. continue...

Afghan MP expelled for calling parliament 'worse than a zoo'

By Kim Sengupta
Published: 22 May 2007

The most outspoken female MP in Afghanistan has been expelled from parliament after saying proceedings had descended to a level "worse than a zoo". The views of Malalai Joya, in a television interview, outraged fellow parliamentarians, who immediately voted to suspend her from the house for the rest of her five-year term. Some even demanded that she should be brought before a court for defamation and stripped of the right to stand again as a candidate. continue...

The Big Question: Is Bertie Ahern likely to win a historic third term as Irish leader?

By David Mckittrick, Ireland Correspondent
Published: 22 May 2007

Why are we asking this now?
On Thursday voters in the Republic of Ireland go to the polls to decide whether to give the sitting Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, and his Fianna Fail, an unprecedented third term in power. continue...

Saatchi causes a new online sensation in China

By Clifford Coonan in Beijing
Published: 22 May 2007

Britain's Saatchi Gallery marked its latest expansion in China's booming contemporary art market yesterday with the launch of a Mandarin-language website, which will allow artists to display their work online and interact with their peers around the world.

The launch of a Chinese version of the Your Gallery website - the world's largest interactive art gallery with 20 million hits a day - shows how hot the Chinese art market is. Your Gallery was launched last year to provide a free global platform for artists. continue...

Israeli woman killed by rocket fired from Gaza by militants

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 22 May 2007

An Israeli woman civilian was killed by a Qassam rocket last night after Israeli air strikes killed five Palestinians - including all four members of an Islamic Jihad rocket launching cell.

The woman was three metres from a car hit by a rocket near the commercial centre of the southern border town of Sderot. Her death was the first in the current spate of rocket attacks by Gaza militants on Israel. One man was injured. continue...

Robert Fisk: A front-row seat for this Lebanese tragedy

Published: 22 May 2007

There is something obscene about watching the siege of Nahr el-Bared. The old Palestinian camp - home to 30,000 lost souls who will never go "home" - basks in the Mediterranean sunlight beyond a cluster of orange orchards. Soldiers of the Lebanese army, having retaken their positions on the main road north, idle their time aboard their old personnel carriers. And we - we representatives of the world's press - sit equally idly atop a half-built apartment block, basking in the little garden or sipping cups of scalding tea beside the satellite dishes where the titans of television stride by in their blue space suits and helmets. continue...

Fuse on the 'population bomb' has been relit

Commentary: "Economic Scene: A weekly column"  May 21, 2007 edition

While the developed world deals with a 'birth dearth,' populations are exploding in developing nations. What the first world should do to help.

By David R. Francis | Columnist of The Christian Science Monitor

Prospects for stabilizing the world's soaring population have taken a blow. This development, if not reversed, will have huge economic, environmental, and political impacts on most people alive today. continue...

A market edge for Muslims

Prayerful approach: Monem Salam is a deputy portfolio manager for Amana Funds, a fund group that applies Islamic law to its stock picks. ‘If Islam forbids it, then we’re not going to buy it,’ he says.
Josie Liming/Special to the Christian Science Monitor

Islamic funds make gains by avoiding financial-services firms and those deep in debt.

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

The strategy is almost heresy on Wall Street: Find a top-performing investment by seeking out a mutual fund with some of the industry's strictest ethical screening requirements.

Yet that approach, if adopted, would work in at least one case. The Amana Income Fund, which avoids not only alcohol, tobacco, and gambling stocks but also pork producers and lenders who charge interest, received a Lipper award earlier this year for outperforming 180 equity income funds – screened and unscreened – over the past three years. continue...

Lord Howe Island: Strange birds in paradise

Bird bonanza: Lord Howe Island, 430 miles off Sydney, Australia, is all about birds. The sparsely developed Pacific speck is the habitat for half a million birds – including the booby bird species.
Courtesy of Tourism New South Wales

Lord Howe Island: Strange birds in paradise
You may half expect to see pterodactyls wheeling in the mist – but you can count on a currawong divebombing you.


By Nick Squires | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

LORD HOWE ISLAND, AUSTRALIA - The blow to the back of my head came with such unexpected force that it knocked me to my knees. I was hiking through a forest of slender palm trees on this boomerang-shaped sliver of land off the east coast of Australia when the attack happened.

A deranged local perhaps, one of the 320 who inhabit this subtropical speck in the South Pacific? Or a crazed tourist gone mad over the island's somnolent ways and 25 kph. speed limit?

Neither, as it happened. Turning round I was met by the beady yellow eyes and malevolent caw of a currawong, a raven-sized bird with the black and white markings of a magpie. continue...

Lord Howe Island: Strange birds in paradise

 You may half expect to see pterodactyls wheeling in the mist – but you can count on a currawong divebombing you.

LORD HOWE ISLAND, AUSTRALIA - The blow to the back of my head came with such unexpected force that it knocked me to my knees. I was hiking through a forest of slender palm trees on this boomerang-shaped sliver of land off the east coast of Australia when the attack happened.

A deranged local perhaps, one of the 320 who inhabit this subtropical speck in the South Pacific? Or a crazed tourist gone mad over the island's somnolent ways and 25 kph. speed limit?

Neither, as it happened. Turning round I was met by the beady yellow eyes and malevolent caw of a currawong, a raven-sized bird with the black and white markings of a magpie. continue...

Another theater for US-Iran fallout: the South Caucasus

Armenia, an ally of both countries, shows how tensions between the two could upset the region's diplomatic balancing act.  By Nicole Itano | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Reporters on the Job - We share the story behind the story.

YEREVAN, ARMENIA - In late March, as the United Nations Security Council debated whether to increase sanctions against Iran over that country's refusal to halt its nuclear program, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Armenian counterpart met near the border of the two countries to inaugurate a new pipeline bringing Iranian natural gas to fuel Armenian cities. continue...

Dollar buying ever less of world's goods

The dollar has fallen 5 percent against the euro and the pound so far this year, the equivalent of a 20 percent annual decline. By Ron Scherer | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Eiffel Tower: American tourists are thinking twice about trips to Europe as the euro gains against the dollar.  Alfredo Sosa – Staff

New York - It's like a summer movie: the incredible shrinking dollar.
Since the beginning of the year, the buck has shrunk 5 percent – the equivalent of a 20 percent annual decline – compared with the pound and the euro.

But the shriveling value of the dollar may eventually help solve one of the most intractable US economic problems: the enormous trade deficit, which hit $63.9 billion in March, the highest level since September of last year.

Already, giant European companies are taking advantage of their strong currency by announcing huge investments in the United States. And US exporters such as Boeing and Caterpillar are getting an order boost as the lower-valued dollar allows them to undercut their competition. continue...

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: We need an effective opposition on the left

Gordon Brown has invited Richard Littlejohn to his home to drink beer and watch England  Published: 21 May 2007

Mum was a forgiving soul, absolving too many who deserved worse for the way they treated her. She tried to understand human flaws and circumstances that led to bad behaviour. But there were limits to her tolerance. She couldn't stand Ann Widdecombe, John Prescott, Omar Bakri, Abu Hamza, and that cross between a wolf and a fox, Richard Littlejohn ("small Johnny" to her). These unattractive people, she said, were even more hideous on the inside. continue...

A pernicious legacy of surveillance

Published: 21 May 2007

We are used to hearing condemnations of the Government's disregard for our civil liberties from campaigners, journalists and opposition politicians. But in the past week we have heard these same concerns raised by two rather less expected voices. Last week, Colin Langham-Fitt, the acting Chief Constable of Suffolk Police called for a public debate about "the ongoing erosion of civil liberties" in Britain, and criticised the growth of CCTV and the Government's plans to introduce ID cards. And yesterday, Ian Readhead, the Deputy Chief Constable of Hampshire Police complained about CCTV being used in small towns and villages that do not suffer from high levels of crime. He warned that Britain is becoming an "Orwellian" society. continue...

Digital recorders dent US advertising market

By Stephen Foley in New York
Published: 21 May 2007

American television broadcasters are struggling to persuade advertisers to pay up for commercial slots in the coming autumn season amid confusion over exactly how many viewers actually watch the adverts.

This year's "upfronts" - the glitzy annual event in New York where the main networks showcase their future schedules - was dominated by discussion of how digital video recorders (DVRs) and the internet are undermining the value of prime television ad slots.

But the event was also being used to highlight new ideas that broadcasters are using in order to persuade viewers not to skip during commercial breaks. continue...

Stephen King: As New Europe and Asia grow, Britain is losing its influence

Published: 21 May 2007

As Gordon Brown takes his leave of the Treasury and wanders up the road to Downing Street, he'll need to think more about the world, and less about the minutiae of UK public finances. The prime minster-in-waiting has always liked to play his role on the international stage but, as Prime Minister, he'll have to devote a lot more of his time to international matters. Top of his agenda will, no doubt, be Iraq, but there are plenty of other issues he'll be thinking about. continue...

Spain suspicious over £250m treasure haul

Published: 21 May 2007

Authorities in Spain are looking into whether the US company involved in excavating colonial-era treasure from a sunken British ship can be charged with stealing Spanish heritage. continue...

Illegal trade in ivory 'boosted by eBay sales'

By Jonathan Brown
Published: 21 May 2007

International attempts to control the illegal supply of poached ivory are being undermined by the burgeoning market for illicit animal parts on the internet, according to a report.

An investigation by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) found ivory objects banned under global wildlife conventions openly for sale on eBay. Elsewhere on the internet, live primates, turtle shells, big cat skins, great white shark bones and even an elephant-foot ashtray were freely available. continue...

Israel steps up attacks on Hamas as Palestinian ceasefire teeters

By Eric Silver in Jerusalem
Published: 21 May 2007

Israel's security cabinet ordered the military to step up operations against Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip as Palestinian gunmen continued firing Qassam rockets and mortars into southern Israel.

Miri Eisin, the Prime Minister's spokeswoman, said ministers and security chiefs had decided last night to "upgrade" their counter-offensive. "If that does not reduce the fire," she warned, "then the security cabinet will reconvene to decide on additional, more drastic steps." continue...

Cult leader sparks Sikh riots with 'guru' stunt

By Jerome Taylor
Published: 21 May 2007

The Indian state of Punjab has been set alight by some of the worst rioting in a decade after a newspaper advert placed by the leader of a controversial religious sect sparked outrage in the region's Sikh community.  continue...

Robert Fisk: Scores dead as Lebanese army battles Islamists in bloodiest day since civil war

Published: 21 May 2007

Butchery was the word that came to mind. Twenty-three Lebanese soldiers and police, 17 Sunni Muslim gunmen. How long can Lebanon endure this? Just before he died, one of the armed men - Palestinians? Lebanese? - we still don't know - shot a soldier right beside me. He fell down on his back, crying with pain, and I thought he had slipped on the road until I saw the blood pumping out of his leg and the Red Cross team dragging him desperately out of the line of fire. Not since the war - yes, the Lebanese civil war that we are all still trying to forget - have I heard this many bullets cracking across the streets of a Lebanese city. continue...

Dilemma for Brown as party members press for Iraq troop withdrawal

By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Published: 21 May 2007

Gordon Brown is under mounting pressure to speed up the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq after he takes over as Prime Minister next month.

Mr Brown was questioned on the issue at Labour's first leadership hustings meeting in Coventry yesterday by party members who want him to signal a decisive break with Tony Blair's most controversial policy.

The prime minister-in-waiting faces a delicate balancing act on Iraq. He wants to offer his party and disillusioned voters a fresh start. But he knows that a premature withdrawal could cause tension with the Iraqi government and Washington, where some figures are speculating that he will not offer the same unwavering support that Mr Blair gave President George Bush. continue...

Britain's obesity epidemic has created 'cancer time bomb'

By Sadie Gray
Published: 21 May 2007

Soaring obesity rates have lumbered Britain with a "cancer time bomb" which, combined with an ageing population, will cause a massive increase in cases unless urgent action is taken, an expert has warned.

Research has shown up to 40 per cent of cancers, particularly hormone-sensitive types such as breast and endometrial cancer (affecting the womb lining), can be prevented by adopting a healthy diet and taking regular exercise, said Dr Greg Martin, science and research manager at the World Cancer Research Fund. Obesity was also associated with cancer of the oesophagus and bowel, said Dr Martin.

"There has been plenty of attention recently on the problems of obesity, but a lot of people still do not realise how closely obesity is linked to cancer," he said. "People getting fatter will lead to an increase in the number of cancer cases as surely as night follows day. continue...

Exclusive: Secret US plot to kill Al-Sadr

Exclusive: Secret US plot to kill Al-Sadr
By Patrick Cockburn In Baghdad
Published: 21 May 2007

The US Army tried to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr, the widely revered Shia cleric, after luring him to peace negotiations at a house in the holy city of Najaf, which it then attacked, according to a senior Iraqi government official.

The revelation of this extraordinary plot, which would probably have provoked an uprising by outraged Shia if it had succeeded, has left a legacy of bitter distrust in the mind of Mr Sadr for which the US and its allies in Iraq may still be paying. "I believe that particular incident made Muqtada lose any confidence or trust in the [US-led] coalition and made him really wild," the Iraqi National Security Adviser Dr Mowaffaq Rubai'e told The Independent in an interview. It is not known who gave the orders for the attempt on Mr Sadr but it is one of a series of ill-considered and politically explosive US actions in Iraq since the invasion. In January this year a US helicopter assault team tried to kidnap two senior Iranian security officials on an official visit to the Iraqi President. Earlier examples of highly provocative actions carried out by the US with little thought for the consequences include the dissolution of the Iraqi army and the Baath party.

The attempted assassination or abduction took place two-and-a-half years ago in August 2004 when Mr Sadr and his Mehdi Army militiamen were besieged by US Marines in Najaf, south of Baghdad. continue...

NYU 2007 Commencement Student Speaker - Graduate Schools

Rahim Moloo's Speech at NYU's 2007 Commencement ceremony. He spoke on behalf of the University's graduating Graduate and Professional Schools' students.