Newsweek International articles from August 2003

Newsweek International archives from August 2003

Mail Call.
August 4, 2003... Fox fans reluctantly endorsed our June 23 evaluation of their leader but remained loyal to him for returning democracy to Mexico. One praised the story as "accurate and well documented," but another found it "ill timed, to say the least." A...

Tycoon Takedown.(Mikhail Khodorkovsky faces criminal charges in Russia )
August 4, 2003... If anyone embodies Russia's transformation from financial pariah to new economic star, it's 40-year-old Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Not long ago he was just another post-Soviet business tycoon, getting rich quick in dubious privatizations and...

Putting a Cork in It.(top wineries adopting screw or plastic plugs for wine bottles)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... The [Pound sterling]12.99 price tag suggests a classy French vineyard. And the crisp Chablis taste won't disappoint. Just don't look at the stopper. In an affront to purists, Britain's biggest wine retailer, the Tesco supermarket chain, has...

Out With the Old.(generational conflicts in South Korea)
August 4, 2003... Barry Cha knew his days were numbered. The 49-year-old general manager for a top South Korean company saw the signs around him. First he was passed up for a series of promotions. Then a much younger colleague leapfrogged him into upper...

Chicken Little Europe.(expanded European Union may cause cross-border movement for jobs)(Column)
August 4, 2003... An expanded European Union should mean wider horizons. But for Milan Kubek, chairman of the Czech doctors' union, that's a mixed blessing. When the frontiers come down next year, he predicts that nurses and physicians will leave in droves,...

Corporate Destruction.(Hugo Chavez's economic policy)(Column)
August 4, 2003... A thunderstorm is brewing, and Antonio Arellano, clutching a scrap of paper bearing the number 41, is still far from the head of the line outside the government grocery store. But the 49-year-old printer repairman is not complaining. "Anywhere...

The Wi-Fi Bubble.(Column)
August 4, 2003... In the edgy world of high tech, hot spots sounded so good they just had to work. A customer would pop into a cafe, marina or even a park, flip open a laptop and cheerfully surf the Net, download music or check e- mail. No more wires, no more...

Make Waves, Not War.(Yoko Ono art exhibition)(Critical Essay)
August 4, 2003... When Yoko Ono was pursuing avant-garde art in New York in the early 1960s, even Western art critics puzzled over her out-there conceptual art. For Asians, who expected women to be chaste and obedient, Ono's strange, brash--sometimes...

The Purloined Painting.(Charles Hill investigates art thefts)
August 4, 2003... It's every millionaire's worst nightmare: waking up to find a home stripped of priceless artwork overnight. If that fails to arouse your sympathy, consider that it happens regularly in museums, too; treasures worth billions of dollars are...

Mahmoud Abbas.(interview)(Interview)
August 4, 2003... Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas came to Washington last week. Shortly before he met with President George W. Bush, Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, spoke to NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth about the prospects for peace in the Middle East....

On the Right Side of the Law.(United States and international law)
August 4, 2003... Uday and Qusay Hussein died in a hail of bullets worthy of the Wild West. The administration proclaimed a great victory. Iraqis were more ambivalent. Said one, talking to the BBC: "I would have been happy if they were captured alive and brought...

Talking Trash.(recycling in New York City)
August 4, 2003... I don't get it," said Miguel, scratching his head. "We've just got through figuring out what to put in the garbage that we weren't supposed to before, and now they're telling me it's all wrong." Miguel's perplexity is understandable--he's...

This Is Mr. America.(Benjamin Franklin biographies)(Critical Essay)
August 4, 2003... Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson tells us at the beginning of his long (but never tedious) new biography, "is the founding father who winks at us." By that, Isaacson explains, he means Franklin is the most human--and most modern--of the men...

Perspectives.(quotations)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... "It's not a pretty situation." Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the ongoing violence in Liberia "In a few days they will show us another fat body with a beard and say it's Saddam." Zohair Maty, a...

Periscope.(brief items)
August 4, 2003... Terrorism: Al Qaeda's Men in Iran As U.S. troops try to fend off "guerrilla" attacks in Iraq, American spies and diplomats are increasingly preoccupied with a scary group of Qaeda operatives in neighboring Iran. Last week Ali Younesi,...

Virtual Vintage Style.(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 4, 2003... Vintage couture has never been hotter. Actresses like Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger and Julia Roberts regularly sport vintage evening dresses on the red carpet, and modern designers are reaching back in time for inspiration. For the rest of...

The Modern Massage.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 4, 2003... There's nothing better than the human touch--or is there? For stress relief, massage chairs may be just what the acupressurist ordered. Far from the old vibrating variety, newer loungers are far more creative these days; they've added multiple...

A Healthy Dance.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Forget yoga. Ballet is pirouetting its way to popularity as the hippest way to work out. In July the New York City Ballet released the second of its popular workout videos. Its first, released in 2001, sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide....

Terrorists in America.(Letter to the Editor)
August 11, 2003... Our June 23 report on Al Qaeda in America resonated with many readers. One found it "informative and disturbing," another called it "chilling." But many others were quick to condemn Washington's response to the terrorist threat, racial...

Class Revival.
August 11, 2003... Every few years, a national polling institute asks Germans what they want most from their society. Each time, a majority--or close to it-- answers Gleichheit, or equality. It is the supreme good, more highly prized in Germany even than...

Free and Reckless.(free speech and independent newspapers blossom in Iraq)
August 11, 2003... After toppling Saddam Hussein's repressive regime, U.S. officials crowed that Iraq would soon see a rebirth of free speech and independent newspapers. Little did they know: since April the news business in Iraq has exploded. Upwards of 200 new...

Big Trouble.(obesity a world-wide problem)
August 11, 2003... The world has a weight problem. Within the past decade obesity rates have shot up by 50 percent, rising from 200 million people in 1995 to 300 million in 2003. Even places more familiar with famine than fat are starting to worry about their...

Not Just for Adults.(type 2 diabetes cases in children on the rise)(Column)
August 11, 2003... As childhood-obesity rates skyrocket, doctors are seeing an alarming rise in a costly and debilitating disease once unheard of in children: adult onset, or type 2, diabetes. Unlike type 1, or "juvenile" diabetes--an autoimmune disorder in which...

Shooting Himself.(Jim Dine )(Critical Essay)
August 11, 2003... As a contemporary artist, Jim Dine has often incorporated other people's photography into his abstract works. But the 68-year-old American didn't pick up a camera himself and start shooting until he moved to Berlin in 1995--and once he did, he...

Moon Over Mozart.(new production of Mozart's Idomeneo set in postwar Iraq)(Column)
August 11, 2003... In opera festivals, like so much else in contemporary Europe, Britain stands apart. Continental productions are staged in the palaces of Salzburg and Aix, but England's flagship festival, Glyndebourne, takes place in a pint-size opera house...

The Aussie Posse.
August 11, 2003... In January Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer seemed like a very cautious man. Military interventions, according to Australia's senior diplomat, were messy affairs that held little interest for his country. Even relatively small-scale...

Trouble in the Ranks.
August 11, 2003... When the junior officers who led last week's uprising handed over their weapons, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared victory. And understandably so. By the end of the 19-hour standoff, authorities had 396 soldiers in custody...

The Red Scare.
August 11, 2003... Tom Hopson runs the last American-owned TV factory: Five Rivers Electronic Innovations in Greeneville, Tennessee. All the others have been killed off or bought out by Japanese competitors, and now Hopson says his plant, too, is near extinction...

Europe's Big Land Grab.
August 11, 2003... If the bidding frenzy over Safeway were any indication, you'd think that big grocery stores had become luxury collectibles. Every one of Britain's top retailers--Tesco, Wal-Mart-owned Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's--are making a play for...

Speaking Up for Esperanto.
August 11, 2003... Over the years, Esperanto enthusiasts have grown thick skins. Ever since a Polish Jew invented the language in 1887 in the hopes of fostering a cross-cultural community, cynics have mocked it as an idealistic cult for linguistic weirdos. Yet...

How to Deal With Kim.(Interview)
August 11, 2003... In 1997, Hwang Jang Yop, former secretary of North Korea's Workers' Party, startled the world by becoming the highest-ranking official ever to defect from the Hermit Kingdom. The architect of North Korea's ideology of juche, or self-reliance,...

Peace At Any Price.
August 11, 2003... Carlos Castano was 16 when Marxist guerrillas kidnapped and murdered his father in the humid hinterlands of Antioquia province in central Colombia. The right-wing paramilitary supremo has spent most of the ensuing two decades cutting a...

A Bit of Optimism Is OK.
August 11, 2003... Finally, some good news. After more than two years of skirting recession, Germany is starting to grow again. The German economy will expand by 1.7 percent in 2004, according to the latest upbeat forecast from the IFO Institute in Munich....

Reading the Tea Leaves.
August 11, 2003... Could an online terror-futures market predict where Al Qaeda will strike next? Early last week the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency at the Pentagon was moving forward with trials of an Internet exchange for futures contracts on...

The Kingdom & the Power.
August 11, 2003... "Hogwash!" said the Saudi foreign minister, exploding with frustration. Prince Saud al-Faisal--American-educated, urbane, customarily courteous and reserved almost to a fault--was headed back to Riyadh after a whirlwind trip trying to calm a...

Terror, Iraq and 'Full Security'.(Interview)
August 11, 2003... Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came to Washington last week for his eighth White House visit with President George W. Bush. Bush is anxious to promote the so-called Roadmap to peace in the Middle East, which so far has produced a...

Wrapped in the Flag.
August 11, 2003... Browsing in Washington's Union Station the other day, I came across a set of golf balls painted in the Stars and Stripes of the American flag. What a temptation for the Qaeda golf team! Osama could spend an afternoon whacking Old Glory around....

Perspectives.(quotations from around the world)
August 11, 2003... "He was a very good father, loving, has a big heart." Raghad Hussein, describing her father, the former Iraqi president, in a TV interview "He's a piece of trash waiting to be collected." U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, on Saddam...

International Periscope.(news items from around the world)
August 11, 2003... Al Qaeda: New Terrorism Tactics One unpublicized reason the Bush administration issued last week's warning about new Qaeda hijacking threats is that U.S. intelligence acquired evidence from terrorist hideouts showing how Osama bin Laden...

Bonding time.(traveling with grandchildren)(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Now that Granny and Gramps rock-climb and wear Spandex, vacations with the grandkids are becoming more popular. Some options: Grandtravel The "grand-daddy" of intergenerational getaways, this agency offers U.S. and international packages...

Sitting pretty.(basic guidelines for keeping your child safe in the car)(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Of course kids are safer in car seats. But should they face the front or the back? And how long till Junior can graduate to the passenger seat? Here are some basic guidelines to keep your child safe. Any infant younger than 1 or less than 20...

Vacation for pets.(German Animal Protection League offers pet trading)(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Hurray, vacation time! But what to do with your pet while you're gone? German pet owners have an alternative to animal kennels, shelters or (aghh!) the autobahn, where countless pets are abandoned each year during the summer holidays. The...

Keeping it cool.(how to keep your drink chilled on the hottest of days)(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Whether called coolies, koozies, cozies, huggies, huggers or can coolers, a neoprene sweater will keep your drink chilled on the hottest of days (or warm on the coolest of days). Designed to keep beverages cold in the clutches of a hot human...

International Mail Call.(Letter to the Editor)
August 18, 2003... Our June 30/July 7 special issue on new inventions delighted most readers. "Thanks for a great cover story!" cheered one. Teachers and scientists sent in praise. The few critics took issue with our contention that the individual vision is...

Sexism in the Cites.(Islamic women in Paris band together against abuse)
August 18, 2003... An unnamed 15-year-old girl is assaulted by 18 boys, most of them not much older than she is. Sonia, also 15, is raped by seven of her supposed friends in the basement of her apartment building. Sheherezade, 11, is beaten and raped repeatedly...

Fighting a Peace Plan.(Christian aid groups in Sudan oppose plan for peace)
August 18, 2003... The night air turns cool in the tiny village of Malual Kon, in the parched Bahr al-Ghazal province of southern Sudan. Commander Paul Malong Awan, holding a grenade launcher, steps outside his fortified home to greet his dinner guests. Malong is...

Underground Railroad.
August 18, 2003... Bahar knew there was no going back. Her father, a Turkish immigrant in Berlin, had threatened to kill her "with 100 stabs of the knife." Her crime: refusing to marry her cousin Hassan, as her parents had arranged when she was 12. Since then,...

Illusion of Security.
August 18, 2003... Indonesia looked to have the upper hand on its terrorists. Authorities basked in international praise for a string of successes. The plotters behind the deadly 2002 Bali bombings had been rounded up and their trials were moving forward. Local...

Africa's Satellite Effect.(satellite television and reality shows)(Industry Overview)
August 18, 2003... The South African version of "Big Brother" recently scored a reality-TV first when two contestants were filmed bonking under a blanket. But its real pioneering significance lies outside the sheets. It's one of the first shows produced by...

Mostly Not Mozart.(classical music market)
August 18, 2003... Last month at Royal Albert Hall, a capacity audience of 6,000 cheered and applauded wildly at the European premiere of Scottish composer James MacMillan's stirring Third Symphony. A few days later, John Adams's European premiere of "On the...

Too Much Money.
August 18, 2003... Economist Andy Xie recently remarked that the world's biggest problem is "too much money," which is a bit flip, but neatly sums up the strange state of the post-bubble era. The crash that began in early 2000 has destroyed trillions of dollars...

The Cheek and The Stupidity.
August 18, 2003... The great 19th-century German banker Carl Furstenberg liked to remark that his customers were stupid and cheeky. Stupid, because they gave their money to someone else, and cheeky, because they then expected some return on it. If Furstenberg...

Breaking OUT of Japan.(Natsuo Kirino's book "OUT")(Critical Essay)
August 18, 2003... Few Japanese novelists--and fewer of those women--have been widely read in English. Natsuo Kirino looks set to change that with "OUT," her controversial six-year-old best seller, just released in the United States (368 pages. Kodansha...

Filling the Silence.(Composer James Macmillan)
August 18, 2003... Composer James Macmillan won a standing ovation at the premiere of his 1990 work, "The Confession of Isobel Gowdie." Since then, his bold, breathtaking compositions have been performed by orchestras worldwide, including the London Symphony...

Ahmad Al-Rikaby.(Interview)
August 18, 2003... Iraqi exile Ahmad Al-Rikaby just quit his dream job. Formerly the voice of Radio Free Iraq, Al-Rikaby was handpicked by Washington to head up a TV station for the new Iraq Media Network (IMN)--a project that he says became like his "child." But...

Vacationing With Mr. B.(celebrities in Sardinia)
August 18, 2003... What's new, Salvo?" my paparazzo friend is sipping caipiroska in a seaside cafe, watching the yachts anchored off Porto Cervo. The smallest is 40 meters. It's cocktail time, and he's taking a break from chasing celebs all day. "I got Gwyneth...

Crisis in the Communion.
August 18, 2003... The Rev. Richard Kirker, an Anglican priest, laughs when he remembers his confrontation with a Nigerian cleric. Five years ago the leader of the international Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement was attending a gathering in London when the...

International Perspectives.(quotations)(Brief Article)
August 18, 2003... "Say hasta la vista, Gray Davis." Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, after announcing he would run for governor of California in the upcoming recall election "We're starving. We're eating food that humans should not be eating." ...

International Periscope.(brief items)
August 18, 2003... TERRORISM Ties to a Qaeda Chief The feds charged Uzair Paracha last week with providing cover for a suspected Qaeda terrorist in the United States. But they didn't reveal their suspicion that Paracha and his father have ties to senior...

Animal Emotions.
August 18, 2003... Everyone who's ever owned a pet has at least one story (usually many, actually) of an animal that seems just as emotional as any human. Take Michiyo Takemoto of Tokyo, who swears she can tell whether her West Highland white terrier, Mook, is...

Antibiotic Alternatives.
August 18, 2003... Parents know the scene well: your child howls all night long with a sore throat, an earache or a bad cough. You wake tired and grumbly and call the doctor demanding relief--perhaps more for you than your child. The doctor is under pressure to...

Sushi On Ice.(Kairinmaru Beer Ltd. )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 18, 2003... It sounds almost like sacrilege. But a small Japanese company is daring to challenge the centuries-old assumption that sushi must be freshly prepared and eaten soon afterward. The owners of Otaru-based Kairinmaru Beer Ltd. swear the company's...

Fantasy Islands.(Vladi Private Islands )(Brief Article)
August 18, 2003... Sick of large crowds during that annual family vacation? Why not buy your own island? Vladi Private Islands (vladi.de) based in Hamburg, Germany, offers 120 of them worldwide. They range from 26,000 euro for two acres off Nova Scotia to $56.5...

View From the Pool.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2003... Europeans looking to cool off from the heat wave sweeping the region don't need to look far for relief. Most of their venerable cities boast convenient and refreshing swimming holes. Some of our favorites: In London, try the Serpentine...

The Cord Blood Debate.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2003... Zoe Fintz is a perfectly healthy little girl. But her parents aren't taking any chances. Compelled by a pamphlet in their doctor's office, they decided to spend $1,300 to store Zoe's umbilical-cord blood, banking its precious stem cells for...

A Sad Sea Change.(Letter to the Editor)
August 25, 2003... The subject of our July 14 cover story on dying oceans distressed readers, who applauded our reportage. "I feel overwhelmed and powerless," said one. Another lamented, "Governments view ecosystems as resources to be exploited." A third simply...

Dogs of Peace.(involviing "private military companies" in international crises)
August 25, 2003... Harrier jets screamed over-head. Cobra gunships armed with rockets circled the city. Sea Knight helicopters lumbered through billowing columns of yellow smoke marking the landing sites where U.S. Marines alighted last week to seize control of...

His Moment of Truth.(Hugo Chavez of Venezuela fights opponents who want recall vote)(Column)
August 25, 2003... Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's controversial president, spent all of 2002 fending off attempts to oust him from power. Massive street protests, organized by political opponents, roiled Caracas. A two-month-long general strike paralyzed the country's...

Facing Down Traffickers.(new international treaty seeks to crack down on trade in foreign women)(Column)
August 25, 2003... At 19, Aliona grabbed the chance to leave her hometown in southern Moldova. Her married lover, seeking to end the affair, promised to arrange a nanny job for her in the West. He drove her to Romania to pick up a false visa, then left her to sex...

Girl Power.(Asian women getting into sports)
August 25, 2003... She towers 20 meters over an Asian metropolis, her abs and triceps rippling and a dainty film of perspiration setting off clingy workout gear. On her lips: a rebel yell. If this were Madison Avenue or Piccadilly Circus, the Nike billboard...

Inside the Hunt for HAMBALI.
August 25, 2003... Authorities in Thailand almost missed their man. They had been warned that the suspected terrorist known as Hambali was heading their way when he was thought to be in southern China, and were watching for him along the Burmese border. Even so,...

Hernando de Soto.(granting proper land titles and business permits may help lessen poverty in developing countries)(Interview)
August 25, 2003... Developing countries have long viewed poverty as their most daunting problem. Hernando de Soto sees it as an opportunity. The 62-year-old Peruvian economist argues that, instead of throwing money at inefficient aid and welfare programs,...

Letter From America.(living with rattlesnakes)(Letter to the Editor)
August 25, 2003... When my husband and I bought property in the upstate New York village that, for privacy's sake, I call Bluestone, we didn't sweat the rattlers. It was no secret that our corner of the world is home to timber rattlesnakes, but we were too...

A Bitter Friendship.(Chinese-North Korean relations)(Column)
August 25, 2003... In July, Chinese tour groups of Korean War veterans returned to North Korea to commemorate their sacrifices on the battlefield. The conflict that bound the two socialist allies "as close as lips and teeth" left 360,000 Chinese dead when it...

Perspectives.(quotes from around the world)
August 25, 2003... "If you don't turn them off, they will go off." Long Island Power Authority chairman Richard Kessel, urging people to keep their appliances off while power was being restored after the blackout "One night without electricity, and they are...

Periscope.(news items from around the world)
August 25, 2003... MARKET WATCH Defying Gravity The world's markets have been going gangbusters of late. The Dow is up 24 percent since March. Tokyo's Nikkei has surged 30 percent over the same time period. Europe's bourses have been even hotter, with...

Heat-Wave Survival 101.(cold beverages)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2003... New Yorkers have years of experience dealing with the summer heat. One key technique: the perfect cocktail. A Tip Sheet primer for sweaty Europeans preparing for the next big heat wave. SANGRIA: You can't go wrong with the old standby. Make...

Style By Numbers.(special-edition collections of shoes and bags feature serial numbers)
August 25, 2003... Apparently, price tags with several digits aren't exclusive enough for some fashionistas. To ensure that their very best customers are kept happy, several high-end brands are producing special-edition collections of shoes and bags. Around the...

Finding E-Love In The EU.(Europeans using Internet dating services for cross-border romance)
August 25, 2003... With the continued expansion of the European Union, cross-border business, leisure and travel has never been easier. Why should romance be any different? Nowadays, the biggest challenge to finding a mate may be finding the time to meet them....

Too Much Information?(youth and information technology)(Column)
August 25, 2003... Back when comic books were the rage, South Korean kids would gather excitedly at the corner shop to get a look at the latest translation of "Slam Dunk," a Japanese series about high-school basketball players. Now they congregate at places like...

Tuning in, Turning On.(information technology in developing countries)
August 25, 2003... Whenever someone's parents left town and the kids knew they had a house to themselves, the party started. "Everybody would take his computer and go there," recalls a 25-year-old entrepreneur, reminiscing about those heady days in the late...

Log On and Learn.(the Internet as cyberteacher)
August 25, 2003... When Becky, an 18-year-old Londoner, wanted to learn about sex, she did what any red-blooded teenager would do: she went on the Internet. She logged onto www.supershagland.com, a Web site designed to teach kids about safe sex by way of a...

Pasting the Grade.(cheating in the digital age)
August 25, 2003... Bilveer Singh has his own name for cheating in the digital age: "A and A," or "alteration and amendment." An associate political-science professor at the National University of Singapore, Singh grades hundreds of papers each year. In every...

Go Out and Play.(computers in the classroom)(Column)
August 25, 2003... Jane Healy realized that things had really gotten out of control when she learned new software had been created to introduce 7-month-old babies to computers. Healy, the author of "Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's...