Newsweek International articles from June 2003

Newsweek International archives from June 2003

Mail Call.(Letter to the Editor)
June 9, 2003... Readers of our April 28 exclusive on the abuses of Saddam's rule were outraged more by the failure of U.S. forces to protect Iraq's museum and hospitals than by the dictator's brutality. One called the security lapse "a disgrace," another...

Covet Thy Neighbor.(foreign land and home ownership in European Union)
June 9, 2003... As an advertisement for the new Europe, try the Kalvi Hotel on the Estonian coast. Its delights begin with a four-star rating, plenty of lordly splendor and a child-friendly beach. That's rare enough in a distant patch of the former Soviet...

Does Europe Work?(economy)
June 9, 2003... "The Wizard of Oz" could be read as an allegory for our deflationary times. Written in 1900, its Scarecrow and Tin Man represent farmers and factory workers searching for a savior following the collapse of the U.S. railroad bubble, only to...

What 'New' Europe Wants.(European Union)
June 9, 2003... Olechowski served as Poland's finance minister and foreign minister in the 1990s. A popular Polish cartoon shows two knights rushing to battle. "Damn!" one says. "I forgot to ask what just cause we are fighting for this time!" So are the...

Words and Deeds.(Israeli-Palestinian negotiations)
June 9, 2003... On a barren, wind-swept hilltop six miles northeast of Jerusalem, Shuki Sat has staked another new claim for Israel's future. Last year, Sat, 26, his wife and his daughter left the nearby Jewish settlement of Beit El and set up camp on this...

The Giverny of Japan.(Yasunori Tochi designs garden inspired by Monet paintings)
June 9, 2003... Wearing high boots, Yasunori Tochi wades into his pond of waterlilies to pick out fallen leaves. The floating flowers, pink and white, are surrounded by yellow and blue irises; on the shore, a willow tree sways in the breeze. The bucolic scene...

Stitching Up a Deal.(Central American Free Trade Agreement,)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... Partex apparel group makes some of the most popular clothes worn in America--flashy athletic wear featuring logos from the NFL, NBA and other U.S. professional sports teams. But getting the bright tank tops and jerseys from the company's...

Getting it Together.
June 9, 2003... Mayor Yasumi Kimura can see the end of the road for his "pioneer town," Hamama-su (population: 2,231--and falling). Its founders, among them his own grandfather, settled on Hokkaido's west coast more than a century ago to prevent Russian...

Walking a Fine Line.(Hamid Karzai and Afghanistan)
June 9, 2003... Around 8 each morning, Afghan President Hamid Karzai emerges from his two-story residence within the sprawling grounds of Kabul's royal palace and walks to his presidential office, several hundred yards away. He is not alone. An American agent...

What's in Your Face.(facial expression recognition software applications)
June 9, 2003... When James J. Newberry started doing police work in California 30 years ago, questioning suspects often amounted to one thing: tossing the guy against the wall. "I decided there had to be a kinder, gentler way," he says. Newberry began studying...

Crisis in the Cupboard.(orange trees in Brazil felled by disease)
June 9, 2003... Oranges are a big deal in Brazil. They account for 400,000 jobs and $1.2 billion in yearly exports; seven of every 10 glasses of orange juice drunk worldwide are squeezed from Brazilian fruit. The fortunes of Jose Luis Cutrale, said to be...

Don't Believe the Spin.(American-Russian relations)
June 9, 2003... Visiting Moscow a few weeks ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell started off a working meeting with a champagne toast. His counterpart, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, joined in. Have the United States and Russia reconciled their bitter...

The Next Quake Is Close.(Japan bond market)
June 9, 2003... The form it will take is hard to forecast--an oil-price spike, perhaps- -but a shock is bound to expose Japan's bond market as a huge bubble, says John Alkire, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Asset & Investment Trust Management...

Eric Schlosser.(interview)(Interview)
June 9, 2003... In his first book, "Fast Food Nation," American author Eric Schlosser crafted an ebullient indictment of the U.S. fast-food industry, arguing that the aggressive marketing of fatty foods has made Americans corpulent and prone to health problems...

Over-the-Top Tips.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... "Excuse me?" I asked. The young lady sitting alone at the bar repeated her insult. "A $1 tip for five drinks? That is so cheap." "Actually, it was three drinks, for $12, which makes the tip nearly 10 percent," I countered. And wondering...

Perspectives.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... "What is happening is occupation." Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to members of his Likud Party, saying the Israeli presence in Palestinian territories is bad for both sides "For reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S. government...

Periscope.(brief items)
June 9, 2003... Terrorism: Continuing Threats Washington may have reduced the domestic terrorist-alert level to yellow from orange, but that doesn't mean the threat of a terrorist attack has greatly receded recently. Officials tell NEWSWEEK that U.S....

Made in the Shade.
June 9, 2003... This season it's hip to look beach-ready even when you're stuck at the office. A boom in sea-inspired accessories, from flip-flops to sarongs to sea-urchin cuff links, has made it easy to sport that surfer look without getting sand in your...

Rush to the Bottom.(skydiving services)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... Once reserved for adrenaline junkies, skydiving is luring more and more regular folks. Should you decide to take the plunge, why not fall toward some of the world's finest scenery? For $190, Rio Turismo Radical...

SARS Special.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... Pearls are always a perfect gift--especially for a woman whose birthday is in June (it's her birthstone). But before you buy, take note. When the devastating SARS epidemic swept across China--producer of the vast majority of the world's...

Baby Food (For Mom).(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... It's a safe bet that Dr. David Barker has never craved pickles and ice cream. Still, if there's one man in the world who understands the peculiar dietary needs of pregnant women, it's him. Barker rose to fame in the '90s as the main backer of...

Mail Call.
June 16, 2003... Readers of our May 5 and May 12 coverage of SARS appreciated our reportage even as they shared their own fears. "Excellent!" said one. Wrote another: "SARS has shown us all how vulnerable we are in this global village." A third concluded,...

Mixed Signals in Ankara.(Turkey's military drafts a nationalist policy)
June 16, 2003... When the Turkish military speaks, Ankara's politicians sit up and listen. It's not the general staff's way with words that focuses the mind. Rather, it's their habit of deposing civilian governments that don't share their views. Forty...

The Bank's Baby Steps.(European Central Bank)
June 16, 2003... The hottest debate in economic circles right now is whether the United States or Germany will soon be crippled, like Japan, by falling prices. Listening to U.S. Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan deliver a sermon on the perils of deflation in...

Rise of the Catholic Right.(Mexico's Legion of Christ)
June 16, 2003... For a sense of the new forces stirring inside Mexico today, consider the Legion of Christ. The once obscure religious order, founded 62 years ago in the basement of a Mexico City town house, ranks as the world's fastest-growing branch of Roman...

The Missing Lady.(Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi jailed again)
June 16, 2003... As far as tyrants go, Gen. Than Shwe is something of a chameleon. The 70-year-old leader of Burma's ruling junta gave up socialism for a system of state-sponsored corruption. He dabbled with democracy, agreeing to release opposition leader Aung...

Art in the Age of SARS.
June 16, 2003... Outside a traditional Chinese medicine shop in Hong Kong, locals mill about, their mouths covered with white masks. They look like ordinary Asian shoppers in the age of SARS--but they are in fact actors shooting the forthcoming film "The City...

Holidays Without Food.
June 16, 2003... After a long car ride, guests arrive at the FastingArina hotel, overlooking a scenic lake in the mountains of Nagano prefecture. They have come to unwind, away from the stresses of the big city. Time for a beer in the lounge or a five-course...

The End of Innocence.(violence erupts in Davao, Philippines)
June 16, 2003... Standing next to a bomb crater filled with white candle stubs in memory of the dead, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte says he had "a kind of respect" for Philippine rebels until they brought their fight into his city, Davao. As headlights from...

Directing In the Dark.
June 16, 2003... Since his 1995 critically acclaimed "Breaking the Waves," Danish director Lars von Trier has been hailed as a filmmaking genius--and dismissed as an eccentric blowhard. His latest film, "Dogville," starring Nicole Kidman as a sweet-natured girl...

Street Smart.("Brick Lane" by Monica Ali and "Going East" by Matthew D'Ancona)(Book Review)
June 16, 2003... Literature has not been kind to London's East End. Dickens plumbed its wretchedness, as did other writers in titles like "The People of the Abyss" and "The Nether World." Yet these foul streets have long been a rich source of London's...

A Grim Reunion at the Scene of the Crimes.(Movie Review)
June 16, 2003... In Rithy Panh's imaginative and disorienting new documentary, "S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine," a handful of survivors confront their Khmer tormenters in the dilapidated old Phnom Penh school, known as S21, where they crossed paths more...

Doris Meissner.(the Justice Department issues a report on the treatment of illegal immigrant after September 11, 2001)(Interview)
June 16, 2003... Last week the U.S. Justice Department's Inspector General issued a long-awaited report on the government's treatment of hundreds of illegal immigrants detained in the wake of September 11. Among its findings: the government failed to inform...

Driving Under the Influence.(of coffee and other distractions)
June 16, 2003... I fell in love with driving in America 30 years ago. I'd hired a Chevy two-seater in San Francisco and headed for Los Angeles. It had an automatic transmission, my first, and I still remember the feeling of true exhilaration as I rolled down...

Perspectives.
June 16, 2003... "They will arrive too late." A resident of Bunia, Congo, on the U.N.'s deployment of French soldiers to restore order in the town, where recent ethnic violence has killed at least 430 "Gulping for air, I started crying and yelling at him,...

Periscope.
June 16, 2003... Terror: Hide-and-Go-Seek Getting terrorist suspects off the streets can be a struggle. But one lengthy surveillance ended last week when French authorities arrested Christian Ganczarski, a Muslim convert born in Germany, at a Paris...

Next Season's Hot Games.(Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles)
June 16, 2003... Recently the videogame industry showed off its latest wares at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Microsoft revealed add-ons that will transform your Xbox into a DJ mixer and a karaoke machine. Nintendo unveiled a nifty...

Market Watch.(Warsaw Stadium. Warsaw; Borough Market. London; Marche aux Puces. Paris; Arbat. Moscow; Porta Portese. Rome)(Brief Article)
June 16, 2003... If you're planning to shop in Europe this summer, there are bargains to be had. Be sure to browse through these famous markets: Warsaw Stadium. Warsaw. If you're looking for smuggled vodka, kittens or even hand grenades, this is your place....

Italian Delicacies.(Brief Article)
June 16, 2003... It's summer, and thoughts naturally turn to polenta. Well, maybe just in northern Italy, where a host of small villages hold annual celebrations of what was once a peasant staple. Don't be deceived by its simple ingredients: the perfect polenta...

Pain Management.(Letter to the Editor)
June 23, 2003... Our May 19 cover story on pain led readers to share tales of chronic pain, acupuncture and insurance with us. A doctor said he "enjoyed reading about new advances in pain management." Another reader pointed out, "Pain and depression are...

What New Europe?(economics defines the European Union after new membership)
June 23, 2003... It's surprising that a man so widely despised there could have done so much to frame the way the world thinks about Europe. In Germany last week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld repeated his now famous juxtaposition of the "Old...

Europe Comes of Age.
June 23, 2003... Moravcsik is professor of government and director of the European Union program at Harvard University. Alas, to be born into the world without friends. That seems to be the fate of the draft constitution of the new European Union, to be...

A Matter of Faith.(Sangha Buddhist monks' scandals in Thailand)
June 23, 2003... Thailand's border patrol is rarely surprised by the shadowy figures it encounters along the country's northern frontier. The police frequently pick up Burmese refugees, illegal arms dealers or drug smugglers moving their contraband through this...

We Are All Americans.(global influence of American culture)
June 23, 2003... Once upon a time the Americans were the British, lost. On the narrow lip of a distant continent, clutching their faith, songs, customs and memories, they were 17th-century space travelers, cut off from Planet Europe with its corruptions and...

Can He Do the Job?(Mexican President, Vincente Fox)
June 23, 2003... Ana Maria Sagaon, 62, is one of 16 million Mexicans who voted for Vicente Fox three years ago, vaulting him to the presidency and breaking the 71-year reign of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. She thrilled to his vision of "a new Mexico...

Saving President Fox.(the need for political reform in Mexico)(Editorial)
June 23, 2003... Castaneda was foreign minister of Mexico from 2000 to 2002. Latin America has begun to pick itself up. Under its charismatic new president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil is showing new signs of economic life. So is Argentina, after...

Chugging Along.(opportunities in China for multinational corporations and trade)
June 23, 2003... Don St. Pierre sr. can recall the first Western deals in revolutionary China, which is why his perspective on today is so striking. As manager of the first major U.S.-China joint venture, Beijing Jeep, he arrived in 1985 when most Chinese still...

Fall Of Eden.(rehabilitation needed for marshlands of southern Iraq)
June 23, 2003... Saleh Hantoush slides leathery fingers down the walls of his mudhif, a guesthouse made of reeds from the marshes of southern Iraq, and thinksback to better days. Hantoush, 56, and his family of 11 lived on fish and milk from their herd of water...

A New Face From Africa.(discovery of oldest known homo sapiens fossils)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... To Michelangelo, eve was a lovely brunette; to Rodin, a voluptuous temptress. To scientists, the matriarch's face has been more elusive. In 1987 geneticists suspected that a 160,000-year-old "African Eve" of sorts was the last common ancestor...

The Celtic Alternative.(art exhibitions in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin)
June 23, 2003... In any major city these days, you can encounter more neoconceptual artists--and their deceptively artless videos and installations-with- attitude--than you can shake a mahlstick at. What Europe offers is the same hyperhip contemporanea plus...

Substance, Style and Spirit.(European summer theater and arts offerings)
June 23, 2003... Slipping away almost as soon as we have it in our grasp, summer has always been conducive to dramas and dreams. Plays seem more enchanting under the sun in outdoor theaters. Long, hot days make idle contemplation almost obligatory, bringing out...

Strumming in the Subway.(subway musicians popular in Europe's big cities)
June 23, 2003... Looking to hear some nice, free music this summer? You could do a lot worse than to head underground. In the subway stations of Europe's biggest cities, busking is surprisingly popular, not just among tourists but among locals and city...

Buying Into the Buzz.(European summer 2003 art exhibitions)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
June 23, 2003... However clever our alternative route, there's no way a seasoned art lover can avoid Paris, London or Rome this summer. Two Parisian standouts are "Leonardo da Vinci: Drawings and Manuscripts" (through July 14 at the Louvre), a rare chance to...

Michael O'Leary.(Ryanair's CEO talks about the airline industry)(Interview)
June 23, 2003... These are dismal times for the airline industry. In the past 18 months, fewer people have been flying because of terrorism fears, war in Iraq and SARS. All the world's major carriers are shedding staff by the thousands, and they expect more...

Perspectives.
June 23, 2003... A warning notice?" a friend asked the other day, not long after New York City announced its smoking ban. We were walking past the Joseph Papp Public Theater when she spotted the sign near the ticket window, cautioning playgoers that the...

Perspectives (2).(quotes and world news)
June 23, 2003... "I don't think this will achieve anything." Zakaria Shabneh, cousin of suicide bomber Abdel Madi Shabneh, who blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing 17 "There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who...

Periscope.
June 23, 2003... Intelligence Who Knew What When? Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee are seeking access to a classified transcript that could determine whether the CIA misled Congress about documents purporting to show Saddam Hussein was...

It's Better to Belong.
June 23, 2003... Members' clubs have long been synonymous with cigars and old money. But over the past few years a new, hipper crop has emerged that welcomes women and seduces members with champagne, celebrities and late-night extravagance. Should you join? A...

Post-Sars Sales.(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... The sars outbreak shows signs of winding down. But fear of the mysterious virus is still keeping many travelers away from once popular destinations. That means deals abound for non-hypochondriacs. Cheryl Mellon, marketing manager for...

Wear Cargo Pants.(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... Cargo pants launched their journey from army base to the catwalk in the 1990s. But this year they seem to have come into their own, sashaying down fashion runways and being seen everywhere from summer camps to the snazziest bars. This season...

The Palm's Old Hand (Spring).(alm Inc. acquires Handspring)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... Who says you can't go home again? Two weeks ago Palm announced that it would acquire rival PDA manufacturer Handspring, reuniting it with the creator of the original Palm Pilot. Jeff Hawkins, whose handheld organizer was an immediate hit after...

An Unequal War.(Letter to the Editor)
June 30, 2003... Our May 19 profile of Tommy Franks incited readers to protest: calling it a "hagiography," one warned against "assuming that all our battles will be as easy [as this war]." Another, listing Iraq's handicaps, concluded, "Even a hopelessly...

A Heavy Burden.(Aging population creates economic and social pressures in Europe)
June 30, 2003... Berlin, 2050. The once flourishing metropolis resembles a cross between an old-age home and a ghost town. The average age of its citizenry is 50. With fewer and fewer couples having children, schools and kindergartens have closed. For every...

Strong Medicine.(Biography)
June 30, 2003... Antonio Palocci makes a disappointing villain. He is big and whiskered, but the bouncer's build is spoiled by an elfin smile. Like Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president he serves, he has a disarming lisp. He talks in a sleepy...

The Deflation Battle Begins.
June 30, 2003... Since global economic growth has failed to pick up as hoped after the Iraq war, concern about the threat of deflation has grown markedly. The threat remains distant, but the United States has a strong interest in working with a "coalition of...

Mommy Economy.(Conundrum of women as mothers and part of the work force)
June 30, 2003... To the untrained eye, Patricia Hewitt's two jobs might seem an odd combination. As Tony Blair's secretary for Trade and Industry as well as his minister for Women and Equality, she deals in trade deficits and gender disparities, IT...

Fall of the Royal Fortune.
June 30, 2003... "Kings, Queens and Despots," a short list of the world's most wealthy rulers published by Forbes magazine, comes with a number of caveats. Valuing these multibillion-dollar private fortunes is a "tricky business," says Forbes. Most royal...

The Fighting Buddhas.
June 30, 2003... The Buddhist nations of Southeast Asia were bystanders in the war on terror until May 28. That's when Cambodian authorities shut down an Islamic boarding school outside Phnom Penh and charged its Egyptian rector and two Thai teachers with...

The Next Flashpoint.(Iran's nuclear program a concern)
June 30, 2003... After three nights of protests in Tehran, the plainclothed militia decided to send a message to the students on the other side of the barricades. "First they tear-gassed the building, then they came in swinging their batons," says a gaunt-faced...

Edging Toward a Bomb?(Iran may be building nuclear weapons)
June 30, 2003... The nuclear installation outside Deh-Zire, a village near the city of Natanz, used to be Iran's best-kept secret. Begun in 2001, the plant is little more than a cluster of nondescript sheds on a mountainside 200 miles south of Tehran. One...

Behind Shanghai.(land development scandal under investigation )
June 30, 2003... Staring at the rubble of his neighbors' row houses, Chen Guo-fang says he won't budge. Like more than a hundred residents who protested outside Shanghai's city hall last week, Chen is one of 2,000 homeowners who say that collusion between city...

'There Is No Magic'.(Brazil's finance minister Antonio Palocci talks about economic policies)(Interview)
June 30, 2003... Latin American Finance ministers generally hail from elite universities, big banks or trendy economic consultancies. Brazil's Antonio Palocci comes from Ribeiro Preto, a cow town in So Paulo state, where he twice served as mayor. A trained...

Brand it Like Beckham.(David Beckham's sponsership deals more than double his salary)
June 30, 2003... Here's a test of your celebrity savvy. Who deserves top billing: the noble statesman and internationally revered icon who liberated his people or the 28-year-old millionaire sportsman with the squeaky voice and ever-changing hairstyle? That was...

This Side of Paradise.(The life of photographer Jacques Lartigue)(Biography)
June 30, 2003... In 1962, an unknown 68-year-old French photographer named Jacques Lartigue and his wife, Florette, took their first trip to the United States. While in New York, Florette showed some of her husband's prints to Charles Rado, a former photo...

From Sap to Superhero.(Argentine president Nestor Kirchner tackles reform agenda and gains public support)
June 30, 2003... Argentine president Nestor Kirchner didn't exactly storm into office. He won the first round of the election with just 22 percent of the vote, then captured the presidency by default when Carlos Menem (facing defeat) pulled out of the runoff....

Shooting Bollywood.(Bollywood Dreams)(Book Review)
June 30, 2003... If there is a common culture that binds India's vast multiethnic society, it is that of Bollywood. The kitschy Hindi-language films made in Mumbai since 1913 now draw 14 million Indian viewers every day. They blend melodramatic stories with...

Saeb Erekat.(Interview)
June 30, 2003... Saeb Erekat was the Palestinians' leading peace negotiator with Israel throughout much of the past decade. Since resigning from that post in May, he's watched the ups and downs of Washington's Mideast initiative- -from the hopeful summit in...

Savoring A Summer's Scandal.(allegations of political corruption in France)
June 30, 2003... Scandals are as important to summer in France as, say, bare breasts on the beach and chilled rose with lunch. Strikes are important, too, as a way to get the summer going. (A few extra days off before the usual five or six weeks of vacation,...

Perspectives.
June 30, 2003... "Probably the majority opinion is that he is alive." Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein "You have to look at history as an evolution of society." Canadian Prime Minister Jean...

Periscope.
June 30, 2003... Terrorism: Al Qaeda in America Attorney general John Ashcroft's announcement last week that the FBI had secretly arrested Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver and Qaeda operative, was a big victory in the war on terror. Faris, a naturalized...

Inventions.
June 30, 2003... The legend of the lone inventor is at least as old as Leonardo da Vinci with his flying machines and Thomas Edison with his light bulb and cinema. Even in a globalized world of regulatory bureaus and instant mergers, the individual vision...

Wearing Wires.(interactive textiles)
June 30, 2003... Arriving home after a long day at the office, I pause at the door to take off my hat, and the Shakira tune I'd been listening to fades away. I wave my wrist like a wand at the front door, and it swings open. No need to heed the burglar...

Disappearing Act.
June 30, 2003... Who hasn't wanted to spy on others without being seen himself? Nobody, which is why Susumu Tachi's new invention--an invisibility cloak--made waves earlier this year. Tachi, a professor of information physics and computing at the University of...

Free for All.(open-source software beneficial for third-world countries)
June 30, 2003... The Nooitgedacht Primary School, on the outskirts of Cape Town, is little more than a few drab buildings surrounded by barbed wire. The school can't afford a library, and only a few students have the money to buy uniforms. But up two flights of...