Tag Archives: officials

A Pakistani Journalist Vanishes: Is the I.S.I. Involved?

Fears are growing for the safety of a well-known Pakistani journalist who has been missing for 39 hours now and, according to an international advocacy group, is believed to be in the custody of the Pakistan’s controversial Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence . Human Rights Watch declared that Saleem Shahzad, a reporter working for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online and Adnkronos International, the Italian news agency, could be subject to mistreatment and even torture while in custody.

Share

Is Adoption the Solution?

To hear federal officials tell it, one of the best solutions to America’s foster-care crisis often boils down to one word: adoption. New figures released by the Department of Health and Human Services show that 46,000 foster-care children were legally adopted in 1999, a 28% increase from the previous year’s total

Share

After Strauss-Kahn: Who’s Next to Head the IMF?

Even before Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced from New York’s Riker’s Island prison on Wednesday that he was stepping down as head of the International Monetary Fund , world powers were already jostling over who could replace him. Indeed, since Strauss-Kahn’s arrest last Saturday on charges of attempted rape, European officials have been swift to argue that Europe should maintain the hold it has had on the IMF’s top job ever since the Washington D.C.-based organization was created in 1945

Share

School Head-Lice Policies Must Be Relaxed, Say Doctors

They are miniscule, measuring at most 2 mm to 3 mm long, yet few things induce more panic or fear among parents than head lice. But while an infestation of head lice on a child can be uncomfortable, the critters do not pose enough of a contagious hazard to justify the strict policies that many schools use to keep infected children out of class, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics

Share

Italy Braces for Mafia War After Threats to Prosecutors

In southern Italy, the Mafia wars are heating up. On Monday, Italy will deploy an expected 80 soldiers into the city of Reggio Calabria, on the toe of Italy’s boot, to provide security for anti-Mafia prosecutors who have been repeatedly threatened by the powerful ‘Ndrangheta criminal organization.

Share

A Legacy Lost

Just before daybreak on a rainy summer morning last July, three large trucks pulled up to the gates of an outdoor sculpture museum south of Seoul with some unusual passengers. The trucks were carrying 70 wooden crates: inside, carefully wrapped in felt, lay the statues of 65 Korean scholars, one warrior and four children.

Share