modernization

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Good Luck Being Mediocre in 21st Century: Friedman

It's a world suited to the self-motivated, and others might be in trouble

(Newser) - Thomas Friedman pronounced the world flat a decade ago in his best-seller, and he writes today in the New York Times that he's amazed that was before the advent of Facebook, Twitter, iPhones, the cloud, and on and on. The world is a lot flatter and "hyperconnected" today,...

GAO Warns of Decline & Fall .... of America

US problems are the same that destroyed Roman Empire, chief declares

(Newser) - America's dire state resembles that of the Rome just before its fall, the head of the General Accountability Office has warned in a grim new report. "Declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military, and fiscal irresponsibility," could lead to disaster here at...

Deal Threatens Ancient Tribe in Tanzania

Government agrees to rent safari land, pushing endangered people to the brink

(Newser) - The Hadzabe people of Tanzania walk in age-old footsteps near the once-bountiful Serengeti plain, starting fires with sticks and hunting with handmade poison arrows. Now the tribe has crossed paths with the royal family of Abu Dhabi, and the resulting conflict endangers a way of life that has endured for...

Singapore Blossoms into Major City
Singapore Blossoms into Major City
May 27, 2007 8:00 AM CDT

Singapore Blossoms into Major City

Stern Asian capital set to emerge as a tourist haven filled with casinos, hotels, and amusement parks

(Newser) - Singapore is transforming itself from a dull metropolis famous for its draconian cleanliness into an exciting, vibrant, tourists' paradise, Time reports. Plans are percolating for casinos, skyscrapers, amusement parks, and a multi-billion dollar residential and commercial real estate development located downtown.

Suicide Rises Among Young Chinese Women

At risk: young wives in rural areas bypassed by modernization

(Newser) - Young, rural women in China are killing themselves at startling rates. In a country whose overall suicide rate is double the American, suicides are shooting up among young wives caught between the promise of modernizing cities and the traditional subservience of women that persists in the countryside. "Whenever their...

Million Turks Rally for Secularism
Million Turks Rally for Secularism
Apr 30, 2007 6:35 AM CDT

Million Turks Rally for Secularism

(Newser) - Secular Turks staged an enormous rally yesterday amid a constitutional crisis over the election of the next president, the BBC reports. As many as a million protesters turned out in Istanbul to oppose ruling-party candidate Abdullah Gul, who they're afraid is orchestrating an Islamic coup in the country even as...

Bhutan Test-Drives Democracy
Bhutan Test-Drives Democracy
Apr 24, 2007 3:28 PM CDT

Bhutan Test-Drives Democracy

Himalayan kingdom not sold on the ride or the mileage

(Newser) - The tiny Buddhist nation of Bhutan held a mock election Saturday in preparation for the transition from monarchy to democracy set for next year. The yellow thunder dragon defeated its blue, green, and red counterparts in the vote, a test run for the latest reform advocated by modernization-minded King Jigme...

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