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Lourdes (France), August 20: In an unexpected twist of globalisation, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and other pilgrims regularly worship at famous Roman Catholic shrines to the Virgin Mary such as Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal. They drink the holy water, light votive candles and pray fervently to the Madonna for help with life's hardships. Many venerate her like one of their own goddesses, a view that would be a heresy if a Catholic theologian tried to defend it.

Soccerworld Franklin Foer, the author of How Soccer Explains the World, on what soccer has to tell us about globalization, identity politics, and the future of baseball Humankind is rarely more united than once every four years when it comes together for a worship service known as the World Cup. Across the planet, fans watch riveted as Davids slay Goliaths, and Goliaths come raging back. In the last tournament, there were 1.5 billion pairs of eyes fixed on the final match, as Germany battled Brazil for a trophy more prized than any other in the world. For all its influence...

World events rush through our lives with such speed that we are challenged to discern the trends that one day will define the history of our time. How should we remember 2003 as it slips into the mist? It is already marked down as a period of terrorism and tyranny engendered by a Middle East that is battling to come to terms with itself and a wider world that is dominated by secular modernism. This struggle will continue in its various forms for many years, with its appeals for attention clouding our view and understanding of the deeper shifts in...

CANCUN, Mexico -- Could the Greens take over the World Trade Organization -- by using concepts from the late 20th century and tactics from the early 20th century? "Sustainable Development," "Sustainable Trade," and "The Precautionary Principle" are the hip buzzwords of anti-WTO-ers, who would like to transform the WTO from within or conquer it from without. But to succeed in their effort, they are relying on tactics that summon up such old-time phrases as "entryism" and "dual unionism." Many decades ago, those tactics guided an earlier left-wing movement, Communism, in its bid for world power. Now we will see how...

ASIA: Globalisation Erodes Local Languages, Fuels 'Glocal' English Rahul Goswami A continent that contains a third of the world's spoken codes -- and yet one whose astonishing diversity of speech and written systems -- is being eroded by relentless globalisation. That, in a nutshell, is the ethnolinguist's lament for Asia. SINGAPORE, Jul 30 (IPS) - A continent that contains a third of the world's spoken codes -- and yet one whose astonishing diversity of speech and written systems -- is being eroded by relentless globalisation. That, in a nutshell, is the ethnolinguist's lament for Asia. ”In South-east Asia, the response...

Most Indians feel that consumerism poses a threat to culture, while globalisation is good for the country, according to the 2003 Global Attitudes Survey conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The Global Attitudes Project consisted of interviews with a random sample of 2,189 Indians from September 12-October 21, 2002. Those surveyed, mostly in urban areas, said that growing trade, communication and travel are good for India. The boom in technologies like television, cell phones, et cetera too has helped improve life in India, the survey said. The positive changes seen in India --...

Revealed: U.N.'s plan for world governmentWND probe unearths plot for global taxation, gun control, standing army Posted: May 20, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The United Nations and the United States are engaged in a major battle over American sovereignty – the last major impediment to global governance – according to the May edition of WND's acclaimed monthly magazine, Whistleblower. Titled "THE NEW WORLD RE-ORDER," this special edition lays bare the United Nation's plan for global governance. The U.N.'s plan, dubbed "Our Global Neighborhood," is a 410-page final report of the Commission on Global Governance, and was first published in 1995...

<p>In a few short weeks, our nation will likely be at war with Iraq. But while soldiers train and weapons inspectors search, a hidden weakness in American classrooms could prove much more dangerous in the long run to America's military and economic future than Saddam Hussein could ever be. Since 9/11, American military might has relied more than ever on high-tech air power. Electronically guided ordnance and unmanned aerial vehicles helped rout the Taliban. Conventional wisdom maintains that as soon as these weapons can be restocked, the same scenario will play out wherever the next conflict takes place. This is a shortsighted and dangerous presumption. As the war on terrorism continues, the combination of America's go-it-alone foreign policy and more restrictive immigration and student visa laws are becoming a danger to US technological supremacy, both on the battlefield and in the boardroom.</p>

Greenleaf Publishing invites contributions for a book on the topic of "Business and Human Rights: Dilemmas and Solutions" to be edited by Rory Sullivan (Amnesty International (UK) Business Group and Queen Mary College, University of London). Rationale The globalisation of the world economy offers both unprecedented opportunities for companies as well as unprecedented threats, as companies increasingly find themselves, their partners or their contractors mired in zones of conflict or in countries where human rights violations are occurring. Companies are subject to ever-increasing scrutiny of their supply chains, their investments, their employee relations, their impacts on communities, and their influence...

Boeing's Machinists, engineers join forces Taking a page out of Boeing's own playbook, the aerospace giant's two largest unions went to Wall Street yesterday to argue that Boeing's actions to increase shareholder value actually do the opposite. Leaders of the unions that represent Boeing's hourly and engineering workers two groups that would seem to have little in common except that their contracts both expire this year told analysts in New York that Boeing is jeopardizing its future for the sake of short-term financial gains. Analysts' reaction to the joint presentation by the International Association of Machinists and Society of Professional...

Italian police 'framed G8 protesters' Rory Carroll in Rome Saturday June 22, 2002 The Guardian Italian police have been accused of fabricating evidence against anti-globalisation protesters at last year's G8 summit in Genoa by planting petrol bombs at their headquarters and falsely accusing them of stabbing a police officer. According to a magistrates' investigation, the police improvised lies to justify a bloodsoaked raid at the Diaz school, which was being used by protesters as a headquarters. The raid, which left dozens injured after being kicked, punched and beaten with batons, prompted an international outcry. It emerged this week that senior...

There is a more sinister side to anti-globalisation, says Eilis O'Hanlon AS THE full-time conscience of liberal Ireland, Fintan O'Toole will no doubt be surprised to discover that he has something in common with French National Front leader Jean Marie Le Pen; but neither man seemed distraught at the brutal murder last week of the maverick Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. For Le Pen, it was Fortuyn's open homosexuality which seemed to breed indifference to his fate at the hands of a lone gunman in Hilversum; for O'Toole, it was Fortuyn's views on immigration and culture. Standing in for Eamon Dunphy...

REVEALING new video footage of gardai batoning anti-globalisation protesters off the streets has provoked shock and outrage among politicians. One shot shows protesters surrounded by gardai, several of whom are wielding batons. Another shows a protester being kicked by one garda and batoned by his colleague. A third frame shows a protester on the ground, his arm raised to in a vain attempt to ward off a blow from a baton. Justice Minister John O'Donoghue called for a report into the Garda handling of the protest in Dublin on Monday night and said he would ensure there was "full transparency...