The portents are bad: The day that the qualifying tournament for the Olympic baseball competition finished in Taiwan was the day that Beijing commenced its violent crackdown on Buddhist monks and other protesters in Tibet and Gansu Province after a week of protests.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Chang Ly-yun 張苙雲
A DRAFT LAW on resolving medical disputes and a draft compensation act have been discussed for more than 10 years. To resolve disputes involving hospitals, doctors and family members, the Department of Health recently came up with a plan for a childbirth risk compensation fund that would pay up to NT$2 million (US$65,000) without assigning blame if a mother or newborn dies or is harmed.

[ FULL STORY ]

Last week, 'Forbes' magazine declared the Oracle of Omaha the richest person in the world. Not bad going for somebody who started out selling fizzy drinks door-to-door and renting out pinball machines to barbers
By Roger Lowenstein
Warren Buffett, the newly anointed "world's richest man," claims he has never been to bed with an ugly woman, but admits: "I've sure woken up with a few." In truth, the famously conservative Buffett was quoting a favorite country and western song at the time and, as usual, he was talking about his investments, not the women in his life.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Joseph S. Nye
The US presidential race commands attention around the world. The fact that the final three contenders included a woman, a black American and an older man who often challenged his own party suggests that the US, after a decline in popularity during the Bush years, retains a capacity to reinvent itself. But the next president will need to recognize that the nature of leadership is also changing.

[ FULL STORY ]