International

Doctors Addicted To Freebies

Submitted by Bob Burton on

A study published in the Internal Medicine Journal reveals that many Australian medical specialists seek gifts from drug companies. The study of 823 specialists, Melissa Fyfe writes in the Sydney Morning Herald, "found that personal gifts offered to doctors were valued up to $40,000 and included wine, flowers, a 'spa' dinner, harbour cruises, tickets to the movies, the circus, concerts, opera and sporting events." Six specialists sought funding for the salaries of nurses, one for A$80,000 (US$60,000).

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Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2006
Topics: 
Ethics
Health
International
Pharmaceuticals

PR Firms Pitch 'War on Terror' Players

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Pakistan hired the firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates, to promote the country to U.S. audiences as a "reliable and attractive member of the global economic community." One goal of the $616,000-per-year deal is to secure a "more robust bilateral relationship with the U.S. based on trade and security," according to the contract.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), July 27, 2006
Topics: 
Terrorism
International
Public Relations

Junk Food Ads Dominate In Television Food Advertising

Submitted by Bob Burton on

A survey (pdf) by the Cancer Council of New South Wales has found that 81% of all food being advertised on television in Australia was for junk food. The study, which has been published in Health Promotion International journal, recorded 645 hours of television between 7am and 9pm on both weekdays and weekends in four different locations. It found that 31% of all ads were for food, with fast food and takeaway foods being the most common.

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Main Source: 
Cancer Council of NSW, July 27, 2006
Topics: 
Advertising
Obesity
Health
International

Beyond Persecution?

Submitted by Bob Burton on

The global oil giant, BP, has reached a multi-million pound out-of-court settlement with a group of Colombian farmers after they brought a legal action against the company in Britain. They alleged that Exploration Company (Colombia) "benefited from harassment and intimidation meted out by Colombian paramilitaries employed by the government" to guard a 450-kilometre long pipeline from the Cusiana-Cupiagua oilfields.

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Main Source: 
The Independent (UK), July 22 , 2006
Topics: 
Activism
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment
Human Rights
International

Crackdown in Cairo

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"With the tacit consent of the Bush administration, authoritarian Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is continuing his campaign against the democratic movement that sprouted in his country last year," writes the Washington Post. His government has made it illegal to ""affront the president of the republic" — or insult parliament, public agencies, the armed forces, the judiciary. Journalists and bloggers have been arrested, jailed and brutally treated. "The crackdown on the press was predictable," the Post says, "because it followed Mr.

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Main Source: 
Washington Post, July 19, 2006
Topics: 
Journalism
Human Rights
International

Business Lobbies Hard for India's Nuclear Exemption

Submitted by Bob Burton on

Robert Hoffman, a lobbyist for Oracle, describes the preliminary Congressional vote to exempt India from a ban on nuclear technology sales as "a coming-out party of sorts for the India lobby." The U.S. Atomic Energy Act bans nuclear sales to countries, such as India, that have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Last month, both House and Senate committees gave in-principle support to the agreement negotiated between U.S. President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

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Main Source: 
International Herald Tribune, July 18, 2006
Topics: 
Nuclear Power
U.S. Congress
Environment
International
Lobbying
U.S. Government
War / Peace

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