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Growing, Growing ... Gone? China's under control, Europe's finally reforming, and the global economic outlook is rosy, right? Not quite
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Follow The Stars Forget politicians and titans of industry — celebs like Bono, Sharon Stone and Angelina Jolie set the agenda at the World Economic Forum
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Davos Identity Have business élites lost touch with their national roots? The WEF annual meeting in Davos this week crystallizes the debate over globalization
Posted Sunday, January 23, 2005; 11:27 GMT After bashing each other with frying pans for decades, cat-and-mouse cartoon combo Tom and Jerry are fighting a new battle — against Chinese nationalism. Beijing's censors banned the pair from the airwaves in October because Chinese producers had given them voices in local dialects instead of Mandarin, the national language. The ban reflected the government's effort to unify China's disparate regions by stressing national over regional interests.
Yet these days, China's profit-driven media are pulling in the opposite direction by marketing to provincial pride. A hot-selling series of new books, for instance, celebrates local mores. I Am a Northeastern Man champions the grace of Manchurian women, while The Spirit of the Hunan People argues that the courage of that province's denizens "earns them the respect of their enemies." The most popular song of the past two years compares people in the region near North Korea to the Communist Party's most revered soldier-hero, Lei Feng. And China's most popular sitcom producer, Ping Da, says he plans to shoot a series of new programs set in cities around China, "full of inside jokes that people from elsewhere won't get." Even Tom and Jerry — who are mute in the original — will stay vocal. Banned from broadcast, they're available on DVD.
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:: Voices Of A New Generation Jan. 19, 2003
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:: Rotten At The Core? Jan. 27, 2004
Germany and France have always driven E.U. integration, but smaller states say Berlin and Paris should move over
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The War On PovertyApr. 15, 2003
In office just two months, President Lula da Silva and his team have begun to tackle inequality in Brazil
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Can't Stand The Heat Mar. 22, 2001
Global warming is making many winter-sports lovers hot under the collar
Mogadishu at 60 Miles an Hour Arms merchants are once again doing brisk business after a rapid change of power in this tough town, but so far the peace has held
The Year of The Nuke A rundown of the world's nuclear powerhouses, and what to expect in the coming months
After bashing each other with frying pans for decades, cat-and-mouse cartoon combo Tom and Jerry are fighting a new battle — against Chinese nationalism. Beijing's censors banned the pair from the airwaves in October because Chinese producers had given them voices in local dialects instead of Mandarin, the national language. The ban reflected the government's effort to unify China's disparate regions by stressing national over regional interests. 
