Most Popular
-
1
Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
-
2
Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
-
3
S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
-
4
[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
-
5
Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
-
6
Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
-
7
[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
-
8
Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
-
9
Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
-
10
Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
-
Evictions, land-seizures endemic to China
China has evicted more than 400,000 Tibetans from their homelands over the last several years.These forced relocations, sometimes hundreds of miles away, all fall under a program deceptively named “Comfortable Housing.”Part of the unstated reasoning is China’s resolve to pull Tibetans and other minorities out of their semi-autonomous regions and integrate them into the larger Chinese society. But another unspoken motivation, Human Rights Watch says in a new report, is the determination to exploi
July 25, 2013
-
Hun Sen should allow opponent to run in election
Led by Indonesia, ASEAN succeeded in bringing together all warring factions in Cambodia, including current Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Khmer Rouge (which was fully backed by China) to reach a peace agreement in Paris in October 1991. Now, Indonesia has the obligation to engage itself in democratizing Cambodia as it is clear that Hun Sen could become a new headache for the regional grouping because he has been in power too long and has an authoritarian governing style.President Susil
July 25, 2013
-
Abe’s tough policy not likely to last long
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition scored a decisive victory in the upper house election on Sunday. But he should not mistake the victory as Japanese people’s approval for his hawkish foreign policy. Abe’s victory can be attributed largely to the short-term effect of his economic policies, which some experts have named “Abenomics,” and the lack of an appealing alternative to the Liberal Democratic Party.Abe’s understanding and ideology not only reflect his “indifference” and “
July 25, 2013
-
[Anupriyo Mallick] Indian women and the informal economy
A large majority of people in the developing nations are below the poverty line. They are deprived of adequate access to such basic needs as health, education, housing, food, security, employment, justice and equality. Sustainable livelihood and social and political participation of the vulnerable groups are the major problems of developing nations. Governments have failed to guarantee the fundamental rights.In India, almost 94 percent of women workers are engaged in the informal sector; about 2
July 25, 2013
-
China’s gradual descent after decades of growth
One of the most important economic stories of the era is unfolding in China, and every American should hope for a happy ending.The world’s second-largest economy is slowing down from its 30-year dash. A formula based on exports, cheap credit, heavy manufacturing and infrastructure investment has run its course ― after, it should be noted, helping to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.China’s economy grew 7.5 percent in the second quarter this year, far below the double-digit gain
July 24, 2013
-
[Robert J. Shiller] Asset bubbles will never end
NEW HAVEN ― You might think that we have been living in a post-bubble world since the collapse in 2006 of the biggest-ever worldwide real-estate bubble and the end of a major worldwide stock-market bubble the following year. But talk of bubbles keeps reappearing ― new or continuing housing bubbles in many countries, a new global stock-market bubble, a long-term bond-market bubble in the United States and other countries, an oil-price bubble, a gold bubble, and so on.Nevertheless, I was not expec
July 24, 2013
-
Putin infiltrating American media, institutions
Russian President Vladimir Putin cares a lot about what you think ― about NSA contractor-turned-defector and Russian asylum seeker Edward Snowden, and pretty much everything else ― to the point of spending $300 million of state funds last year on the external audiovisual service RT, designed primarily to spoonfeed the Kremlin worldview to a global audience. And unearthed records show that’s just the tip of a much more insidious iceberg.Why, you might ask, would an iron-fisted authoritarian care
July 24, 2013
-
Europe’s continental drift
RIMINI, Italy ― You think we have it bad, caught between a stagnant economy and gridlocked politics? Then take a trip to Europe, where the economy is going not sideways but backward ― and the politics are too.Europe’s numbers should be familiar by now, but they’re still awful. In the United States, President Obama’s much-derided stimulus package helped end our recession in 2009; in Europe, with no comparable stimulus, the recession isn’t over. Unemployment in the 17 countries that share the euro
July 24, 2013
-
[Kim Myong-sik] To understand the North, read its constitution
Last week around the July 17 Constitution Day, I read both our Constitution and the constitution of North Korea, the latter rather more carefully. My curiosity about the basic law of the North had in fact been rising as I watched all the extraordinary developments in Pyongyang over the past few years since the death of Kim Jong-il and his son Jong-un’s succession. Rule of law does not seem to be a foremost principle in the other half of the Korean Peninsula when we hear the shocking stories of s
July 24, 2013
-
Why Buffett decided to give up on India
India has long been viewed as a value investor’s dream: rapid growth, 1.2 billion people pining for a taste of globalization, and underdeveloped industries ripe for turnarounds. So it surprised few when the genre’s guru, Warren Buffett, placed a bet on the world’s ninth-biggest economy. What did come as a surprise, though, was last week’s decision by the billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to give up on India’s insurance market after just two years. Adding to the drama, the withdrawal came the
July 23, 2013
-
[Lee Jae-min] To make a long story short
French mathematician Blaise Pascal once apologized to the recipient of his letter for its length by saying “I did not have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.” It was Mark Twain who said, “If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today. If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.” They were trying to say how difficult it is to write short but precise statements. Interestingly, this very statement of Twain was quoted
July 23, 2013
-
New sexual harassment rules openly defy reason
The new federal guidelines for how colleges should handle sexual-harassment cases aren’t just unreasonable. They’re hostile to reasonableness in principle. The Justice Department and the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights set forth the rules in a letter they sent in May. The letter was addressed to the University of Montana but says it should serve as “a blueprint for colleges and universities throughout the country.” The letter criticized the university for defining “sexual harassme
July 23, 2013
-
Don’t sanitize Helen Thomas’ toxic prejudices
Helen Thomas’ death on July 20 brought to mind my last encounter with her, a couple of years ago, not long after she gave full vent to her almost comically hostile anti-Israel views. In 2010, if you recall, Thomas, a longtime reporter and columnist, was asked by a rabbi with a video camera outside a White House Jewish heritage day celebration (of all things) if she had any thoughts on Israel. It turns out she did. Here is what she said: “Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.” The rabbi, Da
July 23, 2013
-
Cuba, North Korea and the Chong Chon Gang
The seizure in Panama of the Chong Chon Gang, a rusty old North Korean ship carrying last century’s Soviet-era weapons from Cuba hidden under 250,000 sacks of brown sugar, may seem to have the wacky trappings of a “Gilligan’s Island” episode with a Cold War flashback that includes a rioting crew and a captain threatening to kill himself when Panamanian soldiers boarded his ship.But as the ship’s containers begin to be cleared of the 100-pound bags of sugar and the weapons systems are exposed and
July 23, 2013
-
[Kim Seong-kon] Independence versus family ties
We know Americans value independence and self-reliance. As soon as you graduate from high school in America, you are regarded as a grown-up and expected to be on your own. Upon entering college, often your parents will help you with either your tuition or living expenses, but rarely both. Of course, the extent of parental support differs by each family, and it is well known that partial financial support for a child’s college education is common in American society. Often, American college stude
July 23, 2013
-
Why U.S. students don’t major in science
In recent years, a lot of people have been concerned about the relatively low numbers of science majors among American college students. The percentage of science and engineering graduates in the U.S. has been far below that in China and Japan. On various math and science tests, the performance of U.S. students has fallen below that of students in South Korea, Singapore, Japan, England, Finland, Israel, Australia and Russia. This is a real problem, because science majors can contribute to econom
July 22, 2013
-
[David Ignatius] An idea stalled in Washington
WASHINGTON ― After the Egyptian revolution in February 2011, the U.S. had a good idea: Why not create an “enterprise fund” to make loans to small and medium-sized Egyptian businesses? President Obama announced the plan “to build networks of entrepreneurs” in Egypt in a speech on May 19, 2011. But more than two years later, the fund has yet to make a single investment. And the question is: What happened? The story of the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund is another example of why almost nothing w
July 22, 2013
-
J.K. Rowling and the chamber of literary fame
Last weekend’s revelation that J.K. Rowling is the author of the critically acclaimed and ― until now ― commercially unsuccessful crime novel “The Cuckoo’s Calling” has electrified the book world and solidified Rowling’s reputation as a genuine writing talent: After all, if she can impress the critics without the benefit of her towering reputation, then surely her success is deserved. And yet what this episode actually reveals is the opposite: that Rowling’s spectacular career is likely more a f
July 22, 2013
-
Malala’s message
These days the news from abroad is mostly grim. So it was inspiring last week to watch Malala Yousafzai ― the Pakistani teen shot in the head by the Taliban because of her campaign for girls’ education ― standing erect on a U.N. podium on her 16th birthday. It was even more inspiring to hear her moving speech, delivered in a clear, confident voice, which called for free, compulsory schooling worldwide.She recalled the October day when a talib jumped into her school van, aimed at her forehead poi
July 22, 2013
-
[Dominique Moisi] French dream a fleeting escape from reality
PARIS ― Bastille Day, the French national holiday, was glorious this year. The military parade, dominated by the celebration of “victory” in Mali and the joint participation of African and United Nations troops, had the perfection of a gracious, albeit muscular, ballet.The classical concert that preceded the magisterial fireworks that ended the day was the closest thing to a French version of the Proms in London, mixing light classical and popular songs. The Eiffel Tower imbued the evening with
July 22, 2013