Most Popular
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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[Editorial] Procedural diplomacy
During his preview of Indonesia’s 2011 foreign policy, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa rightly highlighted the demanding schedule of the next 12 months. As chair of ASEAN for 2011, Indonesia will host more than 300 meetings at various levels. The meetings will cover various areas of cooperation of the 10-member grouping, including trade, investment and defense. Mingled among the multiple ASEAN
Jan. 14, 2011
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[Editorial] Taiwan should lead the way in adopting electric vehicles
You might have noticed a new brand of car called “Luxgen” on Taiwan’s roads. Luxgen was founded by Taiwan’s biggest carmaker, Yulon, as a separate, indigenous Taiwanese auto company in 2009. Luxgen (the name is a combination of the words, “Luxury” and “Genius”) is doing very well. The company’s website claims that Luxgen is now number six in the Taiwanese market. Yulon is, of course, just one of s
Jan. 14, 2011
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[Chen Weihua] Double standards of Western companies
For months, the West has been attacking China for tightening control of its rare earth exports. The assault is likely to escalate, as China recently announced it would slash its rare earth export quota by 37 percent for the first half of 2011. China is also introducing more stringent environmental standards for the rare earth industry, which are likely to send many small businesses in the industry
Jan. 14, 2011
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Local bellwether elections in Osaka and Aichi
The results of coming local elections in Osaka and Aichi prefectures could have a great impact on the shape of Japan’s local government. The people concerned need to carefully watch and consider the moves of two men ― Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto and Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura. Hashimoto has the idea of dissolving the Osaka city and integrating the Osaka city and prefectural governments into a met
Jan. 13, 2011
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[Kevin Horrigan] Selective wussification
For eight years, Ed Rendell was governor of Pennsylvania. The eight years before that, he was mayor of Philadelphia. In all that time, he never got the national attention he’s received in his last two weeks as governor, since unburdening himself about what he called “the wussification of America.”He was upset that the NFL postponed the Dec. 26 game between his beloved Philadelphia Eagles and the v
Jan. 13, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Cries Americans choose to ignore
WASHINGTON ― Did our angry political culture help motivate Jared Lee Loughner on what authorities say was his mad shooting spree? Maybe, but a more troubling question for me is why nobody stopped this often incoherent, irrational young man on his long path to the rampage in Tucson. I don’t just mean the people who sold Loughner his Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol last November, or the people at a Wa
Jan. 13, 2011
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[Greogry Rodriguez] Image of Americans in post-American era
The ugly American ― the stereotypically brutish, ethnocentric, bumbling traveler abroad ― is dead. He’s gone the way of global U.S. hegemony, the strong dollar and mid-20th century American naivete.Thirty years ago, the streets of major European capitals were awash with wide-eyed, culturally entitled, middle-class American tourists who were members of the first generation to take advantage of fore
Jan. 13, 2011
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[Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz] CIA needs sunlight, and Tinners case might shine some on it
By its nature, an intelligence service is antithetical to the transparency and accountability that are hallmarks of a democracy. When the Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947, diplomat Dean Acheson wrote, “I had the gravest forebodings about this organization and warned the president that as set up neither he, the National Security Council, nor anyone else would be in a position to know
Jan. 13, 2011
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[Joel Brinkley Back to ‘normal’ in the Middle East
Life is returning to normal in Israel and the Palestinian territories, now that the latest round of peace talks is dead.Militants in Gaza are firing dozens of missiles into Israel once again, forcing Israelis to dive into bomb shelters. Israel is responding with air strikes.Israelis are building new West Bank settlements at a furious pace ― 2,000 new homes under construction right now and 13,000 m
Jan. 13, 2011
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2011 promises to be year of electric car
This year can be the year in which electric cars make headway in attracting a large number of customers who want to buy a vehicle that has no gas emmissions over a vehicle that runs on fossil fuels. But many problems must be overcome before electric cars become a transportation mainstay. Nissan kicked off fierce competition in electric car sales with the December launch of the Leaf, a five-door ha
Jan. 12, 2011
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Tobacco companies behind the smoke screen
Cigarette makers do a lot more than shred tobacco and roll it up in thin sheets of paper. A December report by the surgeon general’s office outlined a host of changes that tobacco companies have made over the years to render smoking easier to start and harder to quit. For instance, vents and other filter designs make the smoke feel less harsh even though it does the same damage. A bigger, quicker
Jan. 12, 2011
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[Mike Matz] A gift of wilderness
When most Americans hear the words “public lands” they think of our national parks or national forests or perhaps even our national wildlife refuges. Yet, what might surprise them is that the largest category of our publicly owned land is administered by a little-known agency, the Bureau of Land Management, with a big mandate ― taking care of 400,000 square miles, an area nearly four times the siz
Jan. 12, 2011
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[Erik Berglof] Emerging Europe’s reform for growth
LONDON ― After the 1997-98 financial crisis, policymakers in Asia’s major emerging markets ― South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and even Indonesia ― vowed “never again” to be humiliated by international capital markets. They set out to address the structural weaknesses that had brought their systems down.Many countries in emerging Europe had similar near-death experiences in the recent global crisis
Jan. 12, 2011
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[Matthew Lynn] Beatles ‘Revolution’ returns decades later
“You say you want a revolution,” the Beatles sang in a song that was released in the year that students across Europe famously took to the streets to protest against the established order.It may not quite be 1968 all over again. Even so, there is a whiff of youthful rebellion in the air. Young people across the region have been staging angry demonstrations in the last few months as government aust
Jan. 12, 2011
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[Albert Hunt] Shooting reveals dark side of U.S. exceptionalism
Violence isn’t endemic to America. Gun violence is.The tragic killings of six people including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl and serious injury to Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson this weekend underscored this tragic reality. Gun murders occur in other developed countries, not with anywhere near the frequency.There are almost 300 million guns in America, a third of the
Jan. 12, 2011
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[Robert B. Reich] Stealth attack on American education
Over the long term, the only way we’re going to raise wages, grow the economy and improve American competitiveness is by investing in our people ― especially their educations.Yet we’re falling behind. In a recent survey of 34 advanced nations by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, our kids came in 25th in math, 17th in science, and 14th in reading. The average 15-year-old Am
Jan. 12, 2011
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[Editorial] Mayor Oh’s challenge
In his desperate challenge to the opposition-dominated city council over the school free lunch issue, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has proposed a referendum in the capital city. Thus he is offering himself as the gladiator for the conservative forces in what can be a preview of the 2012 presidential election. The 50-year-old mayor in his second term said he could not tolerate the lives of the 10 million
Jan. 11, 2011
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Don’t remove the ‘N-word’ from ‘Huck Finn’
The “N-word” has become so emotionally charged that its casual use can end a career, as radio shrink Laura Schlessinger discovered the hard way last year. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to excise it from classic literature for fear of offending modern sensibilities.Alan Gribben, an English professor at Auburn University, is working with NewSouth Books in Alabama to publish a joint edition
Jan. 11, 2011
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Can Japan open up under P.M. Naoto Kan?
Naoto Kan, Japan’s prime minister, likes to cast himself as an ‘Action Man’ bent on churning out new policies to tackle the country’s problems. And to his credit, one cannot say that Kan has done nothing since taking office in June. He has dealt with a crusty China over disputed islands, repaired ties with Washington, and dispatched a key political rival. Thus, it is not surprising that Kan has st
Jan. 11, 2011
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[Xiao Gang] Liberalize interest rates further
On Christmas day, China’s central bank raised interest rates for the second time in 2010 to check rising consumer prices and the heated real estate market. It would not be surprising to see the central bank lift the rates again in the near future. The move has left me wondering whether allowing interest rates to play their due role in the economy through liberalization, as opposed to raising them
Jan. 11, 2011