Most Popular
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Court refuses injunction on medical school expansion
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Is NewJeans headed for a long 'break'?
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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Police raid popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house over hit-and-run suspicions
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What's next for the government's push in quota hike?
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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Woman falls to death from acquaintance's home after exhibiting ‘unexplained' behaviors
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N. Korea slams planned S. Korea-US military drills, warns of 'catastrophic aftermath'
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N. Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS
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‘Malice should not undermine the system, social order,’ says Hybe's Bang
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Same old stories from the new China
In July, two stories out of China were big news. One focused on watermelon seller Deng Zhengjia, a poor urban migrant in Hunan province, who became newsworthy only when reports circulated that thuggish chengguan ― members of para-police units ― allegedly beat him to death. A week later, someone very different, Bo Xilai, was back in the news when he was formally charged with “abuses of power” and corruption. Bo ― the former party boss of one of China’s biggest cities, Chongqing, a Politburo membe
Aug. 4, 2013
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[Enrico Letta] New model for Europe needed to beat crisis
ROME ― It is becoming increasingly clear that if Europe is to overcome its crisis, business as usual will not suffice. We need a Europe that is more concrete, less rhetorical, and better suited to the current global economy. We need to focus not only on the European Union’s specific policies, but also on how to change its “politics” ― a change that must place economic growth at the top of the agenda.Europe does not need a debate between austerity and growth; it needs to be pragmatic. A good exam
Aug. 4, 2013
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Mideast negotiations far from ‘peace process’
Perhaps the most promising thing that can be said about anticipated Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations is that we don’t know much about them. After hosting talks about talks in Washington this week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said formal discussions would begin within two weeks. No terms of reference were announced, so it’s not clear whether the two sides will begin where previous negotiations left off, from scratch or somewhere in between. This is a plus. When commentators, politici
Aug. 2, 2013
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[Naomi Wolf] Through the lookism glass
NEW YORK ― Do women suffer from a double standard in the workplace in relation to how they look? Have we gotten past the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) shade of sexism in hiring and promotion ― disproportionately affecting women ― that I identified in 1991 as “the professional beauty quotient”?It is hard to believe that we are still talking about this 20 years later ― but we must. When anti-feminists make the case that there is now a “level playing field” for women, and that any gender gap
Aug. 2, 2013
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‘Zero Option’ might be best option in Afghanistan
For American forces in Afghanistan, this should be the last straw.It started in early July, when President Obama was once again so furious with Afghan President Hamid Karzai that for the first time he began talking about the so-called “Zero Option” ― bringing home the entire American military presence next year.This came after Karzai lambasted the U.S. for trying to arrange peace negotiations with the Taliban. Lost in his latest fit of pique, Karzai summarily terminated the continuing negotiatio
Aug. 1, 2013
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[David Ignatius] Kerry’s big-bang diplomacy
WASHINGTON ― How can Secretary of State John Kerry succeed in the “Mission Impossible” of negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement when he faces the same intractable issues that have derailed so many previous peacemaking efforts? Skepticism about Kerry’s project is nearly universal, and it’s understandable when you look at the graveyard of past negotiations. But there are some interesting dynamics beneath the surface that should make observers cautious about premature burial announceme
Aug. 1, 2013
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Buying justice in Indonesia
Few Indonesians would feel surprised by last week’s arrest of a lawyer and a Supreme Court staff member for alleged bribery as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had sent shockwaves in its attempts to unveil corruption within the judiciary.The KPK caught an advocate from Hotma Sitompul’s legal practice, Mario C. Bernardo, who was reportedly about to hand over a 80 million rupiah ($8,000) bribe to Supreme Court staff member Djodi Supratman on Thursday. The next day KPK investigators sear
Aug. 1, 2013
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Cambodian election result must be respected for now
The result of the general election held in Cambodia over the weekend might allow Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party to retain their grip on power for another term. But the slim margin of their victory indicates a number of possibilities for the future.First of all, and most important, Cambodian voters have proved that elections are the most legitimate method of assigning power to the people whom they want to run the country. Before the election there was widespread criticism
Aug. 1, 2013
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A more belligerent Japan is still in the cards
Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki visited China on Monday and Tuesday, which was widely interpreted by Japanese and Western media as a sign of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s willingness to try and sweeten the soured ties with China.However, the triumph of the hawkish Abe in the upper house election has caused anxiety in East Asia, as he has made it clear he wants to revise the country’s pacifist constitution and bolster Japan’s military. Many Japanese politicians are expecting him to visi
Aug. 1, 2013
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[BA Hamzah] Is ASEAN centennial possible?
Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed caught me off-guard with his recent remarks on the lack of awareness of ASEAN integration plans among those surveyed by the ASEAN Secretariat. However, on closer examination of the report, “Surveys on the ASEAN Community Building Effort, 2012,” the situation doesn’t appear to be that gloomy.The regional gropuping will celebrate its golden jubilee in 2017, but we can only guess whether there will be a centennial celebration f
Aug. 1, 2013
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Can Iran’s new president make a difference?
Iran will inaugurate its seventh president on Aug. 4. Hassan Rouhani assumes power at a time when the Islamic Republic is confronting international isolation and simmering domestic discontent. He has already changed the tone of the regime, promising moderation and a fresh look at Iran’s many quandaries. The temptation to embrace an Iranian politician who speaks the language of pragmatism may prove irresistible. However, as Rouhani settles into office, it is best to hold back and see how much aut
July 31, 2013
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[Robert Reich] Stop subsidizing executive pay
Almost everyone knows CEO pay is out of control. It surged 16 percent at big companies last year, according to the New York Times, and the typical CEO raked in $15.1 million.Meanwhile, the median wage continued to drop, adjusted for inflation.What’s less well-known is that you and I and other taxpayers are subsidizing this sky-high executive compensation. That’s because corporations deduct it from their income taxes, causing the rest of us to pay more in taxes to make up the difference.This tax
July 31, 2013
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[J. Bradford DeLong] America’s health care divide
BERKELEY ― In 1883, the authoritarian imperial government of Prince Otto von Bismarck ― who famously declared, “It is not by speeches and majority votes that the great issues of our time will be decided ... but by blood and iron” ― established national health insurance for Germany.The rationale for national health insurance is as clear now as it was to Bismarck 130 years ago. A country’s success ― whether measured by the glory of its Kaiser, the expansion of its territory, the security of its bo
July 31, 2013
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Rules are rules, except in baseball and dictatorships
What does Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig have in common with Egyptian generalissimo Abdel-fatah al-Sissi? Nothing ― except for the inclination to declare a state of exception and throw the rule book out the window. Reports that Selig might summarily suspend the New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez by invoking his “right to take action against a player to preserve the integrity of the game” are important to no one except baseball fans, of course. The general’s decision to oust elected P
July 31, 2013
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Military sexual assaults demand a new approach
Last year a military jury convicted Air Force Lt. Col. James Wilkerson of aggravated sexual assault against a civilian woman who worked at his air base in Aviano, Italy. He was sentenced to spend a year in confinement and be expelled from the military. But then his commander decided to toss out the verdict and keep Wilkerson.The trial was irrelevant. A convicted rapist was back in the good graces of the U.S. Air Force. And the victim? “I was assaulted. I reported it. I endured the public humilia
July 31, 2013
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How to scare people at your summer cookout
How about a cheat sheet that you can carry around during the summer cookout season to help you strike up conversations with friends about some topics worth worrying about? While people have been contemplating the possibility of New York City being run by mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, whose underwear seems to be engaged in an ongoing quick-draw contest with his cell phone camera, there are far more formidable threats worth your concern:1) The Taliban is back, baby ― and it’s like they never l
July 31, 2013
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U.S. government blinded by war on terrorism
“This is a great time to be a white-collar criminal.”An assistant U.S. attorney I know startled me with this remark in 2002. The bulk of her FBI investigators, she explained, had been pulled off to work on terrorism, which left traditional crime investigations sorely understaffed.Little has changed since then. For more than a decade, the U.S. government has been focused on one type of threat above all others: terrorism. This obsession has not only been used to justify an erosion of Americans’ pr
July 30, 2013
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[Max Boot] Korea and the power of politics
Americans like to pretend that politics don’t matter and to bemoan the slight differences between our political parties. These are luxuries we can afford as the world’s richest and most stable country. But for much of the world, politics are a matter of life and death. That is particularly evident in South Korea, which over this past weekend celebrated the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War.It is hard to exaggerate how devastated the Korean peninsula was in 1953; Gen. Do
July 30, 2013
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China is set to suffer the skyscraper curse
Auditors seeking to head off a Chinese crash are rushing to scrutinize the debt-swollen books of the country’s local governments. Economists are poring over statistics, bond spreads, electricity gauges and stock valuations. They might all have more luck if they got their noses out of the books and looked up. On July 20, the Broad Group broke ground on Sky City on the outskirts of the south-central city of Changsha. The skyscraper will rise 838 meters (2,749 feet) into the heavens to become the w
July 30, 2013
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[Kim Seong-kon] The Korean version of ‘A Man and a Woman’
I still vividly remember the day I watched the mesmerizing French movie “A Man and a Woman” for the first time as a college student in the mid-1960s. The movie is about a young widow and a widower who fall in love after meeting by chance at their children’s boarding school. But because of the beautiful memories of their deceased spouses, their relationship cannot progress. Anne, a movie scriptwriter, cannot forget her beloved stuntman husband who was accidentally killed on a movie set as she wat
July 30, 2013